WMS High Velocity Intake System

s19706 said:

It just comes between the space between the hood and and the grille. It isn't a huge amount of air flow, but it is enough to lower the air intake temps a good 30-50 degrees. It works more as an air-re-direction/heat shield.

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has anyone documented/measured temp info on these? I cant help but be kinda skeptical...the factory airbox sucks thru the front fenderwell, and I just really cant picture any temp difference...most kits Ive seen the gasketing looked kinda iffy regarding how 'sealed' it would be to the hood(does it rub thru the hood insulation?
Maybe at zero mph if car sits for a bit it might warm up a bit, but without air coming thru the grille, I think the CAI box would be similar- but it seems to me within a second of moving, that would blow off too...I might take my remote thermometer off the garage and drop it in the airbox next time I go for a drive. just to compare airbox/ambient, I'm just guessing at 10 mph it will be same temp.... I cant help but think the bigger tube and tune(mostly the tune) makes the lions share of the power difference. I mentioned in another thread, theres one aftermarket CAI that seems to take a right turn at the throttle body, and it seems to me that air rushing thru at an angle would be a restriction...a couple others look good though. thinking about some hopup stuff, but like I said- always a skeptic...thinking a tune alone, possibly bigger inlet tube to stock weatherproof airbox might be justifiable in my mind, unless the CAI 'box' and filter really adds a temp difference.

Good questions Ford4v429... I like the way you think. I tend towards skepticism too! Some of your questions are answered if you follow the link in the 4th post. WMS did actually measure the significant temperature differences as well as test the car's 50 to 100mph time with stock and with the WMS intake... a 1.31 second difference. I'm not sure there is a way to measure HP and TQ while driving on the road. Here's an excerpt from WMS's test:

"August 29, 2005. We tested the complete High Velocity System with Ram Air Box in a car on the road today. This test was to measure the effects of the air intake system with ram air while driving, since this cannot be tested on a chassis dyno. Our test car was a completly stock 05 Mustang GT. The test consisted of accelerating the car from 50 to 100mph in 3rd gear (roughly 3000 to 5850 rpm) while logging the data using a Diablo Predator. Our standard 80mm mass air sensor was used and there were no changes to the program in the car. The outside air temperature during the test was 67° and altitude was 3800ft. Here are the results."

Stock IntakeWMS IntakeGains from WMS Intake
50 - 100mph: 12.34 seconds
50 - 100mph: 11.03 seconds
Intake Air Temp @ 50mph: 104°
Intake Air Temp @ 50mph: 68°
Intake Air Temp @ 100mph: 84°
Intake Air Temp @ 100mph: 66°
MAF voltage @ 100mph: 4.2V
MAF voltage @ 100mph: 4.3V

"The test shows a significant increase in power as the car accelerates from 50 - 100mph 1.3 seconds faster than stock. The increase in power needed to do this is of much debate and calculation, basic physics says about 10% but we won't try to quantify beyond that. The ram air clearly delivers a colder air intake charge to the engine, this drop in intake temperature alone will increase power (approximately 1hp for every 11° colder) because the engine is breathing denser air. You can also see the maf voltage increased by .1V so more air is flowing through the mass air meter."

Hi Guys,

The beauty of a mass air flow EFI system is that once you characterize the MAF housing's flow any changes to air flow are automatically compensated for by the now calibrated air flow map. Look at it this way, once you know the air flow characteristics of the MAF housing, inlet pipe, throttle body and intake manifold anything you do in front of the MAF housing has will be adjusted for simply by the MAF sensor's flow numbers.

In the case of WMS' Ram Air system if they can change the pressure level in the intake tract by forcing more air past the MAF sensor they don't need to make any adjustments in the ECU's maps to correct for the changes presented to the MAF sensor. In this case Ram Air works because the ECU increases fuel to match the increased air flow, how the additional air flow is produced doesn't really matter.

WMS was smart in carefully selecting the size and position of the MAF sensor to get "stock like" flow characteristics so the stock ECU maps would work acceptably. This is not to say that there is not something to be found by going with a custom dyno tune as I'm sure there is power left on the table just as there is with the stock tunes with stock intake systems.

Here is an interesting bit. We used to get a new WS6 T-A every year for a couple of years until they discontinued the F-Body cars at GM. When Pontiac introduced the Ram-Air system with the then new LS1 powered TA's I laughed and said it was probably just more B.S. and fake scoops from GM's stylists or marketing people. So to prove this I tested the WS6 Ram-Air using one of the then "new" G-Tech measuring devices by running multiple passes from a dig both with and without the Ram-Air intake in the hood working. For the non Ram-Air passes I just removed the Ram-Air's plastic boxes and the crap traps and diverters and used a short piece of dryer duct held on with a zip tie this removed the air filter completly and pulled air from in front of the radiator, itself a higher pressure area.

Man was I ever wrong, the LS1 powered WS6 Ram-Air was good for almost 2/10's to 100MPH even breathing through the stock tortured Ram-Air path used to prevent too much debris from getting to the air filter element. I'd bet there's at least another 1/10, maybe MORE in the old WS6's Ram-Air system if you just made a straight air flow path and cleaned the filter a lot more often. The LS1 was being severly limited by the intake IMO, who know what else they left on the table with that engine? I don't know how much power those extra 2/10's equals on an F-body car but those F-Bodies are FAT, easily 350-400lbs. more than my S197 GT which is not a lightweight by any stretch of the imagination.

Anywho, an interesting test that woke me up and changed my opinion about Pontiac's Ram-Air IV(?), and CAI systems in general. That test made me a believer because I was forced to see that the intake on these cars could be tweaked to get better air flow and improve power with simple external changes. If it works on a GM you know it's going to work on a Ford if designed correctly.


Cheers

ford4v429 said:

one other thing- dyno tuning a ram intake without 'airspeed' giving true speed dependant 'boost'...can it be done, or is there a chance the car could actually lean out off the dyno at high speed real world driving...Ive asked this several times on various forums, no one ever commented. I often wonder same thing on CAI kits, as reports of hood shake at speed lead me to believe underhood pressure in general is high at speed (perhaps why ford sucks air thru fenderwell?)

any comments?

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Hi ford4v429,

I've watched the IAT valuses from the car's ECU on my Predator and the temp is usually only a couple of degrees warmer than the ambient air temp reading I get from my kids wireless weather station that I positioned with gaffer's tape on the hood while driving, don't ask. I didn't want to wreck it so I didn't stick the sensor box inside of the engine compartment yet but I'm going to find a way to protect it and try again to see the difference. I don't know how hih but I wouldn't want to be in there even on the freeway. The underhood temps are pretty high but the stock intake box pulls from the inner fender well only so the air temp is not nearly as high as under the hood.

I have a Steeda CAI kit installed and there is a nice big gasket on the stainless steel shield that completely seals the shield to the hood. The Steeda design is pretty good and only allows air to come from the inner fender well or the lower front grill intake area. I'm working on installing a 4" duct with a fabricated scoop to direct air directly to the CAI "box" to maximize the CAI's effectiveness but I don't think there will be more than a 10 degree difference at the most a this is all the difference I'm seeing at the MAF sensor anyway.


Cheers

ford4v429 said:

good info guys! thanks.

I'd never even thought about the MAF sensor being forward in the duct(my old camaro it was right in front of TB) so yes duct shape/volume changes justify tune...and MAF self adjusts...gotcha

I'm still really suprised the underhood temp was that high in that test, but I wont argue- thankyou for posting that test data.

couple things that still kinda worry me:
will the coldair 'box' gasket rub/cut into underhood insulation, and do you really think it seals OK? the ramair sounds better to me- but does it have good water baffling inside(I'll drive in rain too, once salts gone).
lastly has anyone else noticed some cai tubes have that sharp turn on the near end of tb? is it even an issue?

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