Track spec hood vents
05-06-2020, 04:49 PM
#1
Track spec hood vents
I know this is not something all of you will like. But I just ordered a set today. I have seen others posted about having them and Installing them. So my question for those that have them. It looks like placement is all over the place. Some higher up on the hood than others. do they have a suggested location or is it just up to the installer,?
Last edited by Tbair64; 05-06-2020 at 04:49 PM.
Popular Reply
05-07-2020, 01:56 PM
Drifting
In my extensive research into the aerodynamic qualities of these car, and having installed these myself on my own car, I have some things to add.
The spot they have you locate your center one is TOO high on the hood. I found while reading through the Goodwrench factory works team aerodynamic data from the C5's LeMans hayday, that the highest pressure zone under the hood is 15" from the leading edge of the hood, which would see you placing your vent farther forward. Trackspec wants you to put it over the plastic intake manifold, but all that does is remove a liiiiiittle heat form your engine bay. If you place it farther forward, the air coming in through the radiator will have a place to leave, and it will scavenge hot air from the whole bay at the same time. This allows for a significant decrease in front-end lift, as well as makes your cooling more efficient both when stopped, and while moving.
I also located my side vents farther forward as well, but only because I wanted to place them where the hood is closest to the inner fender liners, so that I could vent my front fenders through the hood. Doing so allows you to pull the high pressure air from the wheel wells, further aiding in the reduction of front-end lift at speed, and making your brake cooling more efficient if you have something like the DRM racing brakes cooling setup.
The spot they have you locate your center one is TOO high on the hood. I found while reading through the Goodwrench factory works team aerodynamic data from the C5's LeMans hayday, that the highest pressure zone under the hood is 15" from the leading edge of the hood, which would see you placing your vent farther forward. Trackspec wants you to put it over the plastic intake manifold, but all that does is remove a liiiiiittle heat form your engine bay. If you place it farther forward, the air coming in through the radiator will have a place to leave, and it will scavenge hot air from the whole bay at the same time. This allows for a significant decrease in front-end lift, as well as makes your cooling more efficient both when stopped, and while moving.
I also located my side vents farther forward as well, but only because I wanted to place them where the hood is closest to the inner fender liners, so that I could vent my front fenders through the hood. Doing so allows you to pull the high pressure air from the wheel wells, further aiding in the reduction of front-end lift at speed, and making your brake cooling more efficient if you have something like the DRM racing brakes cooling setup.
05-06-2020, 08:52 PM
#2
They have recommended locations and customer service was great for me a couple of years ago, fyi the centre piece requires the cross member to be cut.
Last edited by C5RClone; 05-06-2020 at 08:53 PM.
05-06-2020, 09:16 PM
#3
They include instructions for placement and supply templates you tape on to your hood.I bought the side vents used and John at Trackspec was kind enough to ship me a set of instructions and templates. Great support IMO.
You see them all over the place because people do what they want and think they look better in different placements. I'm sure EXACT placement makes a minor difference, but I bought them to be 100% functional so I followed their tried and true instructions
You see them all over the place because people do what they want and think they look better in different placements. I'm sure EXACT placement makes a minor difference, but I bought them to be 100% functional so I followed their tried and true instructions
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BABYBUGY (05-11-2020)
05-07-2020, 07:38 AM
#4
Burning Brakes
I did not want to cut into the hood structure
not Trackspec, serves the same purpose, Street car only
Last edited by Clancy209; 05-07-2020 at 07:51 AM.
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mre1974 (05-07-2020)
05-07-2020, 08:21 AM
#5
Drifting
05-07-2020, 01:56 PM
#7
Drifting
In my extensive research into the aerodynamic qualities of these car, and having installed these myself on my own car, I have some things to add.
The spot they have you locate your center one is TOO high on the hood. I found while reading through the Goodwrench factory works team aerodynamic data from the C5's LeMans hayday, that the highest pressure zone under the hood is 15" from the leading edge of the hood, which would see you placing your vent farther forward. Trackspec wants you to put it over the plastic intake manifold, but all that does is remove a liiiiiittle heat form your engine bay. If you place it farther forward, the air coming in through the radiator will have a place to leave, and it will scavenge hot air from the whole bay at the same time. This allows for a significant decrease in front-end lift, as well as makes your cooling more efficient both when stopped, and while moving.
I also located my side vents farther forward as well, but only because I wanted to place them where the hood is closest to the inner fender liners, so that I could vent my front fenders through the hood. Doing so allows you to pull the high pressure air from the wheel wells, further aiding in the reduction of front-end lift at speed, and making your brake cooling more efficient if you have something like the DRM racing brakes cooling setup.
The spot they have you locate your center one is TOO high on the hood. I found while reading through the Goodwrench factory works team aerodynamic data from the C5's LeMans hayday, that the highest pressure zone under the hood is 15" from the leading edge of the hood, which would see you placing your vent farther forward. Trackspec wants you to put it over the plastic intake manifold, but all that does is remove a liiiiiittle heat form your engine bay. If you place it farther forward, the air coming in through the radiator will have a place to leave, and it will scavenge hot air from the whole bay at the same time. This allows for a significant decrease in front-end lift, as well as makes your cooling more efficient both when stopped, and while moving.
I also located my side vents farther forward as well, but only because I wanted to place them where the hood is closest to the inner fender liners, so that I could vent my front fenders through the hood. Doing so allows you to pull the high pressure air from the wheel wells, further aiding in the reduction of front-end lift at speed, and making your brake cooling more efficient if you have something like the DRM racing brakes cooling setup.
Last edited by ErikwithAK01; 05-08-2020 at 02:41 PM.
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05-07-2020, 02:27 PM
#8
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Interesting background info, Erik, and thanks for sharing your thoughts. Makes sense and if you are going to install the vents, it would obviously be better to put them in locations that would provide the most benefit.
05-07-2020, 02:50 PM
#9
Burning Brakes
In my extensive research into the aerodynamic qualities of these car, and having installed these myself on my own car, I have some things to add.
The spot they have you locate your center one is TOO high on the hood. I found while reading through the Goodwrench factory works team aerodynamic data from the C5's LeMans hayday, that the highest pressure zone under the hood is 15" from the leading edge of the hood, which would see you placing your vent farther forward. Trackspec wants you to put it over the plastic intake manifold, but all that does is remove a liiiiiittle heat form your engine bay. If you place it farther forward, the air coming in through the radiator will have a place to leave, and it will scavenge hot air from the whole bay at the same time. This allows for a significant decrease in front-end lift, as well as makes your cooling more efficient both when stopped, and while moving.
I also located my side vents farther forward as well, but only because I wanted to place them where the hood is closest to the inner fender lines, so that I could vent my front fenders through the hood. Doing so allows you to pull the high pressure air from the wheel wells, further aiding in the reduction of front-end lift at speed, and making your brake cooling more efficient if you have something like the DRM racing brakes cooling setup.
The spot they have you locate your center one is TOO high on the hood. I found while reading through the Goodwrench factory works team aerodynamic data from the C5's LeMans hayday, that the highest pressure zone under the hood is 15" from the leading edge of the hood, which would see you placing your vent farther forward. Trackspec wants you to put it over the plastic intake manifold, but all that does is remove a liiiiiittle heat form your engine bay. If you place it farther forward, the air coming in through the radiator will have a place to leave, and it will scavenge hot air from the whole bay at the same time. This allows for a significant decrease in front-end lift, as well as makes your cooling more efficient both when stopped, and while moving.
I also located my side vents farther forward as well, but only because I wanted to place them where the hood is closest to the inner fender lines, so that I could vent my front fenders through the hood. Doing so allows you to pull the high pressure air from the wheel wells, further aiding in the reduction of front-end lift at speed, and making your brake cooling more efficient if you have something like the DRM racing brakes cooling setup.
thank you for your educational insight.
05-07-2020, 07:54 PM
#10
Eric like I stated I do track the car or run at excessive speeds. May main concern was to create a low pressure system to suck out hot engine bay air l chose the location as to not weaken the hood by cutting away structures. I purposely choose this style and size to fit within the parameters I chose. You study is very extensive and probability right on. If I was building a race C5 I would take all you Infomation and use it. How ever way to much for my goal of just releasing some hot air
thank you for your educational insight.
thank you for your educational insight.
The main goal/benefits of the Trackspec vents are to relieve the high pressure build up over the fender wells, leading to less front end lift at higher speeds, and venting the hot air that's passing through the radiator, which obviously leads to lowered/improved coolant temps. Even with my much larger Trackspec side hood vents, I don't see significantly decreased coolant temps. The car definitely does feel more planted at highway speeds and above though, which is what they're supposed to do. In order to noticeably decrease coolant temps, venting directly behind the radiator is where you want it (as Erik pointed out). If placing them where Trackspec instructs you to is supposedly further back from ideal, I really don't see how placing smaller vents even further back is doing anything more than venting a little bit of underhood heat buildup.
The Trackspec guys run these vents on all of their cars and race hard, I wouldn't be worried about cutting into hood supports if they have no issues with them.
I guess it really depends why OP is installing vents. I've recently considered reinstalling my OEM, non-vented hood for a cleaner look. Maybe I'll report back if I start having cooling issues lol.
05-07-2020, 08:12 PM
#11
Burning Brakes
I hope you don't take offense to this, but I don't really see how the vents you installed *significantly* benefit anything. I have no doubt they let some heat escape, but I don't see them venting enough heat, or relieving enough pressure, to realize a notable benefit?
The main goal/benefits of the Trackspec vents are to relieve the high pressure build up over the fender wells, leading to less front end lift at higher speeds, and venting the hot air that's passing through the radiator, which obviously leads to lowered/improved coolant temps. Even with my much larger Trackspec side hood vents, I don't see significantly decreased coolant temps. The car definitely does feel more planted at highway speeds and above though, which is what they're supposed to do. In order to noticeably decrease coolant temps, venting directly behind the radiator is where you want it (as Erik pointed out). If placing them where Trackspec instructs you to is supposedly further back from ideal, I really don't see how placing smaller vents even further back is doing anything more than venting a little bit of underhood heat buildup.
The Trackspec guys run these vents on all of their cars and race hard, I wouldn't be worried about cutting into hood supports if they have no issues with them.
I guess it really depends why OP is installing vents. I've recently considered reinstalling my OEM, non-vented hood for a cleaner look. Maybe I'll report back if I start having cooling issues lol.
The main goal/benefits of the Trackspec vents are to relieve the high pressure build up over the fender wells, leading to less front end lift at higher speeds, and venting the hot air that's passing through the radiator, which obviously leads to lowered/improved coolant temps. Even with my much larger Trackspec side hood vents, I don't see significantly decreased coolant temps. The car definitely does feel more planted at highway speeds and above though, which is what they're supposed to do. In order to noticeably decrease coolant temps, venting directly behind the radiator is where you want it (as Erik pointed out). If placing them where Trackspec instructs you to is supposedly further back from ideal, I really don't see how placing smaller vents even further back is doing anything more than venting a little bit of underhood heat buildup.
The Trackspec guys run these vents on all of their cars and race hard, I wouldn't be worried about cutting into hood supports if they have no issues with them.
I guess it really depends why OP is installing vents. I've recently considered reinstalling my OEM, non-vented hood for a cleaner look. Maybe I'll report back if I start having cooling issues lol.
I liken these vets a auto full of people smoking, if you open one of the windows a little it creates a low pressure suction and draws the smoke out. Most of the cooling issues I see are internal to the engine. Compartment heating is not a major factor to a standard C5. The C5s come without vented hoods, so the little I did has to do some good. Besides that I do not care for the rivets on the trackspec vents, probably needed for the conditions they run under.
Again I do appreciate you knowledge and input
Thanks
Last edited by Clancy209; 05-07-2020 at 08:14 PM.
05-07-2020, 08:19 PM
#12
No offense taken. I was not looking for and in-depth project I don't race the car, it holds the roads and sporting turns w/o a problem,
I liken these vets a auto full of people smoking, if you open one of the windows a little it creates a low pressure suction and draws the smoke out. Most of the cooling issues I see are internal to the engine. Compartment heating is not a major factor to a standard. The C5s come without vented hoods, so the little I did has to do some good. Besides that I do not care for the rivets on the trackspec vents, probably needed for the conditions they run under.
Again I do appreciate you knowledge and input
Thanks
I liken these vets a auto full of people smoking, if you open one of the windows a little it creates a low pressure suction and draws the smoke out. Most of the cooling issues I see are internal to the engine. Compartment heating is not a major factor to a standard. The C5s come without vented hoods, so the little I did has to do some good. Besides that I do not care for the rivets on the trackspec vents, probably needed for the conditions they run under.
Again I do appreciate you knowledge and input
Thanks
I agree on the rivets, but at least they're black so they blend in a little from a distance haha. I'm sure they're just for ease of installation and leave no bolt/nuts to come loose. Install was a breeze compared to others that I've come across. My buddy asked for my help installing his on his MX5 Miata, I thought no sweat! After looking at the instructions, I said no way dude, that's all you. Made no sense, they wanted you to cut the hood surface one size, then turn the hood over and cut a slightly smaller hole on only the underskin that's sandwiched to the top layer. One slip and you're cutting through both layers
05-07-2020, 08:29 PM
#13
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In my extensive research into the aerodynamic qualities of these car, and having installed these myself on my own car, I have some things to add.
The spot they have you locate your center one is TOO high on the hood. I found while reading through the Goodwrench factory works team aerodynamic data from the C5's LeMans hayday, that the highest pressure zone under the hood is 15" from the leading edge of the hood, which would see you placing your vent farther forward. Trackspec wants you to put it over the plastic intake manifold, but all that does is remove a liiiiiittle heat form your engine bay. If you place it farther forward, the air coming in through the radiator will have a place to leave, and it will scavenge hot air from the whole bay at the same time. This allows for a significant decrease in front-end lift, as well as makes your cooling more efficient both when stopped, and while moving.
I also located my side vents farther forward as well, but only because I wanted to place them where the hood is closest to the inner fender lines, so that I could vent my front fenders through the hood. Doing so allows you to pull the high pressure air from the wheel wells, further aiding in the reduction of front-end lift at speed, and making your brake cooling more efficient if you have something like the DRM racing brakes cooling setup.
The spot they have you locate your center one is TOO high on the hood. I found while reading through the Goodwrench factory works team aerodynamic data from the C5's LeMans hayday, that the highest pressure zone under the hood is 15" from the leading edge of the hood, which would see you placing your vent farther forward. Trackspec wants you to put it over the plastic intake manifold, but all that does is remove a liiiiiittle heat form your engine bay. If you place it farther forward, the air coming in through the radiator will have a place to leave, and it will scavenge hot air from the whole bay at the same time. This allows for a significant decrease in front-end lift, as well as makes your cooling more efficient both when stopped, and while moving.
I also located my side vents farther forward as well, but only because I wanted to place them where the hood is closest to the inner fender lines, so that I could vent my front fenders through the hood. Doing so allows you to pull the high pressure air from the wheel wells, further aiding in the reduction of front-end lift at speed, and making your brake cooling more efficient if you have something like the DRM racing brakes cooling setup.
05-07-2020, 08:29 PM
#14
Burning Brakes
I agree on the rivets, but at least they're black so they blend in a little from a distance haha. I'm sure they're just for ease of installation and leave no bolt/nuts to come loose. Install was a breeze compared to others that I've come across. My buddy asked for my help installing his on his MX5 Miata, I thought no sweat! After looking at the instructions, I said no way dude, that's all you. Made no sense, they wanted you to cut the hood surface one size, then turn the hood over and cut a slightly smaller hole on only the underskin that's sandwiched to the top layer. One slip and you're cutting through both layers
05-07-2020, 08:50 PM
#15
Drifting
In my extensive research into the aerodynamic qualities of these car, and having installed these myself on my own car, I have some things to add.
The spot they have you locate your center one is TOO high on the hood. I found while reading through the Goodwrench factory works team aerodynamic data from the C5's LeMans hayday, that the highest pressure zone under the hood is 15" from the leading edge of the hood, which would see you placing your vent farther forward. Trackspec wants you to put it over the plastic intake manifold, but all that does is remove a liiiiiittle heat form your engine bay. If you place it farther forward, the air coming in through the radiator will have a place to leave, and it will scavenge hot air from the whole bay at the same time. This allows for a significant decrease in front-end lift, as well as makes your cooling more efficient both when stopped, and while moving.
I also located my side vents farther forward as well, but only because I wanted to place them where the hood is closest to the inner fender lines, so that I could vent my front fenders through the hood. Doing so allows you to pull the high pressure air from the wheel wells, further aiding in the reduction of front-end lift at speed, and making your brake cooling more efficient if you have something like the DRM racing brakes cooling setup.
The spot they have you locate your center one is TOO high on the hood. I found while reading through the Goodwrench factory works team aerodynamic data from the C5's LeMans hayday, that the highest pressure zone under the hood is 15" from the leading edge of the hood, which would see you placing your vent farther forward. Trackspec wants you to put it over the plastic intake manifold, but all that does is remove a liiiiiittle heat form your engine bay. If you place it farther forward, the air coming in through the radiator will have a place to leave, and it will scavenge hot air from the whole bay at the same time. This allows for a significant decrease in front-end lift, as well as makes your cooling more efficient both when stopped, and while moving.
I also located my side vents farther forward as well, but only because I wanted to place them where the hood is closest to the inner fender lines, so that I could vent my front fenders through the hood. Doing so allows you to pull the high pressure air from the wheel wells, further aiding in the reduction of front-end lift at speed, and making your brake cooling more efficient if you have something like the DRM racing brakes cooling setup.
05-09-2020, 01:31 AM
#16
Drifting
Yes. After I put the vents in the hood, the fiberglass fire blanket became useless, so I sold it to a local forum member (I had hand painted it myself, so it was in especially fine nick). I then set out to find what was 1.) The ABSOLUTE LIGHTEST solution possible, and 2.) The best compromise in thermal efficiency. I found that to be gold heat reactive tape by DEA. I wrapped almost the entire under-hood of mine with the material.
05-09-2020, 09:13 AM
#17
Great info
05-11-2020, 07:15 PM
#19
Advanced
Slightly different perspective
This has been very enlightening, but I do have a question. I’m not a huge fan of the vents on these cars as I think it ruins the lines on the hood ( this is solely my Hangup I realize that) but I would like to shed some heat. With big headers and a Procharger it gets pretty toasty under that hood even with the headers jet coated in the Florida summers. I’m also not a fan of the after-market hoods available since the MCM hoods became scarce. So venting seems my best option, my question is has anyone seen a combination kit using the smaller T1 center vent and adding the much smaller G2 side vents? I would think that would be much more subtle and would assist In evacuating heat which is the basis for the entire project. I’m just looking for a solution I can live with and John at Tracspec said this has been done many times.
05-11-2020, 07:23 PM
#20
You can mix and match the Trackspec vents all you want, plenty of people have done that. Or any aftermarket vent(s) will work if you can get them to fit.
My question would be: obviously the added parts add heat, but is it enough to cause an actual issue? aka are you seeing coolant temps get out of control? do you have parts melting? etc
These blower kits were designed to be run with an otherwise stock car and plenty of people have run them without issue over the years with the stock hood or added cooling measures. I do intend to swap my stock hood back on at some point this year, I'll be sure to post up my result in here after. I currently have a cowl hood with only the side Trackspec vents. My gut feeling tells me there won't be a significant change in coolant temp and I won't melt anything, but I may be wrong...
My question would be: obviously the added parts add heat, but is it enough to cause an actual issue? aka are you seeing coolant temps get out of control? do you have parts melting? etc
These blower kits were designed to be run with an otherwise stock car and plenty of people have run them without issue over the years with the stock hood or added cooling measures. I do intend to swap my stock hood back on at some point this year, I'll be sure to post up my result in here after. I currently have a cowl hood with only the side Trackspec vents. My gut feeling tells me there won't be a significant change in coolant temp and I won't melt anything, but I may be wrong...