Ram Air idea

[FormulaForce]

So I have this idea for Ram-air on a 95 Formula. Yes, they sell ram-air hoods for them, but I don't like the looks of those for that year. I already have a Moroso cold-air pickup that sucks air in from inside the left front fender. While cleaning the filter (what a pain in the ass) it occurred to me that a guy with some time and ingenuity could extend the ducting to the front of the car. There are two fake air intakes under the front bumber. I think these are normally molded shut, but whoever owned my car before cut openings in the back of them for foglights which I removed because they looked stupid. It might be possible to run some sort of plastic or aluminum tubing to the front left "intake" and feed it into the moroso tube. It may not feed enough volume of air without really wide tubing, and the filter would have to be very non-restrictive, but it seems like at high speed this would force air into the intake. The right bumper duct is out of the question, there is just too much stuff in the way to run tubing. I'll have to take off the left front wheel and look inside the fender better, there may be too many bends. If it can be done, this would be a good way to take advantage of the car's less-than-aerodynamic front end, and have invisible ram-air. Would have to avoid driving through deep water puddles though, or rig a switchable bypass. Comments? (I can hear the laughter now)

[tuske427]

I say go for it! Hot rodding has developed from people trying new things and taking chances. If everyone took a safe path, where would we be for innovation?

Of course- something low and in front might be subject to stones, bugs, water spray (like you mentioned) etc. I'd suggest a good screen or something to block unwanted elements, but not restrict the airflow.

I had built my own ram air system for my '95 T/A when I had it. I used 4" ducting and pvc tubing from home depot and ran it down in front of the front left wheel to a K&N Air filter. Yes, it did get dirty. I had to clean the oil filter every oil change. But I was proud of it. I didn't spend 150$ on a "kit" and I had something I made myself.

If it doesn't work or you don't like it, you can always remove it...

[FormulaForce]

Thanks for the encouragement. Yeah, the debris factor does worry me a bit, so I'll probably put some strong mesh over the opening. It will be far enough back in there that no one will see it anyway. I'll have a washable filter in place where it joins the Moroso tubing further back. It would probably be a good idea to put a springed/hinged panel somewhere on the tubing wall so if the intake gets clogged with something (like a plastic grocery bag) then the engine suction can pull the panel open and still let air in. If this works, I'll post the how-to so others can do it. I have a G-Tech accelerometer that will help determine any power gains on the road. Now for the hard part: finding the time to do it