If it's dressed up and looks cool I'm all for it. If it's not, doesn't really bother me either.

 

For run of mill cars like our Corolla or Matrix, who cares. I never open the hood.

But for cars that are one offs like a Mustang, a Camaro, Miata,etc. I think it is very important.

 

although the look of my previous s85 v10 m6 looked nice to the naked eye, quality of plastics, paint in the engine bay , nuts and bolts, quality was horrible over time. rusty, easy to scratch up, plastic quality was terrible.

RCF on the other hand is great.

 

i think the SC400 engine is a work of art.it gets detailed as much as the car,LOL

 

Those old Alfa engines could rival anything from Ferrari or Lamborghini just on looks alone. The V6 on the 156 GTA was probably one of the best small engines around in terms of sheer aural delight and power delivery. I test drove one ages ago and it sounded like an amped-up Integra engine that had its VTEC kicking in from 0 rpm. Bloody amazing.

I've also driven the 159 with the GM-derived 3.2 JTS V6. That sounded like a synthetic copy of the old Busso V6 and it didn't have the old engine's scintillating power delivery. It was also an ugly lump covered by gray plastic; the rest of the car looked stunning though.

 

Speaking of Acura Integra, here's the engine bay on a late 90's Type R. Honda did have good looking engine bays on their 90's FWD stuff IMO.




I'm always a sucker for anything with more than 1 carburator though.

1965 Pontiac Catalina



Same year, 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciale




1961 Dodge Cross Ram 413 "max wedge"

 

1961 Dodge Cross Ram 413 "max wedge"



These days, there aren't very many good engine bays unless you are spending mega bucks. Everything is now covered in black plastic, you can't even see the engine. One of the few "modern" fuel injected era engine bays that I think is just stunning in a reasonably priced car was the old, original Taurus SHO, I think this is a 1989.



Also I know everybody loves to crap on the C4 Corvette, but there is something to be said about the theater of opening that huge forward hinged, clam shell hood. I love how well the engine was detailed, how you could see EVERYTHING, you could see the suspension control arms, the shocks, the top of the tires, it was just a really neat way to display the mechanical bits on the car. I think of opening the hood on a C4 as a similar experience to opening that rear clamshell on something like a Ferrari F40 or a Koenigsegg.

 

It's kind of what's underneath any covering that's important, for example seeing this is pleasing






What I find tacky is fake intake runners and stuff like that in the plastic covering, who came up with that?

 

 

Even that viper appears to have fake black plastic pipes on that plastic cover. If you tell me Ferrari and Lambo do that today, ok, then I give up.....it's tacky imho

Why not just leave it like this?

 

2013+ vipers have a composite intake manifold now. Doesnt look as good as the older ones but better power, 12# savings, less heat soak

 

gotcha....the plenum is composite....

 

You never check your oil? Or your windshield-washer-fluid level? Or your brake fluid level in the master cylinder?

 

I'm an engineer and also wrench on my own cars. When I look at an engine bay, I look for two things:
1. How the engine and its components are laid out and function together.
2. How easy is it to perform maintenance on the car.

I can't stand that's the direction Lexus is heading. I hate the black plastic in my GS350 too. The under-body has even more black plastic. It just gets in the way anytime you have to service something, and one by one you lose those clips...

 

I used to clean my engine bay once a week, put all kinds cosmetic stuffs besides handling and performance parts too to make it look nice. But since I done modding, I haven't even opened ny engine bay for my last two cars at all, don't even care to check out my M motor lol.