TOTL JK Heat Expulsion Hood
01-06-2015, 12:32 PM
#131
We have been on the market for roughly a year and a half now. In that time, sales have been great but we have penetrated a very, very tiny fraction of the JK market considering over 1 million JKs were sold almost a year ago now. Redesigns are quite costly and as a business you have to consider the time it would take to recoup that type of investment.
When we designed our hood, we knew that it wouldn't appeal to everyone. We wanted to differentiate ourselves from other hoods on the market and completely deviating from subtle was our approach. Several new competitors have emerged but none of the other manufacturers have chosen to make redesigns to their products either.
The business is such, that often it’s the design - the looks - that sells, more so than functionality.
The AEV is a good example… while having the vents at the front undermines function, the way the hood looks sells. Then, they plug one of the side vents with their own snorkel, and people buy that too.
Making the cowl shallower will reduce the hood's performance as the size of the vents will have to be decreased. Remember that our vents have a channel, similar to a gutter system, running behind the vents so having enough surface area for the heat to escape is critical to the hood's functionality.
Opening a vent towards the windshield will create a cowl induction effect at speeds. We have no way of directing this rammed air towards the air intake so it will just create a lot of turbulence in the engine bay. We have not tested it but speculate that this could have a negative impact as air traveling rearwards meets this forced air traveling in the opposite direction.
You can easily check the air flow – tape some soft, light & narrow cloth strips (silk ribbons, for instance), to various places. Drive at different speeds, and have someone shoot it on video, or attach a GoPro.
You’ll see exactly what the air does.
Try opening that rear vent and check the air flow – I think you’ll be surprised.
The side events are pretty close to the firewall as is. Moving them further back would create negligible benefits at best.
Windshield washer sprayer holes is a tricky one. Older JKs have a single nozzle, newer ones come with two. We would have to score the mold to indicate location so we would be forcing older JK owners to upgrade to a two nozzle system. This isn't a big deal but is still an inconvenience to some. Our current location in the grate has been working well for the time being. This is something I will look into further but no plans to change it at the moment.
I hope this answers your questions. I know this hood isn't for everyone but that is probably part of the reason why it is the hood for our customers.
I hope this answers your questions. I know this hood isn't for everyone but that is probably part of the reason why it is the hood for our customers.
As you can see here, on post 12 –- I differentiate between personal taste and crediting a very good product…
Last edited by GJeep; 01-08-2015 at 08:53 AM.
02-09-2015, 12:22 PM
#134
JK Enthusiast
