2012 GS Front Vent
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 1,442
Likes: 209
From: Lake Mary Florida
2012 GS Front Vent
I know this has been addressed before but I could not find the threads so please cut me a break.
I believe the vent on a GS in front of the hood at the top of the front fascia is functional and directs outside air down into the air intake area.
Given this must be a small volume of air, has anyone drilled holes in the panel behind the vent to re-direct air into the engine compartment? If so, did this provide a favorable effect on engine temperature?
Thanks in advance.
BIGMAC
1998 C5 (Avatar Pic)
2012 C6 GS (3 year build still in shakedown
)
I believe the vent on a GS in front of the hood at the top of the front fascia is functional and directs outside air down into the air intake area.
Given this must be a small volume of air, has anyone drilled holes in the panel behind the vent to re-direct air into the engine compartment? If so, did this provide a favorable effect on engine temperature?
Thanks in advance.
BIGMAC
1998 C5 (Avatar Pic)
2012 C6 GS (3 year build still in shakedown
)
Pro
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 509
Likes: 52
From: DFW Texas
I've also been wondering about this as i am going to use a heat shield to block the hot air from the engine. The only air I'll be wanting to use is out of the front scoop but a bit concerned if it'll be enough flow through there.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 5,376
Likes: 1,118
It is functional from factory, but the plastic mesh and the lip of the nose behind the vent/duct blocks airflow through it significantly, and diverts it downwards. I've opened mine up a bit by cutting out the mesh, but there's still the plastic frame with the noseclip is bolted to right behind that. I think you can open it up much more than I did, if you remove the nose and cut out that area of the plastic frame, but I didn't want to do that and damage the structural integrity of the nose, so I just removed the bezel, masked off the painted area, and used a dremel tool and very carefully cut the mesh out. This probably significantly increased the amount of air going through the duct, but it's still nothing compared to opening up the radiator shroud. I took the "every little bit helps" approach though. Plus, I believe that if a car has a vent anywhere in the body work, it should damn well be functional. You can't really notice it when you put the bezel back in. Sorry for the crappy photo. 
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 20,352
Likes: 568
From: Ventura County, Calif
Corvette engineers designed it to feed "make-up" air for air drawn out of the side vents. It does aid engine compartment cooling.
The hood scoop on the Z06 (as well as the Grand Sport) is 100% functional for it's designed intent.
It is there to equalize air intake (make-up air) to balance out the air drawn out of the engine compartment by the heat extractor vents (side gills). Just as your home air conditioning system needs to have vents in strategic places around the home to feed air back in to the system. Without air in, you eventually won't get air out.
The idea was to make it as small as possible to not add a drag penalty and negatively affect aerodynamics any more than necessary. At speed, the gills on the side of the car draw air (due to pressure differential) out of the engine compartment to help lower air temperature both for engine cooling as well as cooler air available for the intake. The front opening allows air to enter the engine compartment to make up for the air drawn out by the side openings without adding too much of a drag penalty to the overall aero performance of the car. It is a balancing act.
(Follow Up to Another Question)
Not trying to sell you on anything. I know where my information comes from. It is what it is and folks can either choose to believe it or not, not much more I can offer to convince.
It is there to equalize air intake (make-up air) to balance out the air drawn out of the engine compartment by the heat extractor vents (side gills). Just as your home air conditioning system needs to have vents in strategic places around the home to feed air back in to the system. Without air in, you eventually won't get air out.
The idea was to make it as small as possible to not add a drag penalty and negatively affect aerodynamics any more than necessary. At speed, the gills on the side of the car draw air (due to pressure differential) out of the engine compartment to help lower air temperature both for engine cooling as well as cooler air available for the intake. The front opening allows air to enter the engine compartment to make up for the air drawn out by the side openings without adding too much of a drag penalty to the overall aero performance of the car. It is a balancing act.
(Follow Up to Another Question)
Not trying to sell you on anything. I know where my information comes from. It is what it is and folks can either choose to believe it or not, not much more I can offer to convince.
