Front Radiator Formula Fords

[Jayeff]

So i've been thinking about Front radiator Formula Fords and I have two questions to pose. The first is this: Is it possible to build a crush box for a front radiator car?, and a related question. What if you reduced the size of the opening by using styrofoam or kevlar or some other crush type material, which would function as a crash box, And further you ducted the air in the remaining part of the opening( say with a 4 inch duct) to the radiator and then out by the normal route,( or via another 4 inch duct) Could you then reduce drag in any significant way?, and would the resulting temps be acceptable?

[Jerry Kehoe]

Why wouldn't the radiator itself become a crush box, It seems to me it would crush pretty progressively and being 2-3 inches thick seems it would be at least as compressible as any honeycomb structure. A mess perhaps but probably effective.

[SEComposites]

Crash structures only work properly when they are firmly attached to the chassis so that’s the first place to start. I wouldn’t mess around with duct opening unless you have an excess of cooling. Depending on the car maybe you could have two crash structure ‘legs’ either side of the rad but again they need to be properly attached to the chassis.