Gee, I Didn’t See that Coming: Car Mustaches Reportedly Overheat Engines [w/Video]

If you heard about Lyft, the San Francisco-based carpool app, you probably know that all drivers enlisted in the program are recommended to put a pink carstache (a car mustache, that is) on the grille of their cars before picking up customers. Don’t ask why, it is a marketing idea that apparently works for Lyft as it gives cars “more personality and demonstrate their participation in the Lyft movement,” according to the company’s website.

However, the mustaches are detrimental to cars according to one expert, potentially causing serious damage while on the road. According to a report from GeekWire that cites Jim Leonard, a service advisor at an independent car repair shop in Bellevue, Washington, the pink “carstaches” could cause temperature problems.

“If the mustache replaces the over-the-air intake of the grille of the car, it’s constructed in such a way air can’t pass through it. If this blocks the air intake to the radiator, it could cause the engine to overheat,” Leonard said. He added that the engine could be seriously damaged if the temperature of the coolant in the radiator continues to go up.

It appears that some Lyft drivers have found that out from their own experience and decided to put the mustaches on the dashboard rather than on the grille. However, that could still cause problems, as a mustache placed on the dashboard could block the driver’s line of sight, the car expert said. On some cars, it could also block air from going out of the vents and into the car.

Neither Lyft, nor Carstache, the manufacturer of the car mustaches, didn’t comment on the report.

By Dan Mihalascu

Image credits: Carstache

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