Air throughflow vents - How to improve

When we were driving the F abroad, it quickly became clear that without using the fan there is not a lot of flow through the vents. Even at speed, the natural flow is small.
Looking at the external air box it's easy to see why.
The only access for air is hidden away in here, with a metal cap over it (to stop rain entering the heater.)





An easy way, I thought, to increase airflow would be to open another access hole and direct air from the front of the car into it via a flexible pipe.

The box is made of thin plastic and using one of these,



it is easy to open a hole.

Did you clean the bay at the same time


Some people have removed the box altogether to get more room in the front :dry:

Great stuff

Using some hose I happened to have laying around :lol: I fed the hose end into the hole and led the rest to pick up some nice fresh air.




Replacing the black cover covers this all up and nothing can be seen.
A quick test drive confirmed that the air flow was increased. initially I have just fed the hose into the wheel arch area, but I may reroute it to get a more direct flow.

bongodave wrote: Excuse my daftness here, but isn't this the vent for the internal heater?

Yes but it is also the source for all vented air in the car. Hot or cold.

Thanks David I always wondered what was behind it

Side vents, centre vents, demister vents, floor vents.

Vents Dave, vents. Outlets for the air inside the car, centre, side, windscreen and footwell areas. Not intakes.

Just more cool air / breeze into the cabin without so much need to use the fan power settings. Particularly useful when cruising along in warmer climes like Italy.. and the very occasional day or two in the UK.

David has solved that problem with this cleverly thought out air mod.

Update

This has been a great success, improving the flow of air into the cabin. Overcoming that stuffy feeling if you're forced to have the roof up in inclement weather conditions.
I have now re-routed the hose so that the opening is facing forward to receive maximum air flow. It is actually positioned where the anti-roll bar meets the subframe.
This has increased the flow substantially through the vents/heater system.
If necessary (if it's cold and the heater hasn't warmed up yet, for example) all the flow can be diverted to the demister vents.

Unfortunately, I need to go back to Italy to really test the new set up. Financial donations would be welcomed.

Here's a penny worth of thoughts donation to your Italy trip....

Nice mod I too like plenty of fresh air when forced to drive with the hood up. Thanks for the update David


Between you and Leigh shares in vacuum cleaner hose manufacturers are on the increase, well done guys.

You spotted that hose similarity, huh!:lol:
I had to do something with all the hose from my failed airscarf.