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Blocking the air flow = warmup

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Doug E B, Mar 27, 2013.

  1. Doug E B

    Doug E B Junior Member

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    Have seen several threads about blocking the grill area so car can warm up faster but they mostly deal with inserting pipe insulation into the grill.
    I got to thinking about how some big rigs have a shutter setup in front of the grill so air flow is decreased thus allowing a faster warm up. Has anyone tried such a set up on a Prius?.
    Thinking of using a temp sensor / Microcontroller set up with a servo motor. When cold the blinds are closed. After reaching a set temperature the blinds open. Insert directly in front of the radiator so its out of sight. Don't want no ugly blinds in the exterior of the vehicle.
    Just contemplating and maybe actually build such a setup.
    Any thoughts
     
    #1 Doug E B, Mar 27, 2013
  2. gliderman

    gliderman Active Member

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    A simple search will give you alot of history and information.
     
    #2 gliderman, Mar 27, 2013
  3. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    You would do better with the shutters set up to vary the airflow as required to cool the car as opposed to an open or closed system.
     
    #3 xs650, Mar 27, 2013
  4. css28

    css28 Senior Member

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    The pipe insulation method probably does better for air drag reduction. See the Volt for good execution of the shutters.
     
    #4 css28, Mar 27, 2013
  5. szgabor

    szgabor Active Member

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    If you are successful you should share ... or even offer to build for others there might be interest but
     
    #5 szgabor, Mar 27, 2013
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