new 2013 sonic RS thermal imaging

[viperaider]

I do this with every vehicle. Here is a true breakdown of the thermal properties in the sonic I just bought...
80 degree day, mild driving for 20 minutes
first picture is before opening hood immediately after parking. take in mind the hood will get much hotter after sitting for 10 minutes.
2nd picture is front brakes, i was very very easy on them. all brakes are designed to work much hotter, the hotter you run them the higher class DOT fuild you need.
3rd is rear brakes (typically do 25% of work, honestly mainly for control)
4th was taken from driver side, all heat is from front of engine around exhaust. typical findings
5th is from passenger side.

 

[viperaider]

this picture is the most important. I know turbos create heat with compression. the intake supply is a nice cool temperature especially with what ive experienced with turbos. from what i see this car has no heat exchanger and ive seen a kit on ebay for over $400. i can honestly tell you do NOT waste your money on this kit. Now this can change with higher boost but I dont see it being an issue. even my experience with building a twin turbo dodge viper I saw no more than maybe a 5% benefit over not even using an exchanger. thats due to the unique intake plenum a viper has so i was dead curious of this car missing an exchanger and not having a gigantic aluminum purpose built cooler for the intake runners. if any of you have any questions feel free to hit me up. This car is new to me so im doing all my studies now before the new wears off and I quit doing research.

 

[Italianjoe1]

There's definitely an intercooler, it's in the front bumper. Very cool pictures.

 

[sx sonic]

There's definitely an intercooler, it's in the front bumper. Very cool pictures.

Ditto^^^

Any pics of the viper? Sounds awesome.

 

[viperaider]

heres a couple quick pics i had on my pc. ill upload some of the thermals i took of it soon.

 

[SSTODD]

To the OP, what are your thoughts on the DDM heat shield offered for the Sonic Turbo? Given your background I would like an opinion on real world value or cosmetic.

 

[viperaider]

if you look at the images i took from the front of the engine youll notice there isnt much temperature change between the area around the turbo and the coolant reservoir. i looked at the ddm plate, the person making the plate gives the option of different colors. any heat shield worth needing could not be painted due to the heat burning it off. your best bet is a turbo wrap. that plate is more of a simple dress piece. i wouldnt want it due to it restricting airflow.

 

[viperaider]

Heres some of the images I took of the viper to see what is going on. Main thing youll see...no matter how hot it gets around the engine, the intake stays VERY cool. Dodge originally invented the concept of "ram air" The viper is a pure example of what it really is. If you see "ram air" intake kits for sale...in reality they really arent. For example my viper goes from 375 ft/lbs torque at 3400rpm to over 500 ft/lbs torque at 3600rpm. It feels like you hit a nitrous button. The harder I run my car, the cooler the intake gets. In fact it will be colder than the air temperature it draws in due to vacuum!

 

[sx sonic]

Cool pics and nice CAI, a real CAI .

I'm curious what you do for a living? The quality thermal imaging makes me think diagnostic stuff, maybe HVAC or electrical?

 

[viperaider]

I work on everything mechanical/electrical. Just quit a mine job where I worked with 14,000 volts. They look like giant spark plug boots. Troubleshooted LARGE scale DC and AC drives/motors. 4160 volt 600HP water pumps to 3000 amp DC motors. Now I work for Nissan at a plant where they build the lithium battery cells from scratch. I work on the robots, PLCs etc. For kicks I work on everything that pays well. I do specialized computer work, fix certain things on motorized objects, rc helicopters, standup jetskis are a blast if you never rode one. the skis are my wifes and my hobby.

My schooling took 1 year and cost a total of $2000 ten years ago. It just snowballed from there.