As the title says, I'm wondering if vented hoods tend to cause more fatigue in our precious engine bays, more specifically in reference to the FD and ones that don't have a garage to hide from the elements under? It just seems like the addition of more water + the great under-hood temp swings of turbo rotaries, might be a step backwards in reliability department for some reason. My cars also have somewhat wide, outdoor temp swings to weather on occasion, if that makes any difference.

I'd never planned to go with an aftermarket hood, but unfortunately impaled a deer on our "unsafe" popup headlights. (which btw, kept bambi from coming through the windshield by altering its carcasses' path) But yea.. the only non-stock I like & only way I'd ever go to the arguably "better looking" '99 front bumper cover, is if I had an RE-A knockoff hood, and now is the time to do so if I'm ever gonna. Could possibly help resale later too, since many buyers seem to think the tuner look is superior. Any input/experience appreciated.

 

I do have a garage but also daily my FD so I'm sorta half-way to answering the question. And my answer is that in my experience, I haven't really noticed any increase in wear and tear from having my KnightSports vented bonnet. Sorry... hood . I'm fairly concientious about cleaning and maintenance though, so tend to have a wipe round with an oily rag in the engine bay every couple of weeks. Other than a few water marks on alloy components, nothing to report. Never results in squealing slipping belts even when starting her up after she's been sat in the rain, though I guess hoods with vents in different locations may affect things more.

 

Thanks for the input Nik. The recent events between me & bambi were a real pisser, as I previously had near perfect & all original bodywork/paint, heh. (not to mention, had managed to never hit anything larger than a cat, in anything) Oh well, could have been worse I suppose! I've lost any mercy for deer though & feel they belong either on the end of my fork, or mounted to a wall. Also, I guess I might add that I'm disabled & thus, will unfortunately not be able to wipe down my engine bay near as often or well as the average owner. More thoughts welcome on the subject..

 

Some cars come with vented hoods from factory so I'd say no. Regardless of hood being vented or not, some parts will wear or rust over a long period of tiime. A vented hood may only increase the effect slightly. If anything in our cars it'd make the hoses last longer

 

Well, you certainly earn my respect for having a disability and still driving an FD Deer are not good things to hit, despite those gangling Bambi legs they weigh a shitload! Mind you, last one I hit I was driving a 300-ton train so Bambi definitely lost that one big-style. He got his revenge by knocking half the air system off under the unit and I finished a night turn a couple of hours late cos I had to fix it to get the train moving again. All covered in burst deer,

I guess if cleaning and stuff is an issue, maybe a vented hood like the FEED one may be the one to go for cos the vents are all on the trailing edge and not over any major components (except the brake servo/ABS pump/etc). Mind you, I'm never sure how effective they are at cooling, in the old days Camaros and such used to call that a "cowl induction hood" and use it as an air intake

All the quality Jap hoods tend to come with rain trays anyway, my KnightSports one is rivetted in and does a good job diverting water harmlessly, but Scoot, Amemiya et all generally have detachable ones you can install in poor weather and remove for the summer

 

Ahhh, this I didn't know, thx for the info. (though I'm guessing most of the knock-off's don't come with such) So far the only CF hoods I've bought have been factory style, (for other cars), and to make raising them easier more than anything. In this case it'd be mostly for aesthetics, since like I said, I feel the '99 signals need some accompanying angles to make them not look out of place on such an otherwise so smoothly sculpted/non-pointy body. As far as cooling, having been designed by RE-A & knowing how much heat our engines put off, I just expected that design to possibly be functional too. I'll likely stick with the original, but figured I'd explore all aspects of my options.

Also, ack @ the burst deer removal from train!! and haha Alpsta at the added moisturizing, you might be right, lol.

As before, more input welcome from anybody with thoughts on the subject.

 

I've driven in pouring rain, and my only concern had been water somehow getting into the alternator, but after three years, I have no electrical problems. I've never used the rain trays btw.

With my huge vents, I can easily see heat leaving my engine bay, and even the stock IC does not get heat soaked. It makes a huge difference in under-hood temps.

Of course, it's not as clean as the stock hood, but it's SO functional. My engine bay is no longer an oven.

< If you click my avatar, you can see my hood.

 

Thanks for the input juicyjosh. If anybody's got one and/or pic, I'd love to see the RE-A hood on an otherwise, stock-bodied FD. I'm sure I've seen this combo in the past, but who knows on what page etc.

 

On my FC I have a set of custom vents. I've never had any problems due to rain or snow and when my electric fan died, I managed to drive home in the middle of summer without overheating.