Just curious because I was considering buying some, do these guards reduce cooling? Or is the mesh the right size so that it protects the coolers but does not effect cooling.

I don't wanna pick up a set if they reduce cooling thanks guys.

 

I highly doubt they negatively affect cooling or air flow in any significant or measurable manner.

I've had the Racing Beat oil cooler / AC condensor screens on for over 4 years and I've never had cooling issues.

 

Same here. Mazda A/C condenser screen and dual Racing Beat oil cooler screens and nary a problem over 4 years now.

If anything they keep the respective radiator slats cleaner and therefore more efficient.

 

awesome thanks for the input guys

 

I agree with those guys. I even went the extra step and spray painted them black for the sleeper look.

 

Actually they do reduce air flow quite a bit, but better than a rock up there and a leak which very common.

 

i just made my own with some mesh from home cheapo, sprayed black, does the same thing

 

^was size did you cut. Lol I'm at home depot rightnow.

 

anyone use the rotaryfx guards I think im going to get the racing beat oil guards but I think that ac condenser guard is a bit overkill and the one off rotary fx looks like it does the same job..

 

i just actually got a huge roll of the mesh, measured it out at home by trial and error, its like 15 bucks cant go wrong

 

Cf05 go check and make sure you don't have a stock one already.

 

Yeah I did I don't unfortunately

 

That sucks. My 05 came with one but I upgraded to the Racing Beat unit.

 

yeah Considering I have to drive from St Louis to Miami at least three more times its probably a worthwhile investment

 

yup, those AC condensors are not cheap.

 

they do?!

well, maybe not mine. i used aluminum window screen & rivets. cheaper, and of same material, but thin enough to pick up feathers. i doubt window screens are thick enough to noticeably "reduce" air flow.

i reverse painted mine. black screens, aluminum silver coolers. easier to spot debris...

 

There iw a gut on ebay who sell guards also.under thegrillguy i think

 

well I just put my order for em in so i'll be wonderfully protected for the ride home lol

 

No they don't. You must have cut physics class the day they discussed venturi theory of fluids. All fluids simply speed up when encountering a restriction to equalize pressure (unlike motorists encountering say a lane drop).

Now, if they get significantly blocked off with leaves or whatever that's a different story, but we would never let that happen.

Keeping your radiator vanes cleaner, as well as physical protection from rock strikes and the like, is a big plus from the screens.

 

Um, not quite - nothing is free. Imagine taking your screen driving at 70 mph, the holding outside your window, perpendicular to the airflow. Will you feel resistance? Yep! This will vary depending on the mesh density and details of the construction, but it will resist the flow of air through it. In front of the radiator, what it means is that some flow which went into the radiator without the screen, is now directed around the car by the compression of air stacked up against the screen after it's in place. Whether that's a problem or not, I don't know.

 

There is some small resistance from the air molecules that strike the mesh wire head on, but the rest happily speed thru and the ones on the borders of the mesh actually accelerate (again, mini-venturi effects).

The bottom line is that the benefits of the screens far outweigh any minor drag.

 

F=ma ; accelerations cost energy, W = Fd. Granted, for a reasonably shaped coarse grid, the drag increase (and flow reduction) is minor compared to everything else. As usual, it's not that hard to do the experiment. Have someone drive you at 70 mph. Take your screen, hold it flat to the wind, then rotate it perpendicular. Feel the difference. A window-screen mesh will create a rather big difference, one that looks like an oven baking rack, not so much.

 

F = MV2 It's all about the squared.

 

In a carburetor, maybe, where there is a large opening and the constriction happens gradually, allowing for laminar flow. Venturi ends where turbulence begins. For air striking a wire at right angles, there is a lot of turbulence == disordered flow, and energy is dissipated. Even a fairly large mesh can reduce airflow considerably, compared to an unobstructed opening. Small mesh size reduces flow dramatically. You'll notice most oem protection has openings of significant size.


I tend to agree, because it's more complicated than simple airflow through the mesh. The radiators already present an obstruction so there is only so much air that can pass anyway. That being said, I would not go with very small mesh sizes. Window-screen mesh, for example, seems far too restrictive. For my own screen I went with mesh with 1/2-inch openings. Flow through multiple obstructions like this is quite a complicated problem in fluid dynamics. I don't have the math for it, so I err on the side of caution

 

As long as its the metal screen and not the plastic screens they use now a days.