I was wondering what purpose the engine cover had apart from aesthetically making the bay look neater and maybe deadening some of the engine noise.  I was wondering if it was OK to drive without it as it would allow the engine to breathe better. Has anyone else removed it on their car.  I don't care as much about aesthetics. I have heard elsewhere that the covers are a waste and they just trap heat that isn't good for the engine.  Any thoughts, knowledge experience is appreciated.  

It's fine but you're not going to get any performance improvement.

Thanks for your response, glad to know it's OK..... Yeah not expecting to get any performance improvements....Actually my reasoning in removkng it is that engines with turbos can get very hot especially when under pressure so taking the cover off allows the heat to dissipate better...... I just wasn't sure if it had a more important function and removing it comprised the engine that's all. 

The engines / drivetrain from VW is in vehicles around the globe in all environments and the engine cover is fit for purpose as they knew that cars are imported to Australia.

 

The Recall on 2.0 TSI engine covers had plenty un-happy theirs were removed and they wanted replacements and some bought them, or upgrades.

Not heard of anyone wanting to leave them off.

Hey thanks for your response. Yes so do you know what the specific purpose is? 

 

Interesting I didn't know that, i guess i would be different. I have 😀. Anyway it's pretty easy to put back on.

2 hours ago, LuxoviaRS said:

I was wondering if it was OK to drive without it as it would allow the engine to breathe better.

 

You want to know if its OK to drive a car with the engine (supposedly) breathing better or you want to know if removing the cover would allow the engine to breathe better?

 

If the first question then I'm sure someone will soon be on here saying that you must inform your insurance company 🙄

 

If the second question - Can you breathe better and run faster if you go commando? (not wearing underpants)

 

 

The engine "breathes" through the air intake, not the top of the cam cover.... 😄

I am open to correction but I think the engine cover is for pedestrian safety. If you hit a pedestrian, their head tends to hit the bonnet and it's an attempt to lessen head injuries. If there's no cover, the head could strike the hard top of the engine after deforming the bonnet. This lessens the blow.

 

 

 

 

Mmmm...................

49 minutes ago, Hairy_Joe said:

I am open to correction but I think the engine cover is for pedestrian safety. If you hit a pedestrian, their head tends to hit the bonnet and it's an attempt to lessen head injuries. If there's no cover, the head could strike the hard top of the engine after deforming the bonnet. This lessens the blow.

 

 

 

 

My 2014 Rapid has never had an engine cover AFAIK.

Holy crap, VW group had millions of peopleat head risk when millions of engine covers were recalled and then there are the 1.0 & 1.5 TSI on lighter weight cars with maybe bonnets more liable to have heads hit engine tops and they have reduced the size of engine covers.

We will ignore thew 1.2 TSI / MPI,s and the likes with no covers. 

Vorsprung Durch Technik.

1 hour ago, Hairy_Joe said:

I am open to correction but I think the engine cover is for pedestrian safety. If you hit a pedestrian, their head tends to hit the bonnet and it's an attempt to lessen head injuries. If there's no cover, the head could strike the hard top of the engine after deforming the bonnet. This lessens the blow.

AFAIK the 1.4TSI Octavia 3 never had an engine cover in its Skoda form - the only cover I could find was a VW one - so I'm not sure that's the reasin an engine cover is fitted.

33 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

AFAIK the 1.4TSI Octavia 3 never had an engine cover in its Skoda form - the only cover I could find was a VW one - so I'm not sure that's the reasin an engine cover is fitted.

I think the VW one that fits the Octavia3 is purely for aesthetics, from what I've seen, the one on the MkIV is more for sound-deadening. 

I never said I was definitive in that it was for crash protection. I seem to recall reading somewhere about new crash regulations and about pedestrian head protection needing under bonnet items. 

 

These are fairly new regulations applying to car designs released in the past few years.

 

Personally I think the main reason for them is to reduce noise for drivers, especially from diesels.

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by Hairy_Joe

5 hours ago, Neily03 said:

The engine "breathes" through the air intake, not the top of the cam cover.... 😄

Ok yes that's true but doesn't the cover keep more of the best trapped in the engine.

2 hours ago, Hairy_Joe said:

I am open to correction but I think the engine cover is for pedestrian safety. If you hit a pedestrian, their head tends to hit the bonnet and it's an attempt to lessen head injuries. If there's no cover, the head could strike the hard top of the engine after deforming the bonnet. This lessens the blow.

 

 

Oh i didn't even consider the safety aspect of it.  Never crossed my mind.  Interesting. Thanks

 

 

Mate most of us have been driving without an engine cover for 12 months as Skoda took them back on a recall last year.

4 hours ago, Hairy_Joe said:

I think the engine cover is for pedestrian safety.

 

2 hours ago, Hairy_Joe said:

I never said I was definitive in that it was for crash protection

 

2 hours ago, Hairy_Joe said:

I think the main reason for them is to reduce noise for drivers,

 

Are you a politician?

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

 

 

 

Are you a politician?

🤣🤣🤣

1 hour ago, Jmagee said:

Mate most of us have been driving without an engine cover for 12 months as Skoda took them back on a recall last year.

I didn't even know about this.  Have you noticed any difference in any way

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

 

 

 

Are you a politician?

Na, I'm a scientist so hence it's hard for me to say "oh it's for XXXX" without being 100% sure and or being able to reference a trustworthy source.

 

Politicians can't even reliably say what day of the week it is....

 

Edit. Note I said "I think" rather than "it is". I couldn't say that I think it's for holding the eggs while cooking on the engine while driving to Tesco....

Edited 7 December, 20232 yr by Hairy_Joe

Many people remove their engine cover in this country, for summer use especially. I'm of the opinion they have little more than aesthetic value, maybe a bit of sound deadening effect at best. They DO trap heat i.e. removing it won't help the engine to 'breath' per se, but without it you will get better (cooling) airflow around the motor. So, it depends on the conditions in your local environment, if you're regularly driving in extreme high temps it's worth leaving it off.

56 minutes ago, LuxoviaRS said:

I didn't even know about this.  Have you noticed any difference in any way

No difference whatsoever for me

1 hour ago, SouthernComfort said:

Many people remove their engine cover in this country, for summer use especially. I'm of the opinion they have little more than aesthetic value, maybe a bit of sound deadening effect at best. They DO trap heat i.e. removing it won't help the engine to 'breath' per se, but without it you will get better (cooling) airflow around the motor. So, it depends on the conditions in your local environment, if you're regularly driving in extreme high temps it's worth leaving it off.

Thanks, yes that's exactly what I meant improved cooling and airflow. To be honest the engine hardly heats up at this point as our trips are short in the city up to 10 km one way hardly anythingmore.  It is summer here so temperatures are climbing so that is a factor.  Most I've noticed the temp of oil is 107 to 108C. We are scheduled to drive do a long trip Christmas 10 hours plus,  so i guess that will be good to have it off for that.

1 hour ago, Jmagee said:

No difference whatsoever for me

Ok thank you. 

1 hour ago, LuxoviaRS said:

We are scheduled to drive do a long trip Christmas 10 hours plus,  so i guess that will be good to have it off for that.

10 hour trip on the race track, or what? Just save yourself the trouble and leave it on. You will remove 5x more heat from the engine by turning up the cabin heat a couple of degrees, than taking the cover off 😅

(Edit: I see it's summer over there, but that doesn't affect things too much, the idea is the same)

Edited 8 December, 20232 yr by Jorgeminator