What benifets will my 71' l48 see from the addition of an electric fan. The car is beefed up and revs above 6k, so i need a new fan regardless. I've heard of people gaining 5-20 HP from the addition of an electric fan, the principal of which makes sense. Using excess electrical power to turn the fan instead of being crank driven, which draws power from the engine. Is the signifigance of the hp gain a myth, or do people actually see 5-20hp gains as posted above?? Thats it, tks

Brandon

You will have to understand the nature of the beast. I am an old drag racer. (blown vette, Detroit Dragway). The very first thing we do is remove the mechnical setup and put in an electric fan.
Normally, the mechanical setup works ok, but still has flaws. Now, when you beef them up a little, like we all do, you need better air flow. The Vette's long nose is not real great for cooling. Nascar builds a 3 foot long aluminum shroud right to the front of the bumper and uses one spal 16" electric fan. This way all the air is drawn into the shroud and the radiator. You will get 12 to 15 more hp on average by removing your mechanical setup. This is and has been proven on Dynos. The dual 11" spals work great but pull a lot of amps.
Hope this helps.
Ron

I put a "Be Cool" Radiator and dual electric fans on my '81 and boy does it stay cool ... hard to even warm up in the winter ... I personally do not believe that it adds any H.P. at all, certainly not 20 H.P. ... just my 2 cents ..

Car Craft May 2000 did a story on this. Engine w/o fan 496 hp. Heavy-duty thermal clutch fan 476hp. Non-thermal clutch fan 485hp. Flex fans 460-476hp. Stock 4-blade fixed 473hp. Seems a 20hp drain is not out of the question.

So they didn't test with an electric fan?

Yes, they tested a black-max electric fan. 494hp, only a 2hp loss from none at all.