Splitter Fed Radiator Inlet Duct?
 

At the expense of potentially looking really stupid, I'm going to post this. At the very least, I figured it be worth some level of discussion where I could learn a thing or two so here we go...

I'm looking to see if anyone has thought of doing or already tested a splitter fed radiator inlet duct? The wire-brained idea came to me as I was working through ideas with a friend of mine on his cooling system and looking for creative solutions to fit his extremely tight packaging requirements. Inspiration came from looking at a C5 cooling system (which I'm not claiming as ideal, but it is known to work).
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...527e84f0f3.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...354e943d2a.jpg

Note that the frontal area of the bumper does not have any opening for the radiator. The duct is fed from the bottom surface of the bumper cover and in front of the small plastic factory air dam. I'm speculating that airflow through the rad inlet duct would diminish if this air dam piece was not in place, as the air dam should theoretically create a high pressure zone by the rad inlet. This air damn addition would be a little tricky to run on a miata, but I wouldn't say impossible.

If successfully implemented, one could design a aluminum rad inlet duct that is attached or sealed to the splitter (or potentially borrow the C5 OEM part if dimensions were close) and have an air dam setup that looks like the emotionless face Vegas had while on showcase.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3cb6f63946.jpg

Cost/Benefit analysis on this is unknown to me.

Would there be a noticeable aero benefit from a drag decrease standpoint to not having an inlet hole in your air dam? You see many professional class cars gaining a few mph on front straights by blocking off radiator inlets with tape. Blocking off more should be better....

Would you get enough airflow to the rad? I'm sure there would be cooling limitations to a setup like this otherwise everyone would be doing it, but if C5's can pull it off, in theory shouldn't other cars be able to?

Would downforce of the splitter be decreased? You are purposely creating a higher pressure zone under the splitter to feed a heat exchanger, so I'm suspecting the answer to this is yes... My argument to this is that moving from an OEM bumper to an air dam is a known downforce increase. Bumper frontal area updates coupled with a slightly less effective splitter may still yield a net improvement over an OEM bumper setup or standard splitter/dam setup. Splitter diffusers could aid in making up some of the lost downforce in the middle as well as an idea...

FWIW, I plan on running an n/a K24 this season so I won't be worrying about additional coolers for boost or oil temp like others on the forum may be. I also have hood vents already installed to help aid in keeping low pressure behind the radiator to promote flow. My specific setup is about as ideal as possible for the idea IF and only IF it would work. Just curious on if anyone else has experience here...

Discuss...

Anecdotal at best, but fast C5 corvettes convert to “front feeding” for aero.

Noted.

Playing devils advocate here, I'd estimate that most fast corvettes need to dump 2-3x the heat load that I would need to though.

That little air dam is critical to the bottom feeder cars. Without it, little if any air will flow through the radiator- been there done that with our 3rd gen Camaro racer. Remember the radiator is a big restriction to air flow. If air can find an easier path than going through it, it will. Now, with enough fan it should be possible with a modest under-splitter air dam. If you look at the desert race trucks with the rear mounted radiators, they don't appear to have any natural air flow, all fan.

The C5 and C6 Corvettes are both bottom feeders. The C6Z, GS and ZR1 went to larger front feed openings for better cooling. Most guys with C5's end up going partial front feed through license plate cutout. Then end up with vented hoods if tracked in hot weather areas.
As a note they also feed the brake cooling air through the bottom.
Cooling on track is always a problem on any Corvette driven well on a warm track, one of the most discussed issues in the Corvette track forum area.