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A fan shroud covers the area around the cooling fan in a car. The shroud is important in the safe operation of your vehicle. Shrouds also reduce fan noise.
Simply so, does a fan shroud make a difference?
They focus airflow through the entire radiator as compared to just the area that is covered by the traditional fan, creating a vacuum that pulls air across the entire surface area of the radiator, thus increasing cooling.
Then, do electric fans need a shroud?
Yes, that's correct. With manual fans on vettes, the key thing is a shroud that totally encloses the radiator air tight in the back and comes as close to the edges of the fan blades as possible to generate as much suction as possible - since the fan is so far from the radiator, especially at the bottom.
Yes, you can drive without the fan shroud and even without the fan so long as you don't get stuck in stop-go-traffic in warm weather.