RAM Air on 03 G.T. hood scoop, anyone tried it.

Validus · 05-16-2003

I was just thinking that the stock hood scoop on the 03 GT looks perfect for an old style RAM air. Anyone done it? Can we get the same boost GM can make with its RAM air setups? how much does it cost? and one last question, if i set it up how would i prevent hydrolock and such? thanks.

johnnytaboo · 05-16-2003

there's a shaker kit available. you can either cut the hood yourself or buy theirs. There's a ram air unit that sits on top of your intake manifold and directs the air. I've never heard of anyone fabricating a home made kit with the hood scoop, but plenty of people have used this kit I'm referring to. I'm not sure how evvective they are, but they do increase power. it's supposed to be couple hundred bucks, with the new hood that is. I'll see if I can find a link to it.

Twokingsracer · 05-16-2003

The shaker kits Ive seen go for around 1200 bucks. I just dont see how they could do a whole lot of good. Look at where the scoop is. Its not high enough to get serious air in there. The best results I have ever seen on ram air kits are the ones that posistion the inlets right on the front edge of the hood. Depending on how a cars front end is designed most of the air flow will pass over the top of the scoop. They look good but I have not seen any big gain for the cost.

hmarv347 · 05-16-2003

Here is a good article on ram air and the myths

http://www.vetteguru.com/ramair/

Twokingsracer · 05-16-2003

Wow...informative. I used to be a true believer in Ram Air till I did research on it.

Jack9999 · 05-17-2003

Twokingsracer, although that guy believes he knows everything, do not be fooled by his ramblings. Unfortunately for him, he forgot a very important variable in the horsepower to air flow equation. Velocity. He said that Ram Air will not increase the static pressure of the air in the intake, this is true. However, it will increase the velocity at which that air moves, which is also very important in creating horsepower. In his equation, he is thinking of "how much air can fit into a space", which in that respect his points are accurate. But an engine is not as simple as a glass jar. Think of it this way - the intake valves are only open a certain amount of time, the higher the velocity (speed) of the air flowing into the chamber, the more that will enter before the valve closes. Pretty simple.

Twokingsracer · 05-17-2003

I agree with you on that. But the article still contained some very important points regarding ram air theory and practicality. I looked into it quite a bit since the theory behind ram air made more sense HP wise, what I found out was that the majority of all auto manufacturers have admitted that their ram air designs were for the most part ill-conceived and offered little to no benefit at all. The main reason was the front end design vs. scoop height...simple airflow dynamics. As i said, they proved unless the scoops were placed on the front edge of the hood most of the air flow went right over the scoops. Secondly the ram air is only going to work on a progressive scale, the faster the vehicle is going the better its going to work, the slower is the vehicle is going the less it is going to work...at some speeds there will be no benefit at all (because the velocity in which the engine sucks the air in is already greater than what the vehicle speed could effect). The limitation here is the filter design. The majority of all ram air filter systems I have seen have a flat filter medium that are fed by the usually small scoop(s). Conical filters that are attached to a CAI have a larger area to intake air from. Plus if that isnt enough there is plenty of research that shows no ram air kit currently available can outflow a standard CAI offering with a good filter. One study showed that a simple air box with silencer removed outflowed March's ram air kit. Just my .02.

Jeff

Validus · 05-18-2003

oh boy, now I'm really lost. What I gather from a combination of all these posts, is that building a custom intake that extends the filter of the regular intake into the fenderwall will probably give me the most benefit. Am I wrong? I am not going to buy a CAI, I think thats a waste of money. Also there is a reason why manufacturers make their intake pipes out of rubber. But I really dont like the idea of having a non functional hood scoop, but I like the wya it looks. Any way I can make it functional in some non conventional way, i.e. the way the ford gt takes in air at the grill and routes it up so it shoots out up the windshield.

Twokingsracer · 05-18-2003

Here is the key to getting gains from your homemade air intake. You want the plumbing to be as straight as possible (curves kill air flow velocity), minimize bend angles, make sure that you use as big a diameter tubing as you can get away with, and that the interior of the tubing is smooth (edges where there are couplings are smoothed out, I did mine with plumbers epoxy, you dont want baffling or turbulence from edges). You want a good filter medium like a K&N. You want the filter shielded from engine heat as much as possible. You want the air you draw in to have minimum turbulence when it hits the TB. Figure out how to accomplish that and you are off to a good start.

TorchRedGT02 · 05-18-2003

I think it would be cool if an aftermarket company could make a conversion kit to make the non-functional hood scoop be functional, but appear stock. The "Shaker" kits they have available are fine, but I like the stock appearance of my GT.

PennylessZ28 · 05-18-2003

Kar Kraft makes a kit to make the stock hood functional.... but its pricey...

http://members.toast.net/BillGold/_RamAir/RamAir.htm

BlueStreak03 · 05-23-2003

Jack hit it dead on. An internal combustion engine is incredibly hard to study as far as fluid dynamics goes. Because it has valve that open and close at different times and for diferent durations of time, it is both the dynamic and static case to study. The topic of Ram-Air complicates this even further by the crappy placement of the inlets these inlet problems are further compounded by the fact that manufacturers use the wrong shape for the inlets. What makes this even harder to study is that the only way to quantify any gains from Ram-Air, you have to use a fan of some sort to shove air in the intake at very specific velocities if you ever want to dyno it to prove gains. I studied fluid dynamics at some depth and I don't even WANT to tackle any of those calculations.

I'll just stick with the smooth, straight as possible pipe with a decent filter medium and go about my way with other mods to make power.

Twokingsracer · 05-24-2003

Quote:

I'll just stick with the smooth, straight as possible pipe with a decent filter medium and go about my way with other mods to make power.

Word Blue. That sounds like a good plan to me...think Ill steal it from ya.

johnyrr · 05-26-2003

link doesnt work