Full on, Sburn! VERY well presented post! It's what I like about this forum, people actually have brains over here and they use them!
I'm glad you did the research on the power loss, since I was too lazy/incompetent to do so. And it gives me a platform to comment.
IF, the 1.6 HP penalty is correct, and it sounds pretty good to me given the power demand figure you quote for the e-fans, then stopped at idle, it's kind of a "wash" isn't it? The e-fans are using a constant 1.6 HP, and the new PCM controlled fan's needs vary between quite low (at engine idle, since it is not turning very fast) to higher at cruising speeds - where it should be freewheeling anyway.
Now, the only thing that power demand does at idle is use a bit more fuel (in both cases) and, for the amount of time we're usually stopped, I doubt we'll feel much difference in the AC. So, the PCM controlled fan may win out in economy at idle and not make us too uncomfortable.
But, I don't know when the e-fan controller cuts it off as speed increases. I think it is purely temperature controlled, so it's possible the PCM controlled fan might cut off sooner, as a speed increase is seen?
And, since both should usually be off at highway speeds, we're left with your final statement. Is there any clutch drag with the new fan? The ram airflow through the radiator is going to encounter both kinds of fans and will try to spin them and all of this causes aerodynamic drag. But, the drag would be there anyway, since the engine and engine bay is not exactly a "slippery" aerodynamic shape. So, we spin the e-fans by airflow and get nothing in return since they are "decoupled". We spin the "water pump" fan and, if there is any clutch drag at all, we decrease its drag on engine power. But, if there's no clutch drag (does there have to be?) there's actually no power loss to the engine.
I know there was always some power loss through the fluid clutch since it is always ON. But, could the new clutch be purely (or effectively) mechanical? I doubt the new design would have been adopted if there were no real benefits. The fluid coupled fan was "simple", and it worked, but there was always drag. Maybe the drag was eliminated in the new, more complicated design?
- Jack
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