So, I have come from the world of Subarus where the hoodscoop actually serves a purpose. I have been reading about heat soak issues and hoods warping in the MCS world. Well I decided to check mine out the other day and realized that it's not generating too much heat. So I figured that my hoodscoop was open and would be cooling something down. Well I looked at the scoop and it's completely blocked. Do these things actually do anything or are they there just for show like some ricer Hon-duh boy would do to his Civic?? Would it be a good idea for me to dremel out some of the blockage so it has a chance to cool off?? Please school me on these little cars that bring me so much joy!!

 

The "go faster" hood was functional on Gen1 supercharged Mini (R53) as it placed the intercooler on top of the engine just like a STI. But on the turbo charged R56 the intercooler is now on the front, so the hood is there only for "S" look.

R53 Engine





R56 Engine

 

Awesome!! Thanks for the pics also!! I've been looking for something that shows what the R56 engine looks like.

 

What year and build date is your MCS? The very early 2007 MCS had a completely blocked scoop. By the time mine was built in April 2007, the scoop was partially open. Some of the holes in the plastic "grille" in the scoop were real holes, while some were still fake holes.

The rumor was that this was done to help heat escape after the engine was stopped. The reason for not opening it completely is to keep from significantly lowering the pressure differential between the front and back of the radiator. If too much air comes in the scoop at speed, it raises the pressure inside the engine compartment, which reduces the airflow through the radiator.

 

Both Cooper S engines have won international engine of the year award:

R53's "Tritec" Supercharged 1.6L (2003)
R56's "Prince" Turbocharged 1.6L (2007, 2008, 2009)

http://www.ukipme.com/engineoftheyea..._09/14_18.html

 

Even the early R56 hoodscoops had a function... they look good :D

 

Personally I wouldn't mind if the S dropped the scoop if it isn't functional. Gives it a cleaner look, and doesn't trap as many bugs (birds, bats?).

 

originally that was the plan for the 2nd gen S's, but too many "enthusiasts" bitched and moaned about no hood scoop, so it was an 11th-hour add-on before R56's release.

 

I personally love my fake hood scoop... Mine's an 08 so it has some holes... Can't wait to put the CF scoop on!!!

 

Actually, i never seen anyone create a hood scoop on their civic.. but i've seen just about everything else done to them

but i'll keep that in mind!!



..and maybe it's not generating much heat because, well, it's not exactly summertime

 

"Official" functional R56 hood scoop:

Mini Cooper S Corn Field Commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riYNoDNYSqU