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NEW - FP FP350S HOOD VENT KIT

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yotah1

Ford Employee
386
598
Detroit
Because the build quality is just not the same... Nothing agains Carter's Customs, or Trackspec or other companies like that, but the fit and finish is not always on par with that of the OEM parts. And for example, the FP350S part completely replaces and fills the cavity of the OEM GT350 hood vent, whereas Carter's part leave it void and doesn't bother because that vent ahs a couple of trick compound curves you have to adjust your part to...

It's cheaper, and there's always a reason why.
 
Because the build quality is just not the same...the fit and finish is not always on par with that of the OEM parts.
It's cheaper, and there's always a reason why.

Is fit and finish really worth an item that costs 3x more? Yeah the build quality *may* be a bit better, but I can't imagine these are 3x as good.

Yup, and one of the reasons is mark-up pure and simple.
 

yotah1

Ford Employee
386
598
Detroit
Is fit and finish really worth an item that costs 3x more? Yeah the build quality *may* be a bit better, but I can't imagine these are 3x as good.

Yup, and one of the reasons is mark-up pure and simple.

To me it matters... but each to their own. Some people are happy painting their car with spray cans or plastidip and calling it a day for example. I'm not of that school of thoughts.
 
Some people are happy painting their car with spray cans or plastidip and calling it a day for example. I'm not of that school of thoughts.

That's highly exaggerated, you're making it seem that the quality difference between the FP unit and Trackspec unit for example is the same as the difference between a factory paint job vs. a rattle can paint job.
 
2,198
1,065
Bay Area
I have a hard time arguing for Ford Performance having superior fitment these day’s, but that’s from my recent experiences on engine parts.
That said, I wish a nice composite or carbon part was out there.

HA!! I agree with you @captdistraction.

Fitment for a Ford product? That's just funny. We could go on to argue about body panel, engine components, or any other part on any of Fords models.
 

Ludachris

Chris
Staff member
Moderator
1,658
1,962
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Newcastle, CA
I think you're probably going to pay more when a very large company creates a product like this in-house and sells it, compared to a smaller company making something similar - assuming it's an apples to apples comparison. There tends to be more costs involved in creating that product for the larger company (R&D, equipment/machinery, human resources, marketing, distributor pricing structures, legal, and other expenses) that smaller, leaner companies don't always have to factor into their costs. Even when the larger company outsources the manufacturing to parts of the world where the labor is crazy cheap, they're going to mark the cost up to cover some of the other expenses.
 
I’ve always had good experiences with FRPP stuff. Companies like Maximum Motorsports and Steeda make great components, but if FRPP offers a part that I want, I buy it. Not because I hate money, but because I KNOW it will fit, have a nice finish, and last the life of my car.
There’s cheaper alternatives, sure. There’s also the fact that nothing will give you the quality assurance of an OEM performance part. To me, that’s worth the extra money.
 
Ok so I’ve got a question about hood vents in general, and this one in particular.

I’ve read that the race louver is the most effective for s550’s. It’s also the smallest. Given that ford has all the resources for testing wouldn’t they have built this vent smaller if the wind tunnel proved smaller was better? I’ve also read a wicker to disrupt the boundary layer adhesion helps considerably. I don’t see a wicker on the leading edge of this vent.

What gives?
 
Ok so I’ve got a question about hood vents in general, and this one in particular.

I’ve read that the race louver is the most effective for s550’s. It’s also the smallest. Given that ford has all the resources for testing wouldn’t they have built this vent smaller if the wind tunnel proved smaller was better? I’ve also read a wicker to disrupt the boundary layer adhesion helps considerably. I don’t see a wicker on the leading edge of this vent.

What gives?
Boundary layers in aero refers to the layer of air immediately above the boundary surface (English Translation: the lower speed air that is passing over/coming in contact with your hood). This is the air that is creating your downforce.

The vents purpose on the hood is not to create downforce, but to relieve pressure from the engine bay. You want as much downforce as possible, so this is why the race louver is so small. Wickers only help if you’re trying to disrupt that layer, or remove that force from the surface. You don’t see one because we’re not trying to remove downforce from the hood.
... and look cool. It’s gotta look cool too.
Hope this helps.
 
741
1,075
TX
Ok so I’ve got a question about hood vents in general, and this one in particular.

I’ve read that the race louver is the most effective for s550’s. It’s also the smallest. Given that ford has all the resources for testing wouldn’t they have built this vent smaller if the wind tunnel proved smaller was better? I’ve also read a wicker to disrupt the boundary layer adhesion helps considerably. I don’t see a wicker on the leading edge of this vent.

What gives?

Ultimately this hood vent was developed by Watson, not Ford. Something to keep in mind.

I'm with @captdistraction - I'm extremely weary of FRPP stuff now. And FP support hasn't been spectacular for me, either.
 

captdistraction

GrumpyRacer
1,954
1,698
Phoenix, Az
Blows up, doesn’t fit, or is expensive. Check two boxes for any given part I have bought in the last couple years.

we just finished completely rebuilding a oil pump pickup tube, completely had to redo a windage tray/gasket, and probably have 8 shop hours Cleaning up a brand new oil pan, including making dowels for alignment on the block as out of the box you could not correctly bolt it to a fresh bare block.
 

EIGHTLUG

https://www.archetyperacing.com
Supporting Vendor
I have a hard time arguing for Ford Performance having superior fitment these day’s, but that’s from my recent experiences on engine parts.
That said, I wish a nice composite or carbon part was out there.
I have this hood by Anderson Composites. The fit was better than my OEM hood. My painter was actually quite surprised, and this guy is pickier than me!

CF2.jpg

CF3.jpg

CF4.jpg

CF5.jpg
 
A little late to the party but the primary purpose of our hood extractors are to increase cooling airlfow thru the radiators and the side benefit is increased downforce. Yes the wicker does disturb the boundry layer flow creating negative pressure above the louver blades aiding extraction but thats a small part of the equation. So as the airflow thru the engine bay increases cooling increases and the airs pressure decreases netting some reduced lift or downforce. If the main goal is cooling then its just simply installing some extractors for max airflow. If downforce is the main goal you would want to over cool the car by using the largest extractors you can fit on the hood, then seal up the front grill some back to the original coolant temps. This nets the same differential pressure across the radiator for required cooling but now the raw pressures front and rear are significantly lower netting large gains in front downforce. The idea of simply relieving under hood pressure is old tech. FYI if you look at our wind tunnel data we have tested that old louver design posted above, we call it by its design name 'recessed louvers'. Hope that helps. www.racelouvers.com
 

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