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Any test of Performance gain or not by opening the driver side faux driving light/fog light?

Noleftist

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I would like to know if there’s any experience or facts about if there’s any changes good or bad by opening the driver side fake driving light/fog light space in the grill? Does it actually help or changing anyway The air getting into the Duct and thereby the engine? Or is the possibly smaller opening to the outside of the fake headlight space perfect for the correct amount of air entering the intake?
Is it better to block it off fully as is from the factory or partially open or fully open?
Thank you
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NightmareMoon

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The bottom of your intake airbox is a ‘snorkel’ which feeds air directly from the spot in the grill next to that ‘driving light’ spot.

Opening the light itself wont do anything except allow another route for air into the engine bay. It wont change air going into the engine intake because that snorkel is there to get cold air directly from the grill next to it.

If some of the holes in the grill in that snorkel area are closed off, you could open them up a bit, but dont expect any gains to show up on a dyno.

Generally I wouldnt recommend modifying the grill openings because its a balance between air velocity at the radiator and opening size (larger isnt always better) and drag/mph on the highway with air going over/around the car instead of into the dead end of the engine bay.

If there was free horsepower from a small change to the grill, Ford would have already used that trick.
 

Unbridled5.0

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I think there's a balance game being played with rain as well. You can tell on the GT cars that the most direct path to the filter from the holes in the grille is actually blocked, but next to it is open. Got to be like that for rain. It certainly isn't for more direct air flow.
 

SBR70.3

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John S

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The engine can only use so much cold air and it doesn't matter if it takes the S-path from the inlet next to the fog light opening or a direct shot through the fog light opening. (I removed the cover and noticed no change on the butt dyno.) You might pick up one or two horsepower switching to the blue Airaid/Ford Performance high-flow cone filter, which is how the aftermarket cold air intake gimmicks claim horsepower gains, they get it from the filter element more than the plumbing.
 

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Noleftist

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allfivefifty

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Yes, I removed both of mine since they became bug catchers, but i did noticed that my inlet temperatures where about 10 degrees cooler in slow to medium traffic. No erratic codes or random air fuel Ratio problems at WOT during track events. Only problems are during high downpours it can get the filter wet and also gets dirty faster.
 

Whitedevil95

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Overall about a 0.0 HP gain there. You are not gonna get a ram air effect and the front snorkel already draws air(engines run on vacuum) from that entire front grill area.
 

Charlemagne

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They're a homage element. The car has no issues with overheating, it's built for endurance. You'll only get more bugs there when opening it. And any grille I saw just makes it look worse.
 

WD Pro

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I would like to know if there’s any experience or facts about if there’s any changes good or bad by opening the driver side fake driving light/fog light space in the grill? Does it actually help or changing anyway The air getting into the Duct and thereby the engine? Or is the possibly smaller opening to the outside of the fake headlight space perfect for the correct amount of air entering the intake?
Is it better to block it off fully as is from the factory or partially open or fully open?
Thank you
It’s already been explained by @NightmareMoon where the air is taken from, but the easiest way to picture this if you haven’t seen the snorkel / air box components in person, is by looking at a GT.

Stood looking at the front of the car, the small upper grill section on the right side - it’s directly behind that :like:

WD :like:
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