Car Hood | Bonnet

Hood Bonnet

The car’s hood consists of an inner and an outer panel. The inner panel provides strength, while the outer panel is just a metal cover. The underside of the hood is often covered with a sound-absorbing material. Some high performance cars have ‘hood scoops’ which channel outside air directly to the air filter, which gives improved performance and efficiency.

The hood or bonnet is the hinged cover over the engine of motor vehicles that allows access to the engine compartment for maintenance and repair. On passenger cars, a hood may be held down by a concealed latch. On race cars, or cars with aftermarket hoods (that do not use the factory latch system) the hood may be held down by hood pins. A hood may sometimes contain a hood ornament, hood scoop, and/or wiper jets. Hood are typically made out of steel or aluminum, although aftermarket manufacturers may manufacture hoods out of fiberglass, carbon fiber, or dry carbon.

In Japan and Europe, regulations have come into effect in recent years that place a limit on the severity of pedestrian head injury when struck by a motor vehicle. This is leading to more advanced hood designs, as evidenced by multicone hood inner panel designs as found on the Mazda RX-7 and other vehicles.

The hood release is a small lever, which is usually mounted under the dash. It is connected to the hood latch by a cable. The hood latch has a safety feature, which requires a second latch to be released before the hood will open. This is to prevent accidental opening while driving.