jg95z28

You took the words right out of my mouth.

I actually think engine covers look cool. But then I am a hot rodder at heart.

Z284ever

That makes no sense to me. What is it about a chintzy, injection molded, piece of plastic, hiding your engine....that makes you a 'hot rodder'?

Z284ever

Maybe not, but that is one good looking motor IMO. There are lots of good looking production engines as well.

jg95z28

Have you looked under the hood of a show hot rod recently? The majority of them have custom engine covers... unless they're a "resto-rod" and customized to reflect a certain period in hot rodding.

Back in the day, this type of customization would be referred as "sano" or "sanitizing" the engine bay. Many guys like the "less clutter" look.

Z284ever

I'd much rather see a beautiful 'sano' engine (whether it's SBC, Flat Head or Ferrari Colombo V12), than a 'sanitized' engine cover.

Chuck!

They just need to package the engine well like the GTO. Don't make the bay look so cluttered.

Z284ever

They need to do more than just that. GTO still hides the engine under a plastic cover.

IREngineer

Al was right. Engine covers lower NVH by a few decibels. It does help with the public, and makes the engine look "cleaner." I am all for it, and I was the engineer that had to deal with all of the negatives. They are a bitch to package under and around.

Z284ever

That doesn't make me like them better not one bit.

Z28x

I like the Vette/GTO covers.

The ones that cover everything suck

SSbaby

The one piece engine covers rob horsepower... they trap engine heat so bad... forces the IAT temp high which causes the PCM to pull timing.

IREngineer

It should. Lower engine nvh could allow a louder intake, which increases HP. Cosmetics and lower nvh also make those "other 95%" buy cars.

I would also like to see some data that engine covers make a real difference in UNDERHOOD temperatures. That is what really matters. I could provide data otherwise, but then I wouldn't have a job...

R377

Depends on where you measure it. Average temperature I wouldn't be so concerned with, but if the cover makes the intake manifold soak up heat, that's not such a good thing. That may not be such an issue with composite intakes, but many engines (like the HFV6) still have aluminum intakes.

IREngineer

The intake manifold does see around 5-10C increase in temp in localized areas. It obviously varies by engine and vehicle. This can be more than made up for in tuning if need be. On the other hand, you can also see a 3-5 decibel DECREASE in engine noise at different RPM's. And most importantly, it decreases the bad noises (esthetically).

I think this is one of those topics that the "performance at all costs" personality of this board rears its ugly head.

GM - Don't listen to us on this. We do not know what's best for us...

Z28x

I'd be very happy if the Camaro engine covers looked as good as these