So we started this project yesterday and got the upper pipe finnished, We would have finshed it yesterday but discovered that the lower outlet on the airbox is 3.5 inches wide and we didnt have a 3.5-3.0 reducer, when we have more time we will be making the lower pipe and collector that mounts on the driver side air dam... dont mind the raw form of the metal... we will be offering colored couplers and powdercoating on these too, for a little extra we might do pollishing. mine is going to be powdercoated black with red couplers

so... here's the pics!









We used the factory lower piping to make a mock up of where the piping should sit... the lower pipe will be connected to a collector or small box of some sort that will be mounted to the bumper frame and sit right in front of that driver side air dam... with just the upper pipe ive noticed a difference in throttle response and the S/C whine is a tad louder... alot more noticable in 1st gear and a bit more noticeable in 2nd on up, im going to reset the PCM today so it will learn faster and ill let you guys know how its doing in a week... on the plus side... we were right about not having CEL's by using the factory design of the piping...
We are already thinking about making these for the cobalts if the interest is there.

 

with the open end like that, i would think that people would be worried about sucking up water.

 

whats the numbers on ram air on a F/I vehicle....
isnt it kind of moot?

not being a smartass....its a serious question...

 

forget water, little kids and small animals need to beware

 

the end wont be open like the pipe in the pics, there will be an airbox type collector that sits in that little window, and we have already considered the whole water thing... ill mostlikely be using an AEM bypass so if the opening gets clogged it will suck air from higher up in the piping.

Also... if you are driving through puddles deep enough to submerse your front bumper than you are an idiot.

Dont have the numbers just yet but im pretty sure they would be much better that the K&N or AEM intakes (for the redline anyway)... also... the system will work just liek a CAI but rather than having the filter at the bottom of the piping the filter will remain in the factory airbox and a collector at the front of the bumper will ensure plenty of fresh air will be delivered to the airbox... should be quite a bit more efficient than a standard CAI due to the fact that air is being pulled directly from the front of the vehicle and only increases velocity as speed increases... on a Turbo car ram air insnt really a bennefit but as far as i know it should bennefit to an S/C'd car because its making boost after the TB rather than before it.

 

Dude... that thing looks sick. I agree small children and dogs beware!

 

Should have waited on the pics till you had something better to show I think.

Its a good idea though.

 

i agree. i'm just going by the pics, since you didn't explain that the finished piece would be any different. you posted a pic of a big opening, and a tube with nothing on the end of it. not only puddles, but with a setup like that i'd be worried about rain, debris from the road, birds, etc.

if you had said somewhere that it would be different than in the pics, i wouldnt' have made that statemetn.

 

AEM bypass is not supposed/cannot to be used on F/I vehicles...

read their site...

a small hole in the rear of the ram-air box will effetively draw-out any pooling water in the box.

also, a velocity cone will help increase flow better than a straight box...

(not trying to debate wheather a ram will help on a s/c'd vehicle)

 

Sorry if i sounded like a dick.. lol... and yes i did explain that the finished product would not be simular.

as far as road debris, socal just gave me an idea... the use of a velocity cone within the collector box in the front air dam would prevent any debri from entering the airbox or piping itself, another thing i hve been looking into is adding some kind of mesh or screen to the front of the collector box... and im pretty sure AEM was talking about turbo cars as far as the F/I statement goes, turbo cars make boost before the TB so and breech in the piping would cause a boost leak, whereas we make our boost after the TB so i dont think it would be a problem. but the small hole in the back of the collector box wouldnt hurt to have there anyway. thanks for the input socal

This will be an ongoing thread with updated pics of the product as it nears completion.

 

i have mesh inserts for the grill...if you click the link in my sig, i have pics in that thread.

i could also make you a mesh grill if you send me your plastic OEM grill insert.

 

how much?

 

$25 and ill ship you the mesh. I have a bunch lying around...its unpainted as well so you can paint whatever color you like.

if you want me to make you the grill, you have to ship me your plastic insert...then ill ship it back in a few weeks. I made the last one for $90. (a lot of labor goes into it, and about $20 in hardware...)

 

ram air on a forced induction car. . .

 

What for?

 

I dunno. Mechanically i cant wrap my head around this one
it just doesnt make sense to me.

 

acording to corky bell...decreasing the pressure change (removing restrictions, i.e. high flow filter, better tubing etc...) between the intake and TB (or the Turbo inlet in theh Corky book) helps reduce intake temps by a few degrees...

thats bout all i know. definately not trying to debate wheather a ram air helps or not...


plus, boosted lives at 6000+' elevation...so as much air he can get in there the better...

 

I think maybe it should be called an alternate cold air system?
technically Ram Air is almost like a poor mans forced induction.
where you use the vehicles velocity, to force the air into the engine....
I dont know if its truely possible to have ram air, in the true sense of the meaning, on a F/I vehicle.....the s/c, or turbo....is already doing it at far greater levels than ram air ever could. (unless your doing mach1)

 

It's been done by me since about 2005.

Doesn't work and all your gonna do is get the MAF wet when it rains and make it dump fuel whenever you enter PE. Right now I have the same piping but to an AEM dryflow in the side of the bumper and whenever it gets REALLY rainy my MAF still gets wet and dumps fuel.

Good thought though. Keep the new ideas flowing

 

the only way to really tell if it works...is to use a vaccum gauge...

you install a vaccum gauge in the intake, right before the TB, and log the values using the stock set-up...

...then use the ram set-up, and log the vaccum readings...if the vaccum readings are greater...then you are getting less restricted airflow. less pressure change before the TB, hence a few degrees lower IAT1's...

if no change...then you know that its worthless...

 

yah that makes sense to me.

 

im sorry but i really cant see how your MAF is getting wet unless you are driving through big puddles, even though some tiny extent of rain water would make its way into the piping by the time it makes it to the MAF it would be dried up, and thats only if the water could make it past the filter inside the airbox.

i think you guys are forgetting the fact that forced induction is worthless on a TURBO car where boost is made BEFORE the throttle body. Our supercharger doubles as an intake manifold and makes boost after the throttle body, by providing more fresh air from outside the car it will help to make cooler temps.
ive been researching this concept since 2002 but the original car i was researching it on was a turbo car and after realizing that a turbo motor makes boost before the throttle body i came to the conclusion that it was worthless and probably would hinder performance rather than enhance it, but... seeing that our cars breath much like that of an N/A car and make boost after the throttle body... i dont see why this setup wouldnt help to enhance the performance of the engine and keeping the temps lower.

 

okasdfgh

 

youve been trying to figure this out since 2002? here ill tell you what happens, he gains maybe 2 HP. He really doesnt have a ram air setup, hes got a cold air intake. A ram air setup is designed with a hood scoop or scoop of some sort. This creates a high pressure area right infront of the scoop that is used to force and when i say force, i mean very lightly force the air down the intake tube. Most ram air systems are useless till you are traveling at some pretty fast speeds.

Basically all he has is a cold air intake with no filter and thats it. And while yes our blower acts like an intake, it also acts as a wall. Because the blower can only take in so much air per revolution, and unless he has a magic "ram air" system, hes not going to be creating any PSI to help push more air into the blower.

This mod is pointless and anyone who thinks otherwise. . .have a nice day

 

imageshack, photobucket, all those sites a blocked on most corp/gov networks. So I get red X's for your pictures.