Interior Cooling

[LondonTom]

My car (e30) has had it's heater / fan removed (previous owner), it's also fitted with perspex windows, the sunroof sealed and has no carpet.

In short it gets bloody hot inside and was wondering what I can do to reduce the temperatures whilst driving.

I've looked into ducting from the rear windows but not sure how effective it will be, however would prefer not to have to put the original heater matrix back in.

Thanks

Tom

[Wh00sher]

I tried lots of various vents with varying degrees of success.

Finally fitted a roof scoop. Don't really like them aesthetically, but the difference was night and day. Seriously, I've had passengers complain they are too cold!

I'd recommend one without hesitation.

[brian394]

Majority of the Kumho cars have NACA ducts on the rear quarter windows with ducting moving the air to the driver. They also usually have 3 holes in the rear window, this allows for the movement of air through the car.

Could give that a go? That's what I plan on doing with my e36 in the next couple weeks.

Edited by brian394 on Tuesday 2nd June 14:29

[andburg]

[Munter]

Do the existing windows have a small sliding "window". If so you could try fitting a scoop on to them...

http://www.acwmotorsportplastics.co.uk/window-scoo...

[LondonTom]

Cheers chaps - I've been looking into the naca ducts for the rear windows.

Just re the roof scoop can this be sealed off if being used in the winter?

Here's the car in question:

[McSam]

That's absolutely lovely, no wonder you wanted to post a photo

Either a roof scoop or, less invasively, a NACA in a rear window with ducting towards you should be fine. Outside air coming into the cabin directly is very effective. As Brian mentions above, make sure you put holes in the rear window to allow air out.. It gives you much better cooling and stops problems with resonances or overpressure, which in extreme cases can blow out a window!

[iguana]

I hate being too hot on track, the last ever weight saving mod I would do is remove the drivers window & lowering mech, seems a shame to stick a roof vent on such a clean looking car, I'd look at going back to glass.

[Richyvrlimited]

A bit left field, but DIY a 'cool shirt'?

[McSam]

Good way to add a load of ballache and 20kg back into the car, those things!

[braddo]

iguana said:

I hate being too hot on track, the last ever weight saving mod I would do is remove the drivers window & lowering mech, seems a shame to stick a roof vent on such a clean looking car, I'd look at going back to glass.

This. And shouldn't it be possible to use whatever air source the HVAC used to get air into the cabin? Either simple ducting or the original fan without connecting up the heater?

Especially with a nice looking car such as this one, I'd far rather put a heater fan back in under the dash than have ducts and holes in the fixed windows. [/tart] Better for when it's raining too.

[GC8]

Id fit a double outlet duct into the drivers side rear window. If you need it, and I don't expect that you will, you can fit a scoop on the outside. You can also fit an inline fan to the hose, but this will probably be too much.

I would also re-fit the HVAC, or at the very least a small heater and fan assembly. Removing the heater is a really common 'because racecar' mistake. No one who knows what they're doing will remove such a valuable item (auxiliary engine cooling, windscreen demisting, cabin cooling); in fact, many most race cars will still have air conditioning - you gain far more from having it fitted than the extra weight ever costs.

It might be easier to retro-fit something like this (I cant remember how to insert links...):

http://www.carbuildersolutions.com/uk/all-in-one-c...

Not necessarily the best option, but its a starting point. Id go for one which included a demister vent on the top for ease.

Cheaper option from JJC/DT:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-12v-Lightweigh...

You can get down to about 2KW, 500g and under £90 delivered, but Id stick to a larger device which is able to lose 4+KW of heat from the engine and blow hard enough to cool the cabin on a hot day.

[benny.c]

On our E36 we had a twin duct in the rear window which had flexi ducts taking air to the front screen, and also sliding vents in the front windows. All the OEM heating/venting/carpet was removed completely. The car never got too hot in the summer or misted up in the winter. We never got wet in the rain either.

Edited by benny.c on Saturday 27th June 15:06

[campionissimo]

These are good too

http://www.acwmotorsportplastics.co.uk/polycarbona...

Fit them into the existing windows, and then you can face them forward to drag a load of air in, backwards to get air out, or downwards if it's hosing it down. When the car is parked up just shut them off completely.