C-Pillar Vents

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iDriver

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 7, 2012
Messages
105
Ok I give up. :?:

What the heck are these vent things on the C pillar? It's not a speaker cover.. and I don't seem to be able to detect air coming through them, regardless of what mode the fan/ac/heat is set.

Ignore the Dog hair! :p
 
iDriver said:
Ok I give up. :?:

What the heck are these vent things on the C pillar? It's not a speaker cover.. and I don't seem to be able to detect air coming through them, regardless of what mode the fan/ac/heat is set.

Ignore the Dog hair! :p

For those who missed it (I know I did at first), "Ignore the Dog hair!" is the clickable link to the picture.

Wouldn't those just be the intakes for the flow-through ventilation outflow? They seem kind of high up for the battery pack's air exchange, but to be honest I don't know where that is.
 
I thought they were outlets for the flow-through ventilation system.

One of my lingering questions is whether the iMiEV does indeed have such a flow-through system (or, if it does, just how efficient is it?):

1) Slamming the door, like on original VWs, results in a noticeable back-pressure. My old super-well-sealed Saab (one of the first cars with a carefully-ducted flow-through) has NO back pressure when the door is slammed.

2) The rear window does fog up, whereas if those vents were working exhaust ducts I would expect the rear window to stay clear.
 
AFAIK, the outlet vents are behind the brake lights, which means the vent holes in the C pillar should connect to them. You've got to have some outlet vents, otherwise the air pressure in the car would prevent you from closing the door. :lol:
 
Ah! yes. Ok that makes total sense now. It's been bugging me for a while now.

thanks for the help!
 
JoeS said:
One of my lingering questions is whether the iMiEV does indeed have such a flow-through system (or, if it does, just how efficient is it?):
1) Slamming the door, like on original VWs, results in a noticeable back-pressure. My old super-well-sealed Saab (one of the first cars with a carefully-ducted flow-through) has NO back pressure when the door is slammed.
2) The rear window does fog up, whereas if those vents were working exhaust ducts I would expect the rear window to stay clear.
As I was poking around looking to tap into the rear lighting I removed the taillight (very easy - two very accessible screws) I indeed found the outlet air vents behind these lights. They have very lightweight soft flaps covering the vents so any pressure from inside lifts the flaps and exhausts the air. Unfortunately, I think what we have here is a design problem: the taillight assembly covers this exhaust vent very completely - although not sealed, as best I can tell the available cross-section area to allow the air to escape is minimal and thus prevents airflow. This explains why the car feels 'sealed' when one closes the door and that rear window fogs up inordinately easily, IMO. Also, when driving with the windows closed, the airflow does not really seem to blast through like I would expect on the high fan setting. My old Saab has a very elaborate passive airflow control system whereby the air flows along the side and rear windows (thus keeping them clear in winter) and into holes along the base of the rear window and into the trunk and then up and out dedicated vents on the aft side pillars. Hmm, a few holes covered with a marine vent cover may improve the situation... but only if it won't hurt the aerodynamics. :geek:

BTW, I changed the title of this thread from "What is this???" to something more descriptive...
 
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