I'm leaning towards having the radiator in the front, but having it nearer the engine would have seom advantages and some disadvantages (mainly problem getting enough airflow).

I noticed that when placing the radiator in the front some lean it backwards while other lean it forwards.

Any thoughts on these subjects?

some cars, like the lotus elise have it horizontal to the floor. So dont think it matters if you have it forward or back.

My rationale for putting the radiator more or less vertical and as far foward as practicable was based on trying to get the maximum throughput:

- Vertical gets better airflow

- Further forward in the nose cone means less air escapes round the edges.

However, if you put ducting round the channel to the radiator, it shouldn't be bad.

Thinking Along the same lines.

Vertical would be best but if angled is needed you need to to stop the air finding the easiest route out rather that passing through the radiator ie arround the side over the top.


regards

Agriv8

surley the amount of air flow possible through a radiator matrix is very low compared to the amount at any sort of speed
so an angled one would possible give u a bit less drag ? or am i wrong

Here's a quote from the "750 Racer" book:
"But a word of warning. Many (rads) have an open matrix, as they are fitted in the donor vehicle in a shroud with a cooling fan, and are designed to allow air to pass freely through them under normal operating conditions. This does not provide sufficient cooling when racing. A way around the problem is to incline the rad forward by approximately 30 per cent so that air must slow to pass through it and thus absorb more heat."

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Rod

[Edited on 7/4/06 by cs3tcr]

If you can, use a slight expanding duct to the radiator.

This will slow the air down and allow greater heat transfer from the radiator.

Then use a slight converging duct away from it to accelerate the air back out. Also if your venting air back out think about where your venting it. You ideally want the exhaust vent to be at a low(er) pressure point. Hence the reason WRC rally cars etc have the radiator vents front/mid bonnet and not towards the back (at the windscrene scuttle) as its a high pressure point.

Makes a huge difference to cooling.

Regards

Jono

I have a similar problem, but i cant mount a rad in the front (no room at all). At the moment i am running 2 Mini rads (either side of engine) but am looking at mounting a larger rad behind the engine. The problems i am thinking about are: do i need ducting to help air flow whilst moving? with the rad being in back is it ok to have it angled? where to put the electric fans? do i mount them behind the rad so as not to get in way of what little air will be flowing in, but this then means that when fans are on the are pushing the air into the engine bay, against any air coming in.

Thanks for the input. The rason for leaning the radiator is simply to get a more wedge shaped car.

Radiator behind the engine could also work. At http://project911.luminasweden.com/ there is an interesting project where they beef up an old Porshe 911 by using the engine from a SAAB 9000. They use a Audi 80 radiator mounted on the non turbo side of the engine with intercooler on top.