Does spoiler up = better cooling?

I happened to have my spoiler up today in stop n go traffic (100+ day), and I noticed that the temp gauge was about one needle width cooler. Is that sound right? Would having the spoiler up give better air flow when crawling in traffic? What say you!!!

I think the engine may run slightly cooler with the spoiler up, although I have no real empirical evidence to support that claim. I will sometimes drive with the spoiler up on hot summer days... It does appear that the opening in the engine deck lid is less restricted with the spoiler up, however, the spoiler louvers may not be as efficient (at guiding in airflow) in the raised position. I'd bet the difference is too minuscule to matter one way or the other.

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+1

You have a water-cooled engine, no? /X3

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I was out in San Francisco walking the streets one day and came across a very eclectic sidewalk market. I noticed a lone gypsy sitting on a rug selling tiny vials of a weird substance. She had a peculiar appearance wearing layers of colorful clothing, lots of necklaces, multiple piercings, and a bandana. She appeared to be a drabarni of sorts. I asked her what was in the vial and she exclaimed, "the finest, most pure distillation of the unicorn - the tears". She claimed it would do anything and cure anything! I thought this may even be a concentrated form of the fountain of youth! I bought several vials and thanked her. Now, my 996 has been riding a little high on the temps. I'd say it's hitting a little above the "0" in the 180F mark. I put two drops of the unicorn tears in my coolant expansion tank and now the temps stay right between the 8 and the 0. I was so happy and went back to the same place to thank her for saving my car, but the gypsy marketplace was nowhere to be found. I asked the police and several locals in the area and they claimed they'd never had such a thing in years. OOooooOOOOooooooooOOOOOOoooo... creepy!!! Next time I'll tell you about my experience with asking the Zoltar machine about what to do about the IMS problem.

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Now I see why you have the user name you do...

The biggest issue with the engine bay cooling and spoiler up or down is the heat soak of the MAF sensor. When tracking temperatures during driving I did not see any measurable effect of spoiler up or down on engine and oil temperatures. They are influenced by stronger factors then the air flow in the engine bay. But Instead if you would specifically look at the intake engine temperature in various driving conditions with spoiler up or down you wil see that with slow speeds and spoiler down this intake temperature goes slowly up. But strangely also goes very slowly down when returning to open spoiler high speed condition. In steady state conditions (highway speeds and spoiler up) I measured consistently a 3-5 degree offset of intake air temperature compared with ambient air temp. No matter how hot or cold it was outside (I live in a mild climate). With spoiler closed this delta starts to rise slowly till 20-30 degrees and even more. Also when returning to these steady state conditions it takes really long for the intake air temp to come down to normal values. I suspect heat soak of the MAF sensor and in particular the temperature sensor built in into the sensor is playing a role. The construction and location on top of the engine of the MAF sensor makes that it is prone to heat soak. Under slower speeds the whole sensor housing heats up and eventually this affects the reading of the real intake air temperature. It makes the measured temperature is much higher the reality. I am of the opinion that as soon the spoiler is up and you reach a certain speed the intake air is much cooler then what is measured by the temp sensor on the MAF. If if this is right it means that In the time that the MAF sensor needs to get rid of the extra heat the engine actually is not running on the right input data. Running lean? And will compensate for these data which means a temporarily reduced power output. Probably this theory can be proven by dynoing the car in these various different states and comparing the results and if the differences are bigger then what can be expected. A possible solution will be to relocate the temp sensor to another more realistic location. I know it exists for other car brands which deal with the same problem of heat soaking the MAF. see https://www.vectormotorsports.com/sh...duction-kit-2/ what do you people think about this theory?

Does the fan function in the up position?

Yes, Mine is squealing and when checking in standstill I moved spoiler up and it continued to run.

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LoL

Not sure if this video offers proof that the 996 cools better with the spoiler up or perhaps something else is going on here... Start video at the 2:00 minute mark. You Tube

Love potion #9?

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The Porsche advertisements on the Carrera aero kit with fixed spoiler (not the GT3 taco), says it helps with engine cooling, I also thinks this is the case with the spoiler raised in the factory speed dependent spoiler, spoiler down would give a slight increase in fuel mileage. I agree with most of your assessment of the heat soak, but disagree on a few scenarios. The sensors for the intake air (inclusive to the MAF sensor) and the engine compartment temp sensor (clipped to the intake manifold between cyl 4-5) are in the correct location for temp readings and give the correct temp readings. The issues with heat soak of the factory intake and air box are correct in that they delay cool air after they are heat soaked, where as a more open air filter will cool faster after heat soak, but will also heat faster after stopping. In steady state driving above 40mph all the air is pushed down from the deck lid and out the bottom. At speeds below 40mph or at stop the hot air from the engine and exhaust is allowed to rise and go out the top unless the temp is high enough for the engine compartment fan to kick on..