Bought a Vis CF KS hood just like one that Damian has. For pictures, see his thread.

Paid $595.00. Got it w/in 2 weeks. Very well packed.

The thing does work at lowering coolant temperature. The final proof was shown to me to day when I was behind a trash truck. Apparently, some kind of mattress stuffing flew off and I drove through it. The stuffing, in tiny pieces went through the radiator nose and got caught behind the grating on the hood vent.

Fit and finish : I give it a 8 out of 10. The epoxy is very good and clear. The CF weave is clearly visible.

I don't think it's CF though because on the opposite side, you don't see the epoxy through the CF weave.

Hood gap a little uneven in the front and sides. One side didn't close down completely flush with the front head light but that could be due to my M2 large IC end tank.

Hood pins are a definite must. I tried it with the stock latch. At 70 or above, the hood bulged visibly on the sides. I used the low profile Moroso hood latch that Crispy used. You cannot use rivets to keep the latch secured to the hood. I used #6 screw and nuts instead.

Warning: the epoxy is not very strong. Initially, there was no hairline cracks after I had drilled through the hood for hood pins.

However, after three days of driving, there are hairline cracks growing from the center of each hole. That is the strange part, I would figure that the hairline cracks, if any, would emanate from the screw retention holes. Yet it wasn't the screw holes that had the hairline cracks. I may have to cutout the bottom panel and JB-Weld the CF from the back to ensure the structural integrity of the hood.

So it comes down to this:

1. It does work at lowering coolant temp and air intake temp
2. It would be great without hood pins
3. But w/o hood pins, it's unsafe
4. And if you use hood pins, hairline cracks are formed and therefore the structural integrity of the hood is now questionable.

Given these observations, I would not purchase the hood again knowing what I know now.

 

It's all about how you drill the hole for resisting those hairline cracks. I also highly doubt that the cracks extend all the way through. Probably in the clear coat or top layer.

 

pics!

 

install the hoodpins correctly, and you shouldn't have a problem, it sounds like you have them screwed too far down (the studs)

 

I started with very small drill, slowly moved up in sizes. Finally used a dremel to smooth out the hole.

Regardless, there wasn't any cracks when I first installed the latching portion on top of the hood.

 

the reason you probably can't see the weave from the bottom is it's reinforced with fiberglass, not 100% CF.

 

How does the stuffing make it from the truck, through the nose inlet, through the radiator and then into the hood vents?

 

I'll bet he's got an un-covered Air-Duct hole. OR.... the stuff got into the primary filter, went through the intake pipe into the Y-Pipe and the BOV blew it out

 

Good info. Thanks for the write up.

 

I think most CF hoods are FG core with CF cover.. I've seen couple of them like that.. I guess to save layers and layers of CF to make it thicker and stronger..

 

Poman, what type of IC do you have...SM, VM, or FM?

 

Umm, I don't doubt that a vented hood can help drop coolant temps, but I don't see the above described instance as "final proof". Did you do any reliable before/after comparisons on PFC or other readings?

 

I have a fluidyne and I haven't made a seal for the side air gaps b/w the radiator and frame rail yet. The stuffing, more like threaded stuffing must have gotten in the gaps (as there were alot of the stuffing caught in the front nose of the car). The stuffing were stuck in the larger middle screen that came with the hood.

I thought about getting a smoke bomb, have a friend hold it in front of the nose of the car while I'm driving behind him to see if the smoke would come through the vents.

In light of the upgraded security in DC, it might not be a good idea.

 

I recorded some temperatures in the spring when ambient temp was about 80F. Today was about 80F, and I'm running 185 instead of 200 at steady cruise; 210 instead of 220 at heavy boost (12 psi up a 1/2 mile hill ). Keep in mind, however that the prior temperatures were with the rear firewall seal removed. The firewall seal is critical in preventing backflow and so the temperatures datalogged in the spring may not be reflective of the true temp with the OEM hood.

The best way to do it would be to put the OEM hood on make a two-way run, take the OEM hood off, put the vented one on. I don't have time for it though. Overall, I do see lower temperature overall.

In fact, I was playing with a Ducati 996 for about 15 minutes in 80f ambient and coolant temp never got above 220. We started in second gear 30 mph; I stayed with him all the way to 120 then we backed off. He was surprised. I wasn't.

 

I like it sideway: M2 Large.

 

Neither am I. Second gear @30 mph on a Ducati 996 is about 1800 rpm, way out of its (and most any other bike's) powerband; the thing is geared so tall, at that rpm, all the engine will do at wide open throttle is vibrate and ****** the drive chain. If he had started off in first gear at 30mph (and he was anywhere near a halfway-skilled rider), your FD would need to be a 10-second-capable car in the quarter-mile to stay with him.

 

I heard the guy downshifted behind me but he could've been in 3rd gear.

But isn't the Ducati 996 output the same HP as a Gixxer 750. Those I can handle, as long as we're starting above 50 mph. Oh, and I have to switch to 14psi though.

The funny thing is that I'm so used to 7's power that I feel like it's really slow. And then I play with bikes and realized hell, it's fast.

 

Third gear, at 30mph? Oh well, no need to have this thread go sailing way off topic debating the performance of bikes vs. cars. Suffice it to say that bikes require a lot more pilot skill to extract their speed...

 

Thanks for the information, all good points regarding CF and vented hoods. Josh

 

 

One other suggestion I would have for those with CF hoods...most are coated with clear coat (it's not epoxy) for a bit of UV protection. That clear coat can and will form hairline cracks if the underside of the hood isn't insulated. This is doubly true for those running with a single turbo and bad heat shields :-) I already had my KS carbon hood re-cleared once due to this issue.

Also, for drilling hood pins, put the drill bit on reverse and use a new, nice and sharp bit. Works like a charm with no fraying of the CF weave and no hairline cracks.

 

 

Oh, I used a thermotec product I purchased from Summit. Reflective insulation with an adhesive back. Wasn't cheap, but less expensive than having the hood re-cleared.

 

 

I used the non-adhesive backed (thinner) and did it right behind the two large openings. Is that adequate or should I also do it in the area in front of the large openings (area b/w the headlights.).