When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Send more pictures of that project. Very interested !
I would definitely like to see more photos too. I was very confused at first because I looked at the photo and at first glance thought you had taken plexi and covered the openings which would push more air through the radiator but actually cut down air into the engine. After looking at it more carefully I realized that no - those appear to be scoops made out of sheet metal??? that would help direct air up after it comes through the grille.
The interesting thing here would be what kind of effect this is really having. Since the air isn't being directly sent into the engine air intake it may be creating a pocket of negative air pressure as it goes up and hits the underside of the hood and therefore it may be harder to for the engine to pull air in. Or it could be creating a lot more turbulence under the hood right in front of the air intake which could also affect how air is being pulled into the engine.
Being here in the Pacific NW I would also be concerned about the scoops directing more water from rain/road spray up so it's more likely to be pulled into the intake. Normally I would think that since water has a bit more mass than air the majority of the water would be going into/through the radiator and not up and mostly air would be in the area above.
I'm curious what others think. I'm certainly not a professor of fluid dynamics (although my Calc III prof in undergrad was - which is also why I stopped at Calc III ) The main thing I know is that the dyanmics of air are often not what you'd think.
Exactly. It was a truly honest question. I have had it for 4 months and it has 300 miles on the ODO. I'll drive it more after the weather gets better. Right now I just drive the Tacoma because I don't keep it in the garage, so it's already out and dirty.
Com'mon....it's the PNW..... You know what they say, there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. For cars that must translate to there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad tires. Get it out and let it have a little fun in the rain otherwise it'll be June and it'll only be at 310 miles.
I'm curious what others think. I'm certainly not a professor of fluid dynamics (although my Calc III prof in undergrad was - which is also why I stopped at Calc III ) The main thing I know is that the dyanmics of air are often not what you'd think.
I drove it in heavy rain at about 80mph and the entire top area was soaked. It even went up the sides outside of the inner hood seal.
I then removed them and drove in the rain and the top area was dry. I'll get pics during the next heavy rain we get. The seal from the air box to the duct isn't water tight, so I'm not worried about heavy rain or shooting water from a hose into the upper vent. The oem filter does do a great job and people have been spraying water/ meth directly into engines.
I've been doing data logging on the MAF and speed to get some numbers together. All fun stuff....
So is the top graph without the scoops and the lower one is with the scoops?
I totally agree - the air filter would certainly keep water out of the engine but I wouldn't think it would be a great idea to get that much water in the filter or in that duct either. I also don't know that I'd want to soak the underside of the hood and throw that much water over the engine compartment. Again, that's coming from being in the Pacific NW where it's wet for many months - if I was in the southwest my concerns would likely be different. Ideally there would be a way push more air up that way but get the water to basically fall out - I've seen some thing where you can get particulate to fall out of air as it comes through a vent, but those are generally where you're sucking air in, creating a little turbulence, and letting gravity do the work. I'm not sure it would work with the air being scooped like that.
Com'mon....it's the PNW..... You know what they say, there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. For cars that must translate to there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad tires. Get it out and let it have a little fun in the rain otherwise it'll be June and it'll only be at 310 miles.
100% I love this weather and the rain is the best. Driving, MTB, and other fun PNW activities
When I was first looking at the GS I really wanted a Lux and part of what I liked about the Lux was the wheels. I'm also not one for really doing after market anything on my cars - I'm just a bit of a purist. It also helped that the Lux and the F Sport wheels are the exact same size so there were no other mods necessary to make them work - if there had been I probably would never have done it.
I was also extremely lucky. Early on when I was researching the wheels after I purchased the car I asked for help on CL finding the part number for the Lux wheels. Another CL member reached out to me saying he had a set for the AWD - he had swapped his for the wheels off an RC 350 F Sport and the GS wheels were just sitting in his garage. They were in near perfect shape (tiny tiny bit of very light curb rash on one) and the price he was asking was very reasonable. I definitely would not have done it if I had to buy them new from Lexus. Even at the re-manufactured price I would have thought twice.
Between covid and life it took us about a 9 months to make it happen but right before Christmas I had an email saying they were on their way. Luckily my parents always made me earn things I wanted so I can be super patient about waiting .
I do have to admit - the F Sport wheels did grow on me. I see them side by side and I like both of them a lot. Ultimately I think it comes down to why most folks do any sort of mod on their car - to make it theirs and a little bit special.
I'm still debating what I'm going to do with the F Sport wheels - maybe I'll get a set of fun really sporty directional summer tires and I'll run those on the F Sport wheels for 3-4 months each year.
I'm jealous... I always preferred the Lux wheels over the F Sport. No fitment issues, cleared the calipers fine? Squared setup? What tire sizes?
They fit perfectly - no fitment issues at all. They cleared the calipers just fine - I have to admit that was the one area I was a little concerned and couldn't quite confirm 100%. Everything else in terms of their dimensions seemed identical and it just didn't make sense to me that Lexus would do something that illogical.
Yep - squared setup since its an AWD. They're the standard stock tire size I believe - 235/40R19. The tires were nearly new when I got the car as a CPO and were still at 6 - 6.5. I played with the idea of getting new tires and leaving the old ones on the F Sport wheels. I realized about a week ago when we had a few really good days of rain that these tires are good but not great at channeling water out.
The guys at Discount here are great to work with and this time they went the extra mile. They said they'd spin the wheels before they did anything else to make sure there weren't any problems, that way they wouldn't charge me if they couldn't put the wheels on. I mentioned the concern about the calipers so they said they'd check that out too before anything else. When I asked about new tires they said the current ones would easily get me thought the summer and they looked great. The sales person said he'd be happy to replace them if I wanted but there was no technical reason to do so. That kind of honesty in business is one of the most important things to me.
I decided to keep the existing tires for now and get new ones when it was time. I'm still not sure what I'll do at that point. I've seen plenty of folks talk about going to 245/40s but I have to admit I'm not sure I fully understand what doing that would change about the driving dynamics of the car. I know it means the sidewall will be little taller which may help a little with the ride and I get that a wider tire means more surface area in contact with pavement so I would assume better traction. I'm sure like all things there are pros and cons.
01-13-21, 02:39 AM
) The main thing I know is that the dyanmics of air are often not what you'd think.
