Boomerang cosmetic?

[ikonn]

Anybody know if the chrome boomerang is basically cosmetic or does it have any true airflow functionality?

 

[Brock Samson]

All I know for sure is that it's the one thing on the car that I don't like at all.

 

[ikonn]

All I know for sure is that it's the one thing on the car that I don't like at all.

Agree, cosmetically, it’s the least appealing thing IMO. Bad mileage and lack of rear foot space round out my top 3 cons.

 

[Gianttama]

Anybody know if the chrome boomerang is basically cosmetic or does it have any true airflow functionality?

It's functional

 

[Beefer]

It is 100% functional.

 

[jlin101]

Mostly cosmetic with tiny holes to provide minimal ventilation for the front wheel well. Though I am not opposed to having it (many BMW's have it), I do agree the shape of the boomerang looks a little incongruous with the overall design of the g70.

 

[devellis]

Agree, cosmetically, it’s the least appealing thing IMO. Bad mileage and lack of rear foot space round out my top 3 cons.

I agree on all three counts.

 

[Buckdes]

Its my favorite part of the exterior, otherwise the side profile would look just as plain jane as the 340i and c43

 

[Yeeah]

Love it and it is functional. There are other designs that I wouldn't mind there either.

 

[r_spec]

It is mostly cosmetic. The opening (hole) on the fender for the fender garnish piece to clip onto is rather small.
It may still extract heat, but not by much.

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[ikonn]

Since last I posted, I have had a test drive and the rep on my test drive confirmed that it’s functional (he said “everything is functional”). I think I also heard on a video (maybe The Straight Pipes) that not only is it functional but it extracts air from the engine bay and not the wheel well or brakes.

How functional it is, is a good question.

Hopefully I’ll have mine in a few weeks and I’ll be able to report back after I blow in it.

 

[canucklehead604]

yeah, ~1/2 the little vent holes on the inside of the hockey stick are actual vents to the engine bay. so yes, it is functional.

 

[devellis]

yeah, ~1/2 the little vent holes on the inside of the hockey stick are actual vents to the engine bay. so yes, it is functional.

True in the sense that the holes are operational and not merely "dummy" vents of some sort. How well they actually function as any sort of cooling mechanism is another question. I doubt that they actually do much but I do prefer that there are actual vent holes there to their being nothing but a piece of chrome over an unperforated area of fender. Not sure why. I guess I like the idea that it isn't just 100% fakery, even if the underlying reason for its being there is more cosmetic than functional (which I strongly suspect is the case).

 

[Beefer]

True in the sense that the holes are operational and not merely "dummy" vents of some sort. How well they actually function as any sort of cooling mechanism is another question. I doubt that they actually do much but I do prefer that there are actual vent holes there to their being nothing but a piece of chrome over an unperforated area of fender. Not sure why. I guess I like the idea that it isn't just 100% fakery, even if the underlying reason for its being there is more cosmetic than functional (which I strongly suspect is the case).

Why would you think they are not functional? Several people have stated that they are absolutely functional...and even reviews have stated the same. As I recall...even Genesis states that they are.

 

[canucklehead604]

^ huh? we all acknowledge that they are functional. how functional is debatable, but functional nonetheless.

part of me was annoyed that the hockey sticks are functional because i had thought of removing them. but now that's not an option since there'd be a hole in the fender panel.

 

[devellis]

Why would you think they are not functional? Several people have stated that they are absolutely functional...and even reviews have stated the same. As I recall...even Genesis states that they are.

I agree that they're functional. Air can pass through the holes. What I wonder about is how effective they are. "Functional" and "effective" seem pretty different to me. A cell phone that is operating properly is functional. But if it's in a location where it doesn't receive a signal, it's not effective. The phone is working just fine -- it's not malfunctioning -- but an external condition necessary for it to be effective isn't present. A spoiler may be functional, in that it has the capacity to create down-force for example, but may be totally ineffective because the car it's on isn't capable of achieving the speeds where having the spoiler would matter. Fender holes are functional if air can pass through them. But they're only effective if the air flow achieves some practical purpose. It may on the G70. But it also may not.

With these air flow vents, I wonder to what extent they make a difference in engine temperature, drag coefficient, brake cooling, or some other parameter that might be impacted by air flow. I'm not even sure which, if any, of those "functions" they're intended to accomplish. They may be functionally important but I'm a bit skeptical. But it's not a big deal. As I said, something makes me prefer the fact that there's actually some holes under that metal boomerang even if their presence doesn't really impact anything. It seems less fake than just sticking on ornamentation with no functionality at all.

 

[Beefer]

I agree that they're functional. Air can pass through the holes. What I wonder about is how effective they are. "Functional" and "effective" seem pretty different to me. A cell phone that is operating properly is functional. But if it's in a location where it doesn't receive a signal, it's not effective. The phone is working just fine -- it's not malfunctioning -- but an external condition necessary for it to be effective isn't present. A spoiler may be functional, in that it has the capacity to create down-force for example, but may be totally ineffective because the car it's on isn't capable of achieving the speeds where having the spoiler would matter. Fender holes are functional if air can pass through them. But they're only effective if the air flow achieves some practical purpose. It may on the G70. But it also may not.

With these air flow vents, I wonder to what extent they make a difference in engine temperature, drag coefficient, brake cooling, or some other parameter that might be impacted by air flow. I'm not even sure which, if any, of those "functions" they're intended to accomplish. They may be functionally important but I'm a bit skeptical. But it's not a big deal. As I said, something makes me prefer the fact that there's actually some holes under that metal boomerang even if their presence doesn't really impact anything. It seems less fake than just sticking on ornamentation with no functionality at all.

So...your thinking is that with all the superb engineering that has gone into this car...they put a few holes in each side and claim "it's functional"...yet it does nothing. So no engineers thought this one out to consider the size of the holes, placement, etc.

<hands in the air>

 

[devellis]

So...your thinking is that with all the superb engineering that has gone into this car...they put a few holes in each side and claim "it's functional"...yet it does nothing. So no engineers thought this one out to consider the size of the holes, placement, etc.

<hands in the air>

No, I suspect that the engineers were asked by the design team if there was any issue with having a side vent of some sort. I imagine that the engineers said that they didn't see why that would be a problem.

But of course, I wasn't there for the conversation. I'm just speculating.

 

[Beefer]

No, I suspect that the engineers were asked by the design team if there was any issue with having a side vent of some sort. I imagine that the engineers said that they didn't see why that would be a problem.

But of course, I wasn't there for the conversation. I'm just speculating.

So no chance the Engineers calculated that ventilation to remove heat from the engine bay would be a good thing. Let's contact the design team to incorporate some duct work to decrease temperatures?

 

[r_spec]

There's only one hole per fender panel. It's a T-shaped hole that is barely bigger than 1" x 1.5" at most, IIRC.
I'm not going to say it's not functional but not sure how effective it is.