Riot_Polizei
Comp Engineering Student
- :
- 2002 Mazda Protege5
One of my coworkers says some very outlandish "car performance facts" that I've doubted heavily. If I ever provide a counterpoint, he always says the same annoying s***. "Well dude, I've been racing for years and that's what worked for me"...argh. He's never proven that he ever raced to begin with.
Today, he told me that to "redirect heat from the engine" and to increase performance when driving hard, you must turn the heater all the way on full blast.
It sounded ridiculous, but I guess I got to get a second opinion on this. Is it true?
From what I understand, the combustion cycle causes loads of heat, which is marginally mitigated by the exhaust system (hot byproduct escapes the system). Yet, since the block and surrounding metal parts absorb a lot of that heat, a circulating coolant system is needed to reach some lower thermal equilibrium between the engine and the coolant mixture. The coolant absorbs the heat, simple. Once the coolant is hot enough, it opens the thermostat, releasing the hot liquid into the radiator. The radiator fan switches on, liquid rushes into the radiator, disperses downward, and gets cooled by the incoming air/fan blowing against the fins. From there, the "cold" coolant is flushed back to the engine to maintain a lower temperature, thus repeating the cycle.
Now, about the heater...
The heater core is a mini-radiator that this hot air can pass through. If you turn on the heater, then some valve opens up, allowing the flow of hot gasses into the cabin of the car.
Theoretically, this would divvy up the exhausting of the hot coolant, right? But I feel like I'm missing something. The cooling/heating system is very closely intertwined, and is driven by that water pump as well. If the water pump must work harder to heat the car's interior while cooling the engine, then wouldn't that technically impart more energy into the given system and tax the engine more?
Well? What do you guys know that could help my understanding (and perhaps give my coworker some hard evidence so that he shuts his gob for once)?
Today, he told me that to "redirect heat from the engine" and to increase performance when driving hard, you must turn the heater all the way on full blast.
It sounded ridiculous, but I guess I got to get a second opinion on this. Is it true?
From what I understand, the combustion cycle causes loads of heat, which is marginally mitigated by the exhaust system (hot byproduct escapes the system). Yet, since the block and surrounding metal parts absorb a lot of that heat, a circulating coolant system is needed to reach some lower thermal equilibrium between the engine and the coolant mixture. The coolant absorbs the heat, simple. Once the coolant is hot enough, it opens the thermostat, releasing the hot liquid into the radiator. The radiator fan switches on, liquid rushes into the radiator, disperses downward, and gets cooled by the incoming air/fan blowing against the fins. From there, the "cold" coolant is flushed back to the engine to maintain a lower temperature, thus repeating the cycle.
Now, about the heater...
The heater core is a mini-radiator that this hot air can pass through. If you turn on the heater, then some valve opens up, allowing the flow of hot gasses into the cabin of the car.
Theoretically, this would divvy up the exhausting of the hot coolant, right? But I feel like I'm missing something. The cooling/heating system is very closely intertwined, and is driven by that water pump as well. If the water pump must work harder to heat the car's interior while cooling the engine, then wouldn't that technically impart more energy into the given system and tax the engine more?
Well? What do you guys know that could help my understanding (and perhaps give my coworker some hard evidence so that he shuts his gob for once)?