Re: Air box
The stock box receives cool air from in front of the core support, which is an above-atmospheric pressure level, almost 4 feet from the turbo. This improvement receives hot under-hood air after it passes through the radiator, and ambient heat from the turbo that is only 8" away, at possibly a negative pressure level..
This is an improvement?
Air intakes can be seperated into specific catagories:
- Those that take in warm engine bay air
- Those that are exposed to cooler/fresher air from the front.
The biggest bennefit of adding an aftermarket air intake is unshrouding the factory air box.
The last bennefit is exposing it to fresh air.
Ram Air is a myth, and many intake manufactures use the word Ram Air strictly for propaganda. They also try to show track results compared to other intakes that simply incur too many variables to make a meaningful and empirical determination. 60 foot times, atmospheric changes, shifting, etc, etc. So do not beleive anything you hear regarding such claims regarding air intakes.
Lets take a look at the "Ram Air" Myth in automobiles:
The Ram Air Myth by Dave Rodabaugh
The Ram Air Myth is the most mythical of them all. It differs from the other myths, in that the other myths are misinterpretations of physical phenomena, whereas ram air simply does not exist.
MYTH: Use of a scoop on the front of the vehicle to collect intake air, or provide ?ram air? can raise engine performance.
TRUTH: At automobile velocities, there is no ram air effect.
SIMPLE EXPLANATION
The "Truth" statement says it all. How much simpler can it be? The Ram Air effect is a total myth because it simply does not exist. ?But Pontiac uses it on the Trans Am, and they know more than you do.? To those who offer this, tsk tsk. Careful reading of Pontiac?s statements on the matter reveal that the HP increase of the WS6 package are a result of a less restrictive intake, and a freer-flowing exhaust, NOT any ram air effect.
So why does Pontiac use Ram Air? Easy! To make people buy their cars! And they are quite effective with this strategy.
DEEPER EXPLANATION
Of all of the applied sciences, fluid mechanics is among the most difficult for many people to comprehend. It is a relatively youthful applied science as well, meaning that it has not had two or three centuries of work to mature into an applied science on par, with say, chemical combustion. To make matters worse, it is mathematically defined almost entirely by experimentally-determined mathematics.
This last point is the true differentiator between those who only understand concepts, and those who can quantify what they are discussing. Truly, quantification is the real skill of the engineer. It is one thing to speak about qualitative issues (the ?what? of the physical sciences); it is entirely another to quantify them (the ?how much? and ?to what extent? of the same). In grade school, students are first taught about ?closed form mathematics? and then that these mathematics are typical of scientific expression. A good example of this is Newton?s famed ?law of action and reaction?, the mathematical expression of which is a succinct F=MA. So straightforward. So simple. Three variables in perfectly-defined harmony. Given any two of them, the third is easy to nail down.
Unfortunately, a vast, vast majority of the mathematics used in engineering are NOT closed form. Instead, they are multi-variable correlations valid only for a narrow set of circumstances. Deviate from those narrow circumstances, and a new expression must be experimentally derived. Fluid mechanics is almost entirely defined by these experimentally-determined expressions, further muddying an applied science not well understood.
And if there ever were an applied science for which common sense is wholly inappropriate, it is fluid mechanics. Virtually nothing obeys the ?common sense? rules of observation, explaining why those who believe in ram air have extreme difficulty in believing that is simply does not exist.
The Deeper Explanation begins with a basic explanation of engine principles. Air and fuel must be combusted at a specific ratio, namely, 14.7 parts air to 1 part fuel (this is a chemical ratio). Stuffing more fuel into the cylinders without increasing the amount of air they also swallow will get no gain whatsoever. So the hot rodder?s adage ?more air = more power? is proven correct. Figure out a way to stuff more air into the cylinder at any given RPM and throttle setting, and you can burn more fuel. Since burning fuel is what makes power, more air truly does create more power.
The amount of air which is inducted into a cylinder is a function of the air?s density. As the air flows through the intake tract, it loses pressure, and as the pressure decreases, so does the air?s density. (Denisty is mass divided by volume. Since cylinders are a fixed volume, increasing the density will also increase the mass of the air in the cylinder.) There are two ways to increase the pressure and density of the air inducted into the cylinders:
- Decrease the pressure drop from the throttle plate to the cylinders
- Increase the starting pressure at the throttle plate.
Ram air is an attempt to do the second. Under normal circumstances, the air at the throttle plate is at atmospheric pressure, and this pressure drops until the air reaches the cylinders. Ram air would start the process at some pressure higher than atmospheric, and even though the drop is the same, the cylinder pressure is higher because of the increase at the start.
Just how would this increase in pressure at the throttle plate occur? The oft-wrong ?common sense? says, ?If a scoop is placed in the airstream flowing around the vehicle, the velocity of the air ?rams? the air into the scoop, thus increasing the pressure.?
Why is this incorrect? There are two types of pressure: static and dynamic. Placing of one?s hand in front of a fan, or out of a moving car?s window, clearly exerts a force on the hand as the air diverts its path to flow around it. Most people would say ?See? This is a clear indication that ram air works. Clearly there is pressure from the velocity of the air.? Well, this is correct, but only to a point. This is an example of dynamic pressure, or the force any moving fluid exerts upon obstacles in its path as the gas is diverted around the obstacle.
What an engine needs is static pressure. This is the pressure the same fluid exerts on any vessel containing it at rest. For those who were physics/chemistry geeks, it is the pressure caused by the force of the molecules bouncing off of the walls of the container. The key to understanding the difference between static and dynamic pressure lies in the velocity of the gas. Dynamic pressure is only a momentum effect due to the bulk motion of the fluid around an obstacle. Static pressure is an intrinsic property of a gas or fluid just because the molecules of the fluid are moving around. Any fluid which is moving can have BOTH dynamic and static pressure, but a fluid at rest only has static pressure.
The point of ram air would be to increase the static pressure, which would correspond to an increase in the in-cylinder air density, and of course, more air. Superchargers and turbochargers do what the mythical ram air purports to do. A supercharger trades the power of the belt and uses it to compress the air in the intake tract. This energy trade-off results in an increase in intake air pressure, more air in the cylinders, more fuel burned, and more power. A turbocharger trades the power of the hot gases and uses it to compress the air in the intake. The overall effect is the same ? an increase in intake static pressure.
For ram air to work, it would have to trade the energy of the air?s velocity (as the vehicle moves through the air)
borrowed from a corvette site
so to sum it up yes its an improvement, and the way the stock crossovers degrade and destroy turbos a worth investment and JUST a FYI AIR wouldnt compress until mach .3 thats 102.08 meters per second or 3.2 feet per second or about 228.3464566929134 Miles per Hour, so for the stock airbox to be at a "above-atmospheric pressure level" you would need to be doing 30% of the speed of sound
