engine cover

[Rhymes with Paris]

Some engines are to my eyes beautiful in appearance.

Especially motorcycle ones with the old polished engine cases and air cooling fins on show instead of covered in power rangers plastic.🏍️

Some car engines look good to me too, I can't remember if there were many covers on the engine of a modern Jag s type 4.2 V8 that I had for a short while, but I do remember the sweep of the exhaust manifold both sides and general pleasing looks of it.

Unfortunately the looks belied the problems with it going into limp mode at the slightest provocation, and the Christmas tree lights on the dash.

It was not worth fixing for £000s when it would have been worth next to nothing even if sorted.

And the average 10 mpg would have been a bit tricky now aswell.

[Cyker]

I wouldn't say the Mk4's engine bay is pretty (In fact it looks a mess  ) but it does look very 'techy', and I like not having to remove it when I'm e.g. trying to vacuum the 14 tons of sand and dirt that have somehow gotten into it (Seriously, can someone stop these saharan dust storms coming over here please?  )

[Rhymes with Paris]

Can you not give the mayor a bell about the dust storms ?

What with his deity like powers  maybe he can slow 'em down a bit.😆

[TonyHSD]

Jet wash your engines 🚿🧽😂

[BugsyBobCat]

On 6/27/2022 at 5:40 PM, dee123456 said:

Indeed and then chose it just for HUD ... 😐

To be fair, this was the primary reason I went for the GR over the Excel and coming from a motorcycle background I blooming love it. Helped immeasurably with my transition to hybrid CVT driving. I do still miss the options of panroof, Bi-LED and heated steering wheel however.

Staying on topic, Bonnet covers the engine pretty well unless you have really messed up 😊. One less piece of plastic to remove on the very odd occasion you will need to get access.

[Hylen]

On 6/27/2022 at 12:09 PM, forkingabout said:

I spot a quality Varta 12 volt battery 😎

What Battery do you get on the new car?

[RabButler]

Not having an engine cover enables me to see at a glance whether the rats are eating the wiring.

 

[forkingabout]

1 hour ago, Hylen said:

What battery do you get on the new car?

No idea I haven't looked on mine.

Varta / Bosch ( same company for automotive batteries ) or Yuasa are all top quality. 

FWIW a lot of new Toyota IC counter balance forklifts have Varta batteries fitted ( depends where it was assembled ) 

[2badmice]

OP other than being a WUM, sell your Toyota.  I'm even pushed to think you don't even own one.

[eyemdee]

I couldn't work out why my new one was so different under the bonnet from the 2019 one it replaced until I read this thread. My old one still looked brand new under the bonnet when I traded it in. I cannot say the same will apply to this one in 3 years' time. Penny pinching!

[Gerhard_Corolla]

Those plastic bits does nothing more than promote heat retention, not a good thing for any engine!

 

When I saw it didn't come with one and it has real exhaust pipes, at least the TS 2.0L, I confirmed that it was the car we wanted. They have chosen to go backwards with that design decision with the new models, unfortunately...

[Popama]

2 hours ago, Gerhard_Corolla said:

.... promote heat retention, not a good thing for any engine!

Most new cars brag about active intake shutters helping their efficiency and Toyota is no different with their hybrids choosing to start the engine and store energy in the Battery even when standing still just because it wants to keep the engine warm and efficient ( especially in winter regardless of AC/heating ).
The claimed 39%/40% efficiency roughly translates to the engine wasting only 61%/60% of the fuel caloric capacity through heat.

Cooling is a challenge for performance engines during high loads, regular cars have plenty of cooling capacity for their needs.

[Gerhard_Corolla]

18 minutes ago, Popama said:

Most new cars brag about active intake shutters helping their efficiency and Toyota is no different with their hybrids choosing to start the engine and store energy in the battery even when standing still just because it wants to keep the engine warm and efficient ( especially in winter regardless of AC/heating ).
The claimed 39%/40% efficiency roughly translates to the engine wasting only 61%/60% of the fuel caloric capacity through heat.

Cooling is a challenge for performance engines during high loads, regular cars have plenty of cooling capacity for their needs.

Indeed, all those systems do not depend on a 'beauty' cover to function, it's just aesthetics. The only function the covers play is satisfy the clients' expectations of what a 'complete' car should be...

[yossarian247]

On 6/27/2022 at 2:45 PM, fourbanks said:

Spot on Tony, the car is an unfinished product and no way if i were the chief executive would this be out on the roads. And as matt the chief is English and an accountant that to highlights that he hasn't a clue this car would never have passed in Japan as it stands 

That's interesting, I'm English and an accountant and I hate engine covers. Perhaps dislike of engine covers is an English accountant thing? 😉 To me they're just a piece of unnecessary plastic, I'd rather see the engine when I open the bonnet.

[Ian.S]

I agree. Just another unnecessary piece of trim to rattle and make get in the way. Although it might make the engine compartment look tidier I’m sure most owners would never see it. 

[TonyHSD]

Engine covers are necessary and in most cases does serve a purposes like quiet drive, quickly warming up, general insulation against noise and vibrations. Toyota Corolla missed on that simply because Toyota decided to be cheap on that and whenever possible. They do fit those to excel trim no matter the engine size or body shape, that alone shows that the only reason lower trims has no engine covers or bonnet insulation is because of a cost savings. Previous models and Prius has top engine cover and bonnet insulation as standard in all trim levels. And hear is the reason why many Toyota cars are noisier on motorway drive, simply because they has less insulation materials on vital areas like floor pan, doors, windows, seals,  firewall and a lots of hard plastic interior. Definitely cheap production. 

[Cyker]

I don't think they're necessary at all - It's just bling IMHO. The only car I had with one was the Mk2 and it was very tatty and just another piece of nasty plastic I had to remove to get at the engine! Getting it back in was fiddly and annoying too as it had warped slightly so the pegs didn't all line up without some forced bending.

If it was a choice between a plastic engine cover and, say, bonnet insulation I'd go for the bonnet insulation every time.

I'd just much prefer they spend the money on something else more useful in the car (e.g. more fixings in the doors to stop the wires rattling around would be a good start, as that was an annoyance my Mk4 had before all the pot holes presumably got the offending cables wedged somewhere less rattly   ) 

At the end of the day it's personal preference I suppose.

(Another thing I want for mine are some gas struts for the bonnet! Is that even a thing for the Mk4? I hate the rod - Who thought it was a good idea to stick it to the bonnet right above the engine?! It was fine where it was on every previous Yaris!)

 

[Ian.S]

I have just sold a 2020 TS Excel 2 lt and it did not have an engine cover but did have the bonnet sound deadening. Now have a 1.8 GS Sport and it is no more noisy, it may even be quieter. Certainly has better mpg not as good as the Yaris curtesy car thought, 94 over a 15 mile mixed rural and town driving.

 

[TonyHSD]

Well different cars and engines set ups has different covers, some may not be as plush as others but if they are there definitely there was a reason for that.
My car as older gen hybrid has bonnet sound insulation and plastic top engine cover made from good thick and soft plastic also has noise cancellation cushion under it and mounts snugly on top via soft rubber bushes, sorry to say but anyway I look and compare Auris/ Corolla from 2010 vs 2020 models the difference in quality of the materials and to some extent the fitting is way better in older cars. That trend it’s not only within Toyota but with most other car manufacturers. We have just to accept it. 👍

[Gray86]

If the cover was necessary, I’d expect it to have one. . . Funnily enough the Lexus UX with the 2.0 engine has one. I think clearance to the Corolla’s bonnet is part of the reason (low nose means little clearance). 
 

 

[eyemdee]

8 minutes ago, Gray86 said:

If the cover was necessary, I’d expect it to have one. . . Funnily enough the Lexus UX with the 2.0 engine has one. I think clearance to the Corolla’s bonnet is part of the reason (low nose means little clearance). 
 

 

My previous Corolla, 2019 build, had the engine cover fitted and I understand the Excel grade of the current 2022 model is also supplied with it fitted.

[TonyHSD]

No Corolla hybrid ever had an engine cover, the plastic bit on top of the engine, both 1.8 and 2.0 variants comes without the cover. Both had cover mounting points, red circle below the pictures. Because these hybrid engines are used in other models as mentioned above and they do come with covers as standard ( Prius 1.8 and Lexus UX 2.0).
Corolla Excel models has bonnet insulation on both 1.8 and 2.0 and some other trim levels has bonnet insulation on 2.0 variants. 👍

[Popama]

12 hours ago, Gray86 said:

. . . Funnily enough the Lexus UX with the 2.0 engine has one. . .

There is a clearance issue with the top one or two grills on the Corolla. What amuses me is that while I would like one on my 2.0 Corolla Hybrid, I would be embarrassed to have it on the Lexus as it is pretty flimsy and I assume not very effective. I have seen much better on other cars, especially diesels.

[TonyHSD]

3 minutes ago, Popama said:

There is a clearance issue with the top one or two grills on the Corolla. What amuses me is that while I would like one on my 2.0 Corolla Hybrid, I would be embarrassed to have it on the Lexus as it is pretty flimsy and I assume not very effective. I have seen much better on other cars, especially diesels.

That’s the one. It might be clearance reasons but might be just cost savings. The engine covers even small and open they still serve their purposes to reduce engine noise.  
Noise spread throughout sound vibrations and resonance, the plastic cover with the soft material will catch and cushion these vibrations and cancel them reducing the noise and make the whole driving experience little bit nicer.
German, French, Swedish and some other manufacturers cars are super quiet because they are full of plastics and insulation’s everywhere, engine bay, doors, floor etc  plus they have hydraulic bushes on the suspension and drive train which also helps a lot. Every plastic maters 😂👌

[forkingabout]

FWIW the only vehicle I've owned that's had an engine cover fitted was my previous 308 with the Purecrap 130 engine - only reason it had an engine cover was to drown out the excessive noise from the direct injection fuel pump.

 

Luckily the 2 litre hybrid has Toyota D-4S so it depends if the ECU decides to run the direct injection system or not.