

Comparison of the aesthetics and design of luxury car engines  - rdl
http://osunick.com/2013/02/01/engines/

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pedalpete
For something like the lexus, where everything except the dipstick and brake
fluid cap are accessible, I wonder why they wouldn't get truly innovative and
do away with the concept of a standard opening hood.

For the most part, this will only be worked on by people in the know. Does the
hood of a car have to open for everybody? Can't we get access to all the more
common bits by a gas cap like flap?

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jdietrich
It's been done on a few cars. The MCC Smart car is mid-engined, so it features
s "service flap" where the hood would be for things like fluid reservoirs. The
engine bay is accessible by lifting a flap in the trunk. The Audi A2 was
front-engined, but used a service hatch arrangement as a weight-saving measure
- the hood was designed to lift off completely and had no hinges or prop.

A service hatch would be a fairly substantial design problem on a performance
car. It means that the manufacturer is forced to locate the various fluid
bottles close together, most likely near the very front of the car. This is
prime real-estate for air intakes and radiators, because taking air from the
high-pressure region at the nose has double benefit - more airflow where you
want it, less drag where you don't. Elaborate routing of fluid hoses and
reservoirs would mean extra weight, which is generally anathema in the car
industry.

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osunick
The Porsche Boxster and Cayman have no service hatch for the engine at all,
and a tiny section under the hood that has a few reservoirs for fluids.

