I have a 2025 Dark Horse Handling Package which spends a good amount of time on the track, but is a dual purpose car that also sees a good number of street miles. Bought it in January and it's got nearly 6k miles on it so far. The cooling system on the car is overall very good. I do see temps getting up around the 240F CHT range and 280F oil temp range, which from reading up is pretty common and not concerning. I have gotten to where I've felt the engine start to pull some power, and if running windows closed and AC on I'll have a few cases where it'll turn the AC off (which appears to be related to temperature, although I haven't experimented enough to figure out the exact times that happens).
I am considering a hood modification of some form to improve airflow and thus cooling. While it's not "needed" per se, improving cooling isn't a bad thing. I am also looking at potential (minor) downforce improvements that some options advertise which, again, not a bad thing, although not something I'm looking at as likely to improve my times by any meaningful amount.
Right now I'm looking at options of either modifying my hood with options from Race Louvers, or buying a replacement hood that has vents in it. A friend of mine bought an eBay aluminum GTD replica hood for his S550 that he's happy with on quality and has removable vent covers (so the vents are functional), but he hasn't (and doesn't plan to) track that car, so there's not any data I can go with from him. Logic would say it should be airflow an improvement over my stock hood (and look cooler) but logic and aerodynamics don't always align. The particular one he got (but for my S650 vs. his S550):
Bunch of AI generated photos that don't give me a great warm fuzzy but such is the world these days.
Since the car is still a street car, I don't want anything I do to significantly impact the streetability of the car, and I am looking for function. So I don't want a hood that's super fragile, don't want something that's going to increase my weight vs. stock. Hood pins I'd be fine with if needed. In general I'd say I would prefer to not cut up my factory hood, but if that's going to give me the best results, I'm game.
I have looked at some of the DH-R service bulletins on modifications. I don't particularly want to cut up my stock fan shroud as I think that may hurt my street (i.e. sitting in traffic) cooling, and I don't really want to remove the stock grille and put mesh in, but that's one I'd be more open to.
Curious what others have done and would recommend, or if I'm barking up the wrong tree.
I am considering a hood modification of some form to improve airflow and thus cooling. While it's not "needed" per se, improving cooling isn't a bad thing. I am also looking at potential (minor) downforce improvements that some options advertise which, again, not a bad thing, although not something I'm looking at as likely to improve my times by any meaningful amount.
Right now I'm looking at options of either modifying my hood with options from Race Louvers, or buying a replacement hood that has vents in it. A friend of mine bought an eBay aluminum GTD replica hood for his S550 that he's happy with on quality and has removable vent covers (so the vents are functional), but he hasn't (and doesn't plan to) track that car, so there's not any data I can go with from him. Logic would say it should be airflow an improvement over my stock hood (and look cooler) but logic and aerodynamics don't always align. The particular one he got (but for my S650 vs. his S550):
Bunch of AI generated photos that don't give me a great warm fuzzy but such is the world these days.
Since the car is still a street car, I don't want anything I do to significantly impact the streetability of the car, and I am looking for function. So I don't want a hood that's super fragile, don't want something that's going to increase my weight vs. stock. Hood pins I'd be fine with if needed. In general I'd say I would prefer to not cut up my factory hood, but if that's going to give me the best results, I'm game.
I have looked at some of the DH-R service bulletins on modifications. I don't particularly want to cut up my stock fan shroud as I think that may hurt my street (i.e. sitting in traffic) cooling, and I don't really want to remove the stock grille and put mesh in, but that's one I'd be more open to.
Curious what others have done and would recommend, or if I'm barking up the wrong tree.
