Whizbang

Might be paranoid or it could be the exhaust fumes getting into the car but anyway...

I noticed that when im at low speeds or stopped with the fans on the car sits at about a hair under 180*F to about 185*F. When im driving at speeds over 25mph, it actually starts to get a little warmer.

The commute to work was okay, freeways getting about 195 degrees at maybe 55 ambient temps.

I noticed yesterday during my commute home from work, doing freeways speeds (65-70) the car got rather hot like 230-235*F. Or is that even reallly THAT hot? this was flat ground, no hills. Hills caused a little creep, but not much. Outside temp was 95 degrees. Fans on or off didnt make too much difference. This was the same situation the weekend of the Idaho Rally driving in to the mountains. Not even really "getting on it" the car just got hot going up hills but cooled down once i was flat or going down hill in neutral.

I had no ducting around the radiator AT ALL. Nothing. So im thinking there is less resistance for the air to go around the radiator than through it at higher speeds. So last night I made some ducting from aluminum. Need to support the lower part since it bent down on the freeway (doh!) and the one side was rather complicated so i want to use rubber there instead of Al.

Going to work this morning, its cooler outside (55ish) and the temps where better at about 195. So it could be the bent ducting on the bottom, but not really looking too different. I'll see on the way home.

thermostat is 180*.
miata 1.6 engine
saab 900 turbo radiator and fans
nothning fancy about the coolant
4,78 gears


thoughts?