Homemade ram-airs

[Dillweed]

Is it worth it and how much would it really give me in a 138 hp/148 fpt car????

[JD@af]

Yes, they ARE worth it, if designed correctly. I'd suggest either finding a guide on how to build and design one, or just mimic a quality intake design (I'd suggest looking at an AEM unit and using a design similar to theirs). Go with the largest K&N air filter you can get your hands on and fit under your hood, and use tubing to correctly fit the connector of the filter.

As for gains.. I'd say that you could see as much as 10 horsepower, and 6 to 8 foot-pounds of torque. This is an ideal situation, and you need to design and build your intake correctly to see these kinds of gains. And remember that the biggest benefit of ram-air and cold-air intakes is the increased throttle response. The biggest drawback is that unless you have a poorly designed factory airbox, you will see increased intake temps during idling. The plastics and tubing used in factory intakes are designed not to provide maximum airflow, but usually to supress noise and to allow the car to idle and sit in traffic with minimal rise in intake tempertures. Ram-airs throw the cautions of these design parameters to the wind in favor of power and reponse increases.

[Dillweed]

Do I run it under the car and up?
Do I run it through the cornering light on the same side as the airbox?
Or do I run it through a scoop in the hood?

I would think that the closer to the intake, the better. Right?

By the way, my car is a 1990 Nissan Stanza.

Going from bigger tubing to smaller tubing(to fit it on the intake) is better right?

If I eliminate the factory air box and simply run it into the car, into the k&n, into another pipe and into the intake, is it fine?

So many questions!!!!

[texan]

run the inlet from a point of high pressure on the front end. Ideally this would be in a leading edge near the upper portions of the car, but that's not always possible. I have seen some people who have used a large subwoofer box port (with the radiused edges) and cut out a small section of front bumper to route the incoming air from, the instalation actually looks nice and is probably quite effective. Make sure whatever you design has a trap for water and other debri; that is to say make sure you design the filter into an air box with a low floor and high filter placement. Sealing this whole thing is crucial to maintaining the pressure at speed, so you will need to use some gasketing around the air box opening.

I aslo agree with JD about the power possiblities, just remember that ram air is not effective at lower speeds. Just try to make sure you create a port at least as large as the throttle body (preferrably larger), mount it with special care given to sealing the air pressure in once it's scooped up, and directing this toward the motor's throttle without allowing everything the scoop sucks in to go along with it.

[Dillweed]

[Chris]

Actually, ram air boosts power all the time. RAM AIR doesn't start to work until about 90 mph. It is the COLD AIR that helps most of the time. High pressure areas are usually around the bumber, as far forward as possible, as the air hasn't started to 'tumble' yet. Old muscle cars (I can't reember which one) used this, and mader more power than the (cooler looking) hood scoops.

[Chris]

Heah dillweed, when did you get the stanza?
IS it maroon in colour?
My mom owned a 90 stanza, but traded it in on her nearly-new grand am (saved 9 canadian grand, or 50 bucks american)
It also had a gray cloth interior.
We got rid of it more than a year age. And it feels faster than it is.

[Dillweed]

Thanks Chris,

It's not Maroon, it's Red.

But I was looking at a Maroon one at one time.
It was standard and had 86000 kms on it.

[TheMan5952]

You get about 1 psi of boost at 60 MPH. and the ram air, Trans Ams use it, Some Max Wedge Chryslers, and some Boss Mustangs used it.

I have one on my car, Behind the corner light there is a scoop for the stock intake, I just got a K&N Filter to put in the stock airbox and moved the bulbs and run them without a lens, works good.

[Chris]

Lots of 60's muscle cars used it. I don't know why it isn't more popular. Maybe it can mess up aerodynamics, or maybe good cars use it and just don't flaunt it?
Can someone shed some light on this?

[Dillweed]

I would say it isn't used as much because of creature confort. To annoying for people that live in changing climates. You don't want to ram your air when it's snowing, when you're following someone down a dirt road, when it's below freezing, etc.

It's just alot easier the the car-makers to put ten more hp into the engine and not worry about all the hassel of making room for ram-air.

Anybody else to help figure this out?

[Chris]

Yeah, that makes sense. But in the old muscle cars there is a ring of some stuff, like padding, that help to filter out the dirt, snow, water, etc. And rally cars use ram air, and they drive through dust,mud,water, etc. So I am still a little confused.

[Dillweed]

Actually not, the Impreza WRC only uses the ram air on tarmac and hard dirt( where there is not too much dirt)
A mystery I guess

[Chris]

I didn't know that, nic ebit of info.
Also, the WRX uses a ram-air device, so does the Evo (I think), so maybe it just requires more maintanience(spelled that wrong), like replacing that foam and air filter more often.
Still, I'm confused

[Dillweed]

I think I found it:

It is useless for the general public 'cause it only makes a worth while difference at around 85-90 mph.

You can't just spend your time speeding, it catches up with you.