Why do trucks cover their front grill?

[cbrunny]

Your Cruze does have active shutters, but they are only on the lower section of the bumper and only close at highway speed to decrease drag and increase efficiency.

Despite the engine taking forever to heat up, you've been taking advantage of the electric auxiliary heater for the cabin, right?

I've heard of some guys on the Cruzetalk forums using cardboard or something to block the top section of the grill to improve warm-up, and some of them leave it in all the time (when it's below 0).

Honestly, two features I didn't know I had. I crank my heat to max when it's cold and googling says that activates the auxiliary heat. I haven't noticed this doing anything out of what I would expect in a typical engine based heat system.

 

[crashtech]

When it's really, really cold out, the time that the thermostat opens up to the time it "sees" that freezing cold coolant come through the engine and closes again is too long, potentially causing the engine and cabin to lose too much heat. Maybe in the future, "smarter" control over coolant flow will completely eliminate the benefit of obstructing part of the radiator, but for now, it can make sense, contrary to what some here are saying.

Edit: If anyone would wish to delve deeper into the phenomenon which affects how thermostats operate, just Google "Hysteresis."

 

[SparkyJJO]

How cold are you talking for that to actually happen? I've driven in subzero temps, no radiator blockoff, and my vehicle has had no problem maintaining operating temperature.

 

[Ramses]

When it's really, really cold out, the time that the thermostat opens up to the time it "sees" that freezing cold coolant come through the engine and closes again is too long, potentially causing the engine and cabin to lose too much heat. Maybe in the future, "smarter" control over coolant flow will completely eliminate the benefit of obstructing part of the radiator, but for now, it can make sense, contrary to what some here are saying.

Edit: If anyone would wish to delve deeper into the phenomenon which affects how thermostats operate, just Google "Hysteresis."

The future is now. The idea has been tossed around since the late 80's that I know of. Dunno if anyone else implemented it before.

http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_222.pdf