"The Confines of the Engine Compartment"

[JeffYoung]

Agree.

I agree with you, with the following:


This is supported philosophically, in that the regs do not allow you to make a shorty radiator and leave a hole next to it for air intake. It would be nice, howver, for that to be explicitly clarified in the regs (easy to supplement the "engine compartment" definition within the ITCS.)



I agree that the intake portion of it should be behind the plane of the radiator. However, there is no restriction to the mounting portion of it needing to be behind that, as long as air is not taken in from there.

GA

[Chip42]

I dislike the radiator being considered a standard part of the outline of the engine compartments due to mid engined cars and oddballs like the 5cyl audis, not to mention 1/2 width radiators found on many hondas and a few other cars.

in the case of the miata - yeah, a fine, common sensical boundary, but I think we should be clear with ourselves that it is not a valid definition in MANY cases.

[JeffYoung]

I dislike the radiator being considered a standard part of the outline of the engine compartments due to mid engined cars and oddballs like the 5cyl audis, not to mention 1/2 width radiators found on many hondas and a few other cars.

in the case of the miata - yeah, a fine, common sensical boundary, but I think we should be clear with ourselves that it is not a valid definition in MANY cases.

This is a pretty easy "know it when you see it" thing though. Something like "within the confines of the engine compartment, which is typically bounded by the radiator (front), hood (top), inner fenders (sides) and subframe or other engine mounting points (lower)" -- something like that.

[Chip42]

definition comes from the technical glossary in the GCR and we just use the term and the allowances for intake ducting in the ITCS. I doubt they will rewrite the definition to suit tin tops because wings and things. better just to, as you say, know it when you see it.