Cool cooling…

I can’t remember if I posted it earlier but I had a problem with Buttercups cooling when cruising at 65 mph and higher. After browsing around this seems to be caused by a high pressure barrier building up in front of the radiator. This may sound strange but the faster the air comes in, it compacts up and causes a cushion of air that can actually prevent air passing through the radiator. The radiator in the left hand air pod has been mounted in the air stream but no guides have been built so the air can pass over, under and around the outer edge of the radiator. I had thought that I would need a full air dam above, to the side and under the radiator, and I created a mock up using cardboard and parcel tape ready to prep for a full build. Once the cardboard version was done I placed it on a piece of plastic I had lying around. The plastic wasn’t large enough to replace all sides of the mockup but I could make the lower segment only, albeit very roughly.

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…and guess what it worked! I was hearing both fans running at 70mph as the temperature kept creeping up to 98, now with the single piece of plastic fitted at the base of the radiator above 40 the temperature actually starts going down without the fans running. At speeds under 40 the fans still need to operate, but that’s normal.