Can i take it off???
 

hi all just a quickie i have a 97 sti jdm and was wondering can you take the side vents tray thingy off from underneath the bonnet to let in more air ie is it safe with water etc as i have an hks mushroom filter on it??? cheers Ben :)

Better off removing the head lamp rubbers on the bonnet, and yes the induction will get wet which is BAD.

I was reading something by Harvey today were he said that by removing these covers he had seen under bonnet temperatures increase by up to 12 degrees. Especially bad if you have an induction kit:?

They are cosmetic, removing them will put water straight onto your electrics (passenger side one) hence why they are plated underneath :)

Tony:)

as above, totally pointless & will no doubt cause more harm than good although having said that I took the drivers side one off cause it gives my leaking cooling system somewhere to vent the steam !!

Makes folk think you've been thrashing the car to bits when you stop at lights or car park & the steam starts billowing out .......:lol:

are they cosmetic, i always thought they allows the heat to vent from the engine bay.

surly if they were just cosmetic they would be blanked of completely underneath instead of having a gap?

They're a hangover from the homologation of the old Grp A cars. You'll notice the newages don't have them.

Any gaps/holes are purely for drainage - still sends water directly onto the electrics or exhaust (steams like a b*tch if its wrapped!) though.

IIRC Harvey did some extensive testing to do with under bonnet air flow. Its not immediately logical, but you want to direct the heat out of the underside of the car. :thumb: