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Have you seen some of those cars that have a trunk mounted radiator? Like the Garage Saurus R32 or the Yukes STi? Do you think it's worth it? Like the hassle to get it in there, and weather or not it'll give you a performance gain of any kind? What is the purpose really? I just see that it's a way to shift weight around and free up space under the hood. Any other purposes? If you did, you'd have to get some air flow in the trunk some how, like ducts on the side or through the top of the trunk. What do you think?

 
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Here's a good picture of the Yuke STi, the large hole on the side of the car is for air flow to the trunk.

and then the other STi has the fins on top.


The Garage saurus R32:

 
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damn those pics are nice

 
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for our car?!? not worth even thinking about it...that STi has 300hp stock, and i have no idea what it's at now, let alone think about the R32...

there was also the Bodyworkk EP82 (Mitsubishi Mirage i believe) that has an EVO engine in it, and they stuck the radiator in the back, right inside the rear bumper...but then again, that's a track car.

i would think that you would need to drop a heavily modified s2k engine in our car before even considering it...

 
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yeah dont do it

 
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think about speedfoos custom turbo thread... think of all the room you could free up with out that radiator in the front. But oh well, unless u are going for a 300+ goal, theres no need.

a trunk filled with a battery, a radiator, and a bottle of NO2 hehe

 
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those trunk vents look nasty. kills the look of those cars

 
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The only problem with this setup is flow. You would have to run an auxiliary pump to keep the coolant moving between the trunk and the engine compartment. Our little water pump wouldn't be able to handle that all by itself.

Hell I'd be all for it considering how jam-packed our engine bays are, but the tubing alone would be expensive as hell just get from hood to trunk. On a full-race track car, sure. On a DD blown 'vic, it's just not cost effective. Although I would imagine your inbay temps would drop like a **** when you're rolling down the freeway.

 
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Hm, now i just want to do it all the more, because it seems to be general consensus that no one would imagine seeing it on a 7th gen. That's cool though. it's not like it'll happen for a long time from now. I think it's a good idea. less things in the engine bay, more air flow elsewhere.

 
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don't forget about that turbo that was on ebay a while back that bolts up to where the muffler connects!!! (i know it's not in the trunk, but still close enough)

 
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Its a heat thing. A radiator makes the air coming into the engine bay hot.... hot air = less power. If you put it in the trunk, then the heat is behind you rather than in the engine bay. i dont see the use in a street car. Lots of rear/mid engine cars have front mount radiators and water lines under the car. Its a lot of excess junk in a front engine car. Also dont forget those things are shells with a seat. they dont need to carry anything around in the trunk. Look inside a nascar, the whole rear end is filled with fluid coolers.

 
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but it would make the car, with alot! of HP cooler since the engine bay, which is highly boosted or what not, to get cooler air into the system, and then cool the car better... but that would make the a lot more difficult to drive daily, so your commuter civic is now the track civic. and unless you are track, auto-x, etc, dont do it! it's a good i dea for ppl with full race cars, where cooling is a must!

 
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no i dont think its worth it,

but i alway though it was wierd when NSX drivers turboed there car and the intercooler was in the back and some even put it up front...

 
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cool mod to have, but not on a daily driver
everyone would think you had a retarded clearance civic because they messed up on the panels or something, the way the air flow is directed into the trunk

 
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is this thread serious?

 
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i think the rear exhaust mounted turbo is a great idea, that way the air being forced into the motor would be much cooler, and heat would escape much better, and the trunk in the radiator would be cool in conjunction with that, but unless ur gonna race a lot, i wouldnt, however its a cool idea

 
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lol...

 
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there is absolutely no point whatsoever. Youre comparing our cars to RACE cars. There is no benefit whatsoever doing this to a daily driven vehicle other than to say you have a radiator in your trunk....which most people would laugh at anyways.

 
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You may now all bow down to me. I have a radiator in my trunk.

First person to laugh will receive a kick to the ***** by Chuck Norris. He doesn't have to mount his radiator in the trunk, his engine keeps itself cool out of fear.

 
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the chuck norris jokes are soooo 2006. lolz

 
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Haha ha, those last couple of posts are funny ish.

Thanks everyone for your opinions. I think it's an ingenious idea. Why try to cram everything under the hood when you have room elsewhere.
What else do you think you can fit into the trunk? For a clean looking engine bay? (I've always hated how unkempt the 7th gen engine bay looks.)

Battery
Radiator
Fusebox
Maybe the little car alarm horn

 
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Power steering pump can go back there too. You can get an electric one (new BMW minis have them) and just run tubing back to it from the rack. I'll be going to the junkyards this weekend and that's one of things I'm looking. A few other EU-only cars have them too.

 
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i have a better idea...just put the whole engine in the trunk. problem solved. then the engine bay wont look so cluttered.


theres a reason the car is setup the way it is. just because theres "extra space" in the trunk does not mean you should put a radiator in it.

 
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I'm all for originality.. go for it.

 
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Honda crams everything under the hood so you can have room elsewhere

 
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That's tight. Good idea.


You bring up an interesting point. Which also makes me think about something else.....Just because there's "extra horsepower" trapped in the motor doesn't mean you should unleash it? Right?
Or
Just because there's "Extra weight" in the car, doesn't mean you should take it out to make your car lighter right?

I'm just pullin your leg, I think that innovation is a powerful delivery tool for progression in the after market. I always like seeing the next new thing, and I think that this is one of em....for the people who have the courage to blaze a different trail.


Right on, my point exactly.


Yeah, I do agree with you. And I'm thinking I'd like to utilize that room for something other than "stuff"

 
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It's final. I'm going to do a trunk mounted radiator. And when It's done I'll represent a new breed of Daily Drivers.

 
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Now I have to see this and would like to know the parts you use to make it happen!

 
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The most interesting part to me is the fact that I'm going to have to fabricate my own air delivery system. I'm thinking about one of two things, either purchase air ducts for another car pre-made or fabricate my own from fiberglass or some kind of composite material. some companies make pre-fabricated air ducts for the older MR2, so that might be an option, unfortunately I don't like the way they look. I'll have to photoshop some designs and see what comes of it.

 
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Whatever you do, as long as its tasteful and doesn't create too much drag. Plan on running ducting and whatnot to get the air where you want it to go.

I would also consider hard lines for the coolant underneath the car. It would cut down on cost and also be easier to run. I have no idea what the temp specs are, but I would run black PVC piping, personally. No corrosion, blends in and it's cheap. Have to check at what temp it starts getting soft. Although you could run aluminum piping with a couple vertical fins TIG'd to them that would function similar to a heatsink. That would cool things down both coming and going, reducing your air requirement to the trunk. Just brainstorming while I'm at work....

Dumb question though, what about when you want to put stuff in your trunk? Like groceries and dead bodies (which could be considered the same thing)?