Yes, keep us up to date. I took my screen off recently and haven't really noticed a difference. There are too many variables for our cars, since it reacts so differently in each condition. I don't know if a couple tests will prove anything, unless it's drastic, but let us know.

 

ok, before i went and wasted gas and clutch, i decided to do this:

my buddy has this leaf blower that'll almost knock you over, so i brought over the rest of the sheet of screen i bought (the standard stuff, not heavy duty).

my GF was holding one side, and me the other, so 4 hands at all 4 corners, and my buddy held the leaf blower about 3 feet away.

aimed at my head.

screen in front of the face: lots of air blowing on me

no screen protecting my face: cheeks flapping in the wind like a flag in a hurricane. saliva flying out all over the place... I'm lucky i still have my eyeballs.

the truth hurts, and the truth is that the screen is preventing a HUGE amount of air (and just as importantly, air VELOCITY) from hitting that intercooler.

ive been racking my brain ever since (last weekend) to come up with a solution, but short of fabricating some pimp-**** screen that hinges out of the way with the push of a button (the "auto" water spray would be a great controller) i cant think of anything that is practical.

even if i had a stationary screen that wrapped nicely around a thin wire frame, was shaped perfectly, and went on and off easily, im not going to stop my car, get out, pull off the screen, and then race someone or rip through the backroads (well, maybe the backroads)... but my point is that i dont want to get out of the car to change between "protected intercooler" and "unprotected intercooler". I would want to hit a button and have something move or change to make the difference, and then be able to hit the button again and have it go back.

anyone have a bright idea?

 

FYI, the rate at which the IC gets rid of hot air is not only dependant on the velocity of air going through the exterior of the IC. If you move more air over it, it may not necessarily increase any cooling efficiency. Even with the restricted airflow, the IC may be working at it's peak efficiency. I suggest that you actually do your Gtek measurments with and without the screen. You may want to throw in an intake temp sensor in the intake IC tubes after the IC too and make comparisons.

 

xtnct -

good point, but in general, i doubt the IC is chillin' lofty-style way up above the peak efficiency level because the factory installed a water squirter. maybe they just did it as a gimmick...(?)

i would think that on a hot day, this would all change. i dont think you can have too much airflow on a hot day; Heat soak and hot ambient temps raise the need for airflow exponentially.

I'm going to do some Gtech testing ASAP. I'm just wondering how best to launch the car. I don't want to be thrashing my clutch and **** for a stupid G-tech test. Ill figure something out and let you all know what I find.

even if there's no difference, it's still pretty damn cold here, so Summertime testing is sure to be interesting...

 

Wouldn't it tell just as much if you did say a 30-50 with and without? Calculate the percentage difference and presume the average of say 3 runs each way is the same approx percentage difference in all performance factors?

 

Well... actually....with the testing I did last summer on a 90+ day using my road dyno, the squirters did sqaut all, even when squirting constantly through the entire run.

If you race, the squirters may help and the screen may hurt you a bit (I'd still like to see some actual numbers from a car though. Knowing that your cheeks flop without the mesh before your face does not really cut for me). If you drive the car on the street, the occasional drag run or high speed run will not be affected at all with the screen. These factors will only come into play when in constant WOT situations, such as a road circuit.

Do your testing and make your own conclusions. I did mine and the bug screen does not affect my car the way I drive and for what I use the car for.

 

ok, i did the g-tech testing and, although i left the averages at work, (doh!) i do remember the basics of what happened:

method: all starts were made with the car rolling at 3k in second gear and all starts were made at the same point in the same stretch of road.

i made 6 runs with the screen up and 6 with it down (no water squirter in any runs). i made the runs one direction, turned around and drove back (brief cooldown) turned around again, and repeated 5 more times. i noticed that i kept getting slower and slower by a tenth or two every run. obviously, heat soak, despite the cooldown runs. i once had to wait a while for traffic to go by, and the subsequent run was the best of the day (5 tenths faster than the previous).

the first 6 runs were with the screen in place, and then i rolled it up out of the way.

the second 6 runs showed the same exact trend, but the times were getting worse. they started close to where the previous session left off and continued to decline.

all things considered, i think this indicates that large, heavy parts are getting really hot with repeated WOT runs (to the top of 4th gear) and that the intercooler, screen or not, is limited in it's ability to cope.

now, this IS using a crappy little G-tech, and my times were sometimes very erratic (hence the 12 total runs)... AND my car is stock, but i think it adds some extra weight to the idea that the screen isn't necessarily all bad.

im planning to repeat the same test once i get my brain flashed and i have more boost to deal with. i suspect ill need to replace the screen with the larger-holed metal stuff from the hardware store, like this guy did:



im also planning on talking to shiv and someone at works (haven't decided which flash to get yet) and see what they think about the screen.

anyway, thats it. hope this helps!

 

when it comes to bugs.. just use alil pressure water spray from your regular hose and spray close to the intercooler to get it all out... i was even spray maybe soapy water and/or alchohol and let it sit there for a few minutes to really get to the dirt and bugs... then spray away

 

Good job turbocake. I'm glad your tests confirm with mine. If you can, next time try building up the heat soak by not doing the breaks between runs and running in both directions. Get the car heatsoaked to see how the screen affects colling of an even hotter IC.

In my opinion, if race then do not use the bug screen. However, the bug screen should not have effects during street driving (even if it is spirited).

 

the water spray does work good to clean bugs, as i got some during testing with the screen up.

also, i disagree on the spirited driving thing not being affected. the backroad that i was on is really long and despite this long straight, has many slow turns with decent straights to get up to speed. the brakes and engine are both challenged while driving hard (water spray bottle runs dry) and the heatsoak is easily becoming a factor.