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Got a difficult tech question? Email Sarah at asksarah@motoiq.com
Hi Sarah,
I saw your EVO project at SEMA 2010 this year- the white car with the KW suspension and carbon Seibon parts. I was just wondering who makes those fenders and also those sideskirts. I would appreciate your help on this as we would like to purchase them for our time attack car in Holland.
Ton Hogervorst
The Netherlands
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| It's not just about style- Varis offers a number of aero parts that are both good looking and functional from downforce-creating canards to weight-reducing carbon trunks. |
Wow, judging by the number of questions I received about those aftermarket parts, Chris' EVO seemed to attract a lot of attention among our readers. Both the fenders and sideskirts are made by Varis, a Japanese company. The parts are custom so you need to order them about a month in advance. They are available in fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) or carbon. The Varis Aero GT fender is available in wider fender options that will help you run wider wheels and help channel air to cool the brakes. The air panel, the black vent that mounts on top of the fender, is sold separately. Varis makes a lot of other aero gear for your EVO including front and rear bumpers, front, side, and rear diffusers, canards, and rear wings. Buy yourself a holiday gift now and you'll get them in time for the race season!
Sarah,
I would really like to have a black intercooler. I have anodized intercoolers in the past and sometimes they turn out good and sometimes not, since anodizing is finicky. Also, anodizing is not that durable and tends to fade over time, not to mention kind of expensive. What other options are there? Is powder coating an option or is that too thick and would negatively effect I/C efficiency? What about paints?
Aaron S.
Powder coating, painting, or anodizing the intercooler could create a slight loss of efficiency, but if you keep it to a very light coat and don't cover the cooling fins, it's practically negligible. Anodizing is a little better since it's more like a dye and it's not as likely to trap the heat like paint. When done correctly, it's typically more durable than most other finishes and offers more corrosion and abrasion resistance than normal oxidized aluminum. Your best bet is to get your intercooler Swain BBE coated which actually improves cooling since it helps pull heat out of the base metal. Plus, it comes in a semi-gloss black finish, offering that stealth look you want.
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| If you want your intercooler black, paint, anodizing and powdercoat all will make your intercooler black but will inhibit its thermo conductivity to some degree or another. Swain's Black Body Emitter coating will actually make the intercooler more effective as the coating not only transfers heat but will improve radiant heat transfer. Don't ask me how it works because I don't know. Engineer Kojima tells me all black surfaces will radiate more heat but he is not sure how the coating conducts heat either. Swain probably won't tell. At MotoIQ we have used this coating on intercoolers before with good results. |
