2012 vs 2013 hood vents - effective improvement?

[dmichaels]

In my lurking around on the forums, it seems the 2012's (Boss and GT) have some overheating issues at the track. It looks like opening up the front fascia (higher flowing grill) and removing fog blockers helps, but I'm curious if the hood vents in the 2013 models actually have any noticeable or documented improvement over the 2012 design? Purpose of the question is I'm not sure I want to remove the factory fogs that my car will come, so I'm interested in some of your experiences with the vented hood (2013 style) and if heat extraction seems to be better

Couldn't find much along these lines in my searches - if there is a good thread please send my way.

 

[DGRacing]

I would say, monitor your car's temps and see if anything needs to be done. I track my car very hard and do not have overheating issues. My temps stay below 210. Other people seem to have runaway overheating even after half a dozen cooling mods put on so there are threads about those with lots of posts.

My own opinion is that some cars just have flawed motors and will tend to overheat regardless. Others perform better. Just see how your car cools and go from there.

There are also removable fog light deletes you can get for the '12 models. Or you can simply swap the grill for one like the 302s version. I added hood vents to my '12 that work fine, but didn't take hard data before/after unfortunately.

 

[dmichaels]

Thx for the quick response - I'll absolutely be monitoring closely at the track (after blowing up the turbo on my S4 I am just a tad paranoid about high oil and water temps )

If the fogs are easy to pop out (assume they aren't bad) I may just remove for the summer months and pop back in during the winter months (when I hope not to drive the car much anyways!)

 

[Jimmy Pribble]

Thx for the quick response - I'll absolutely be monitoring closely at the track (after blowing up the turbo on my S4 I am just a tad paranoid about high oil and water temps )

A 2.7t? Me, too!

Anyway, I agree with DGR, not everyone seems to have problems. I track the Boss in Texas and my water gauge never budges off of center. No cooling mods at all, except I drilled-out the fake fog blanks. Don't solve a problem you don't have. Go have fun and keep an eye on temps.

 

[cloud9]

The one consistent factor is elevation. The guys closer to sea level don't seem to have many issues. I'm between 1100 and 2000 ft above sea level depending on the track and have a lot of issues, particularly with CHT. The guys in the mountains at 5000 ft really have it bad.

 

[PJWANNABE]

I have not had any overheating issues at all so far. I have a 302S grille and stock hood. I would like to have a hood like the 2013 for the cool look factor though. ;D Saleen has a hood that looks like a 2012 hood with 2013 hood vents on their new 2013-2014 cars, reminiscent of their earlier S281 hood. I hope it fits a 2012 and they will sell the hood only!

 

[TymeSlayer]

The one consistent factor is elevation. The guys closer to sea level don't seem to have many issues. I'm between 1100 and 2000 ft above sea level depending on the track and have a lot of issues, particularly with CHT. The guys in the mountains at 5000 ft really have it bad.

We do? I'm at 5200 feet and have never had any overheating issues. The only cooling mod I have is the Roush seven bar billet grill that does allow better airflow than the 2012 factory grille but that's about it.

 

[cloud9]

We do? I'm at 5200 feet and have never had any overheating issues. The only cooling mod I have is the Roush seven bar billet grill that does allow better airflow than the 2012 factory grille but that's about it.

Are you tracking the car? JScheier in Denver and the cars at MMP were all having overheating issues and Ford even confirmed that elevation has a significant effect on cooling. If you're tracking the car and not having any overheating issues at that elevation I guess you're fortunate. Pulling the grille or the Roush grille are the most effective cooling mod though. I get an immediate 15-20 degree drop in engine temps by just pulling the grille.

 

[ford20]

Are any of you guys that are over heating running meth? It would be a semi cheap way to reduce your IAT temperatures.

 

[VoodooBoss]

You would think the vents would help but by how much? Even the Tiger Racing 302S hood didn't help much for those that installed it and were having cooling problems. It's been well documented that the cooling issue is related to airflow into the radiator so opening up the grille is the obvious place to start.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

It also depends how hard you are driving the car on track, and how much time you are spending above 7000 rpm.

 

[cloud9]

I have not had any overheating issues at all so far. I have a 302S grille and stock hood. I would like to have a hood like the 2013 for the cool look factor though. ;D Saleen has a hood that looks like a 2012 hood with 2013 hood vents on their new 2013-2014 cars, reminiscent of their earlier S281 hood. I hope it fits a 2012 and they will sell the hood only!

My buddies with GTs don't either. Like Rick said, it's living above 7000 RPM that's the killer. I remember reading somewhere when they first launched the Boss how the engine strain above 7,000 rpms was one of the biggest challenges with the Boss program. It's exponential above 7000, not additive if I remember what they were saying right.