How It Works: Made from a proprietary heat-resistant plastic, the Heatshield replaces an engine's OEM intake manifold gasket to tame the amount of heat transferred to the intake manifold from the cylinder head. Additionally, the Heatshield blocks off several passageways in the intake manifold where hot engine coolant would otherwise flow. The result: A cooler intake manifold, cooler intake and fuel charge, and more power.
How It Was Tested: Although Hondata manufactures the Heatshield for engines other than those made by Honda, we felt the most appropriate subject car would be our project DC2. With Auto Meter temperature probes attached to the intake manifold at two locations-one near the cylinder head, another on the plenum-the car was taken to Honda/Acura specialists MD Automotive in Westminster, Calif., where we monitored its temperature before and after installation of the Heatshield, through a variety of tests: Temperature at idle, during highway cruising, during full-throttle sprints through all five gears (not conducted on the highway), and during dyno testing, where we recorded power changes as well.
What It Delivered: After installation of the Heatshield, intake manifold temperatures dropped by only a few degrees at idle, but by an average of 31 degrees Fahrenheit during mixed highway driving. More impressive was how quickly the manifold temperature dropped during our sprints through the gears, once the rush of cool incoming air countered heat transfer from the cylinder head. Installation of the Heatshield also brought power gains, according to the dyno, but its advantages were even more apparent between runs. Without the Heatshield, power dropped significantly during back-to-back runs as heat soak set in; after its installation, power drop was negligible, if present at all.
Mishimoto 10-inch Radiator Fans and Aluminum Shroud
What It Does: Replaces your car's original equipment radiator fan
How It Works: Radiator fans are common in two variations: electric and belt-driven. Both perform the same job of pulling atmospheric air through a vehicle's radiator at slow speeds, but belt-driven fans are powered directly from an engine's crankshaft pulley. The theory goes that removing the mechanism reduces parasitic drag, slightly improving power and throttle response.
How It Was Tested: The SR20DET in Carter's 240Z was factory-equipped with a belt-driven fan. To establish how much power we could gain by switching its OE fan to dual Mishimoto electrics, we first strapped it down to G-Dimension's Dynojet with the belt-driven fan in place to establish baseline power, then re-tested once again with the Mishimoto units installed.
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