Bwfox wrote:
>
> Fellow Listers:
> I have been following the thread re electric vs directly driven fans on our
> beloved
> Triumphs. Someone made the observation that electric fans must be more
> efficient as all new cars use them. I do not believe efficiency has anything
> to do
> with newer vehicles using electric fans as much as the fact that almost all
> newer vehicles have transversely mounted engines. As the Corvair engineers
> (and owners) learned, V belts do not like to make 90 degree corners. You are
> forced to either put the radiator in the wheel well or leave it in its usual
> spot and use an electric fan. I vaguely remember back in the 60s a Fiat or
> Renault or Simca or somesuch with a rear mounted transverse engine with the
There's one difference between the older examples you cite (I think it
was the Simca which had all the sheetmetal for ducting--I worked on one
about twenty years ago, and it was a nightmare getting it all in--since
someone else had originally taken it apart <g>) and the newer cars
today: fleet mileage requirements mandated by the EPA here, and
horrible prices for gasoline in Europe and elsewhere. Anything to
improve efficiency to meet those demands was worthwhile, even if the
cost to manufacture was higher. And an electric fan, running part-time,
even with the electrical system losses, is more efficient.
Cheers.
--
My other Triumph runs, but....
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