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I assume you meant a 2021 bumper and not 2012. These are air vent to air brake cooling...
I am fairly certain those hole are non-functional. If the 2021 is similar to prior generations of the IS and RC, then the inner holes are the ones used for brake cooling.
On my 2016, I actually did look/feel around in those vents. The outermost vents were blocked off by plastic and serve no purpose - thus, it is common to remove those plastic inserts and replace them with fog lamps. The inner vents, on either side of the grille, are open and direct air towards the brakes. Below, the vents that have red arrows pointing at them have the functional ducts. This is why I assume the inner vents on the new IS are the same way. I am pretty sure I've looked at the outer ones before and been surprised that they don't go anywhere, since Lexus did a decent job of making them look believable this time. On the older cars, it is more obvious that they don't work.
Moreover, other models like the GS and RC share this vent layout.
^^ You are correct - I am a bit curious thought about the 2 outer most, I would be curious to push air through it and see if it comes out...maybe they do serve as a minor aerodynamic purpose but maybe not....My car is now parked for the winter so I won't be able to test per say.
^^ You are correct - I am a bit curious thought about the 2 outer most, I would be curious to push air through it and see if it comes out...maybe they do serve as a minor aerodynamic purpose but maybe not....My car is now parked for the winter so I won't be able to test per say.
So I decided to go grab breakfast instead of cooking this morning (it's Friday... no more dishes to clean, please!) and used the opportunity to snap a photo of the vent.
Ignore the swirls on the lower part. Wow, never realized how bad those were till today. Anyway, as you can see, or maybe you can't see due to how dark it is in there, there's a plastic insert blocking off the vent. I think we all knew that the larger portion with the zig-zag mesh design was non-functional, but it seems even the small air curtain cut-out leads nowhere.
Yes, this helps. So it seems that this would be non-functional even if we were to remove the plastic insert. Maybe you could remove the part that sits behind the vent, it might do something. Looks like a few screws to get it undone.
All vents that allow airflow are functional. However, the function may not provide the intended results. I wouldn’t just go opening up vents on the bumper without any rationale behind it. It’s a cosmetic vent after all. To do it right requires some forethought. Will you also add ducting? Will the increased airflow provide any benefits or will you just flood a cavity with excessive air increasing drag/lift?
All vents that allow airflow are functional. However, the function may not provide the intended results. I wouldn’t just go opening up vents on the bumper without any rationale behind it. It’s a cosmetic vent after all.
Actually, it's not.
I took another look, and found holes behind the vent. I looked from the front, and sure enough, there's the tiniest slit to allow air to flow.
I had really bad lighting last time, but today, it was pretty obvious that this vent actually is open thanks to better lighting conditions. This appears to be a fairly standard side air curtain or secondary brake cooling vent.
Hooray! It's real! (Or at least real-ish... I don't know what to make of that bumper photo above.)
^^ Thanks for validating I am not going crazy - I am not an expert/connaisseur like you guys but I am always cleaning and looking my hand in the wheel well (remove the dust - I know I am OCD) but I knew about those little holes but wasn't 100% sure if they will linked with the main ducts on the front bumper or the tiny one on the corners. I suspect it is mainly for air flow/aerodynamic reasons
On at least the 2014 non-F sport, there is air flow on both sides of the factory fog lights, with the larger opening on the inboard side of the light.
Changed over to my winter wheels the other day, and took this picture, you can clearly see the air path on the left side of the fog light:
Wow, never realized how bad those were till today. Anyway, as you can see, or maybe you can't see due to how dark it is in there, there's a plastic insert blocking off the vent. I think we all knew that the larger portion with the zig-zag mesh design was non-functional, but it seems even the small air curtain cut-out leads nowhere.
