ORIGINAL: GT Newbie

I was taught at school that all Canadians cook their daily diet of moose, elk, and seal steaks by wrapping them in heavy-duty aluminum foil then putting them on top of their Mustang engines and shutting the hood, then driving about with wild abandon.
Is this true, or is it merely a cruel and thoughtless generalization?
Please let me know, because I lie awake at night thinking about such matters......

ORIGINAL: Lees07GT

There was a Seinfeld episode where Kramer and Newman borrow Jerry's car togo buy groceries and they end up stuffing various food items on top of the engine because they ran out of room in the trunk. They forget to remove the items under the hood and it isn't until much later when Jerry is driving the car that hedetects a strange odor from the "cooking" food. If Jerry's car had been an S197, the stuff under the hood would have been ablaze by the time Kramer and Newman got back from the store. Fortunately for Jerry, he always drove a Beemer.

ORIGINAL: Sprzout

Hmm...I don't know that I'd really want to use a heat extracting hood.

Believe it or not, your motor can actually be suffering loss of power from loss of heat. NASCAR guys use duct tape to control the amount of airflow over the engine, thus making the car run hotter. This is a known fact for most circle racers and oval racers.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mot...ascar_knowhow/

ORIGINAL: Sean3667

Actually, the use of tape on the grille is to control the amount of airflow over the front of the car, to balance downforce and cooling. In an ideal situation, you want as much air flowing OVER the hood, which pushes the front end down into the track. The more air that goesTHROUGH the grille, the less downforce on the front end (and the less grip on the front wheels, which makes the car "tighter").

The idea is to minimize air going through the grille, to gain the maximum amount of downforce, while having an acceptable amount of cooling. The engine will run hotter as a byproduct, and if it runs too hot the tape is removed to allow additional airflow through the grille.

All said, and as others have mentioned, opening the hood isn't really necessary. Parts in an engine bay are stressed more by rapid changes in temperature, more than they are by a more gradual cool down. The compounds are designed for such heat ranges ... and overstressing them with quickercool downs won't prolong their life.