Engine Bay Heat

The exhaust and cats are very hot and there is not a good flow of air past the motor like in a front engine car. I suppose that is why the rear challenge grill helps dissipate heat better than the solid rear grill.

 

There are two, well three means of heat dissipation in the engine: direct heating of air in the engine compartment, the front water radiators and the oil cooler in the right quarter panel. There is also an oil water inter cooler below the air intake atop the engine that exchanges heat in the oil to the coolant.

It's surprising how well the car manages heat, the engineers did their homework. Even in traffic in 90 deg heat, it keeps cool. The rationale for the challenge grill it adds additional airflow from the engine compartment, specifically the muffler directly in front of it. Here in the southeast I opt for all the cooling I can get! The side vents work well... But with the challenge grill it's even more air throughput, even standing still.

 

From what I understand the engine compartment airflow primarily flows through the sides of the back window, and then flows out through the back. I was doing some thought around under body naca ducts, and not sure where I picked that up... Or how true it is. I guess this doesn't help much! There are some gt examples with cooling fans to direct airflow... And of course the challenge grill makes a lot of sense.

 

My 03 360 spider has the challenge grill and in my opinion, it's worth the money. When I stand behind the grill and a bit of breeze blows by, I can actually feel the heat passing through it. Some owners hate the look of it but whatever it takes to cool the engine, I'm for it.

 

I'm still astounded at the amount of heat coming out of my 360 engine compartment. I'm quite certain much of the blame is attributable to the way the entire underside of the car is sealed for aerodynamic purposes and that results in reduced convective air flow up through the back glass side vents.

I always open my engine compartment when I get home and my wife complains about how much it heats up the garage. But she also understands how important it is to reduce heat soaking of all the perishable parts in the engine bay.

I'd like more ventilation but i don't like the look of the challenge grill. Maybe I'll fabricate a strut to prop open the engine cover a few inches like the old Abarth Cinquecento, or would that be too déclassé?

 

Well, if you have a F1 your not gonna get very far when it keeps popping into neutral every time you select 1st gear with the hatch unlatched.........

The engine components are designed & operate at temps that are way beyond what a human body can withstand.

Nobody on this forum has ever documented the actual temps of the engine compartment. It's all by what they "feel" is excessive. How hot is to hot?

If the performance was actually deteriorating or there was a history of components failing due to heat, I would be more concerned.

 

My 360 Spider has the solid grille and the engine seems to stay hot for SO much longer than my buddy's 360 with a challenge grille. I think it helps out a lot.

 

the challenge grill helps but very little.
test pipe and smaller muffler can significantly cool down the engine compartment.

 

I guess I disagree...my challenge grill seems to really allow much more airflow out the back of the engine compartment...I have also been popping the engine bay lid to allow cooling when I get home...need to cool it down so I can cover the car anyway...6 curious ranch cats...might have to start shooting them if they don't leave my car alone!!!!

 

To address your first three points, I was kidding about copying the Cinquecento hatch and I'm certainly not proposing that anyone latch themselves inside the engine bay to find out if they will die or not. Next time I go for a run, I'll measure the temperature just after stopping and then again after 10 minutes.

You're no doubt correct about the engine bay temperatures apparently being within Ferrari design parameters, otherwise they would have retro fitted additional ventilation on the 360. However, there is a terrific amount of heat generated by the engine and when I open the engine bay cover when I get home, it's very impressive.

If the 360 wasn't pretty close to the limit of its ability to reject engine bay heat, Ferrari wouldn't have put a ventilated grill on the back of the CS.

But even if one is happy to accept the existing running temperature, anyone who knows anything about rubber and plastic would agree that heat soaking perishable parts longer than necessary and at temperatures higher than necessary is bound to shorten their life. For example, many Ferrari owners change their cam drive belts on time rather than mileage. If you're a low mileage driver prone to stretching the recommended 3 year change cycle to 4 or 5 years, it would make sense (to me at least) to open the engine bay cover at the end of a drive.

 

Plastic is plastic. It's made by heating oils and compressing them at high temperature into a solid polymer. Heat WILL breakdown that polymer.. I have a hard time believing that a plastic part 2 -4 inches away from a 400 degree exhaust part will not have accelerated breakdown over room temperature regardless of the design limit. with the cat and the muffler normally under the car dissipating heat instead packaged in the engine bay in the 360 and 430, intuitively the heat load is higher on any plastic part. IMHO that's why fuel pump plastic cracks at higher frequency in the 360 and 430 tanks versus Porsches (911/boxster).

Kinda like the perfect sealant in a titanium wet wing right?

 

How about someone opening the front bonnet on their non-Ferrari car when they get home from an hour long ride in the dead of summer.

Just don't touch anything.

Devil's advocate strikes again!!!! LOL

 

Someone should engineer a back grill with louvers that are actuated by servos.

 

I don't do it because my front engine car produces about a quarter of the horse power of my Ferrari and therefore generates less heat, it has a lot more cooling air going through the engine compartment and therefore has much better heat rejection, it doesn't have a belly pan and therefore has much less heat retention, and the plastic or rubber parts near the engine are a LOT less expensive than those on my Ferrari and therefore don't require robbing a convenience store to purchase replacement components.

 

A fiberglass engine cover with openings, like the one on F40 would be ideal

 

In a front engine car, the cats are under the car and the muffler in the rear. Neither share the compartment with the engine, and both store and continue to dissipate heat long after the engine is shut down. I think it is good practice to open the engine cover on a mid-engine Ferrari after a drive. If driven hard immediately before stopping, allowing the engine to idle for a few minutes to allow for thermal equalization is a good idea, too.

 

What is the price on these? Thanks!

 

The Stradale was a tribute to the Challenge race car & shared the styling (rims, front & rear grills, etc). It was designed to be more track specific & was subject to sustained high rpms over the stock 360

I think hoarse ownership is the best example for the timing belt debate. Regardless whether you ride daily or once in a while you still have to pay to stable & feed the damn thing.

touché........ Many a day I went home smelling of JP7.

The claim that the tanks would seal up after the plane heated up is also false. They “may” have leaked a little less, is all.

It’s hard to tell with the skin above 800 degrees traveling over 2,000 mph.

As an example, it’s documented that some Tail #’s had more range than others.

 

I always leave the engine lid open on my F430 Spider for at least an hour after a drive on a warm day. I start with the car in the driveway, and occasional breezes aid the cooling process. I then drop the lid, put the car into the garage and open the lid again. Since purchasing my first 246 GT over 35 years ago, I have always left the engine lids and hoods open on my Dinos to cool both the radiators and the engines. It also eases the heat load on plug wires, gas lines, etc. Heat is the enemy of a modern automobile, and anything that can be done to minimize its effects is worth the effort. Fred

 

I have been on the fence about a challenge rear grill, I like the look of the solid rear on the car, yes on Red ones the challenge looks good but i have a blue car.

I have been stuck in 100+ degree days in rush hour traffic for long periods where I am sitting at single digit speeds with the A/C on and the car never overheats, it goes up to around 200-210 and the second fan comes on, drops it back down and the car just goes up/down about 10-15degrees without ever overheating. So if it does not overheat, I wonder why bother with the challenge grill, it will not help engine cooling in any way, since its fine as is.

I can understand all the components under the hood being happier but again with a challenge grill I just dont see how that would make much of a difference while driving, the compartment will still get hot. The only thing the challenge grill does is allow it to cool faster when the engine is off.

Now please tell me I am wrong and I will put a challenge grill on this week (not joking)

I also used to lift the engine cover when i got home but I daily drive my car and that got to be a pain after about 2 weeks, I also figured it likely wsa not done the first 50,000 miles on the car, so damage is done.

 

Interesting. I'm just amazed that the RAM was held in with epoxy and didn't vaporize. Way cool. I also think it's soo cool that each Article had its own personality being hand built with variance. Wait.. I know what that's like when I start my 360s engine.

I can only speak for my car but I've never had any issues with heat hile driving. I think the design of the engine bay is optimized for cooling at speed. It's when you stop that it tends to heat up. Alternatively you could put a low amp blower behind each of the rear wheels and expel the warm air out of the car..

Mike, think of thermal load and the heat capacity of the air in the compartment. You have a finite volume of air with a heat capacity of X. That air will soak up heat at a given rate. In still air it will soak in a given time period Y degrees. If I enhance airflow even 5% with the grill (sationary lets say with a breeze). That's enhancing the ability for the air in that compartment to soak up the engines heat by replacing the 150 deg air (lets sa)y with 5% of its volume by 80 degree air. If it saves you fan from cycling 10% of the time, that lasting longer will pay for itself.. once a fan goes the car will overheat stationary. Moving no difference, stationary is where the true difference occurs. I didn't even cover radiation out the rear grill. Its intutive.

 

I raise the engine cover after a drive, it's amazing how much heat is generated by the mid enegine Ferraris even after a 10 minute cruise. Maybe it's paranoia however I prefer to take no chances when it comes to my car and my house. I have been contemplating adding a high velocity fan in the engine compartment right next to the muffler to evaluate hot air.