LMFAO. Well I guess the SC world has spoken I guess there won't be a group buy for this than haha

 

Honestly, you might have better luck just designing a non functional fender. If you insist on moving forward with your engineering, physics, and whatever other witchcraft, please assume that the plastic piece under the bumper will be removed.

97-SC300, if you get bored feel free to run with the ISF style fender idea on that rendering. It may completely kill the fender lines dipping so low, but is probably worth exploring. Although, it may just end up a hybrid of a vertex fender and this m3 style vent.

 

^ IS-F Fenders would be sick; I second this idea.

Aright, well I guess my fenders were a failure then lol

Oh well, haha

 

I am sure it could be done.... but I can already hear about a thousand people crapping all over this idea as well lol.

 

design a new bodykit a classy one and a sporty one. oh and a wangan spoiler! and wide quarter panels for the rear that be nice. you have nice ideas don't give up!

 

Keep in mind that you need to do a flow survey or find one on the SC. From what I've seen in the past, you bed to align your vent where the pressure is minimal in order to allow air out if the bay. If you have more pressure at the outlet/inlet hole than in the bay you will begin to cause the fan to work harder or make it so it is not strong enough to support the mod. For example if you place it on the hood in a high pressure area, that could possibly force the air backwards through the radiator if the fan was off.

I hope that makes sense to you. I'm going off memory on a phone so it's hat to find articles and such.

 

I'm surprised by the overwhelmingly negative response here. I think the mock-ups look great, although the contrast on the PhotoShopped white car might be hurting people's impression. I've been brainstorming a similar idea this week and this thread is the only related one I've found so far.

I began by looking at DIY hood vent ideas, but I'm fearful of water drainage. (Wet is the norm here, not the exception.) Most people say it's no big deal because air will push the water out while driving, and the few who acknowledge that cars are often not moving, they look at it in terms of just a soggy intake, no biggie. They fail to take into account electrical stuff getting wet... The SC's alternator is in a very precarious place for directing water away from it with any sort of vent up above, as are all sorts of little things like the coils.

Also, with the SC400's big coolant tank and upper radiator hoses, there's only like 6" of width available for a vent. That would look pretty silly. However, a lot of the BMW vented hood stuff I read talked about venting in place of a fan, as both serve the same purpose of pulling air through the radiator. The vent at least gives that heated air a direct path of escape. So, I haven't completely given up on the idea, but I also haven't fully researched whether removing the fan altogether (as opposed to just going electric) is viable for all driving conditions, and how much work and cost it would be to switch to a more universal radiator and reservoir setup. My radiator appears to be pretty new; would be a shame to replace it.

Anyway, that brought me to the idea of fender vents. The water issue with the horizontal hood vent would be largely eliminated by a vertical vent on the fender, and any water that does get in there could be made to drain straight down below. I looked around the engine bay earlier today and the best I could come up with is the two wiring gromets, one on each side directly rear of the strut towers. I didn't measure, but I'm guessing they're 3" diameter. They line up almost perfectly with CityKnight's sketch in the first post. Doesn't seem too tough to route a duct through there and out to the fender, assuming the opening doesn't take any crazy bends internally. Does it curve forward to the wheel well or just go into open space behind the fender? Of course, you could only get a 2-2.5" duct in there unless you re-routed the wiring that takes up some of the space, and I'm not sure that's enough to move a lot of air.

 

Feel like everyone has their taste and not everyone is going to like what you do. Do you and long as your happy with it why does it matter...

 

Thanks, but I was asking technical questions, not looking for affirmation.

Anyway, I found the DIY fender removal thread and it's got some good pictures of the engine bay openings to that area. I think it's only the top one of the three that passes directly through? If it weren't for having to remove the headlight, it would be quick and easy to pop the fender off for a closer look.

 

I know some (many?) will disapprove, but I've been looking around for OEM options, preferring something a bit more durable than the typical stuff. It's a bit startling to learn just how few cars that come with fender vents actually have functional ones. The best option I've found so far is ... wait for it, the '06-11 Buick Lucerne. Here's a quick and dirty mock-up I did, before having the actual measurements (10.5" x 2.75") handy. The actual thing is about half the size I roughed in and looks pretty good in a paper cutout template I did up against my car. The best spot is actually a bit lower than I did up in the pics, sitting right above the horizontal crease.

There's a 4-hole version that signifies V8 in the Buick lineup (3-hole signifies V6), but they cost more and seem a bit big for the SC's profile. Buick also makes some nice oval portholes for the Park Avenue, but info is mixed as to whether they're functional vents.

 

Can you mount it lower to the character line/crease and use an aston martin vent? (just like a Aston v12 vantage) I have been wondering how good would a aston vent look since our cars are similar body styles.

Maybe you can photochop this photo into my pic. They are kinda in the same position.





Here are some reference shots (sorry crap pics)

 

I looked at Aston Martin vents. Well, I looked at their fenders... Tough to find vents. Anyway, it looks like it would be a difficult one to adapt to the SC, as they are heavily molded into the fender instead of inserted into a flat opening like many others. Aston might have some different styles out there, though.

Looking at Aston stuff sure makes me glad we have plentiful, cheap Lexus parts. $700 for a damaged fender is hard to fathom.

 

Nice drawing.

Even if you had a channel coming from the engine bay to that spot in the fender it would be detrimental to air flow. It would make a low pressure area and cause a little bit of drag. Vents in that area are used to move air from the wheel well which is why functional vents are usually lower. Vents in the hood are used to let air from the upper and lower grill to escape and produce downforce in some situations.

 

You sure about that? Everything I've read says that's the best area for side venting because it's already low pressure behind the wheel wells. (Maybe people have been unclear on that point and are mistakenly referencing the lower point like you said, though.) And if you use vents that angle out, instead of a grill opening that shoots air out perpendicular to the vehicle, it creates minimal turbulence.

 

Even for air coming from the wheel well that wouldn't be the most effective, but even less so for the engine bay as you wouldn't get much air to flow.

A more effective spot would be at the top corner of the fender like they do with the JGTC style ones.



But if you look at an engine bay venting air out the fender is the most difficult route possible to take. Even if you made a sealed channel to pass the wheel well and avoid turbulence there it would be much easier and way more effective to vent it out the top of the hood.