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Modern vehicles require a low aerodynamic drag to minimize fuel consumption. A not negligible share of the overall CD-value of a vehicle is produced by the engine compartment air flow. Therefore this share has also to be optimized. Furthermore, customer wishes for higher powered engines as well as for more safety and comfort result in more tightly packed engine compartments. Even the reduction of pass-by-noise required by legal reasons is often achieved with the help of underbody covers which in turn affect the engine compartment flow. All these items may lead to rising underhood temperatures. To reduce the development time of new vehicles, numerical simulations of engine compartment air flow are more and more used to predict high temperature fields and to show ways to develop suitable remedies in the concept phase of the vehicle development. The experimental basis for such codes is provided by aerodynamic investigations in a wind tunnel.