Racer's Lounge - Cold vs ram air

In an argument with my mustang buddy and he insists that a ram air intake is so much better than a cold air intake. I always assumed that it was better but not by much. Didn't find much of an answer as far as searching goes. Anyone know the details?

In my unprofessional opinion I'd say that Ram-Air is garbage. Why? Take the WS6's for example; even if you sealed the hood nostrils to the airbox you still don't get the ram-air effect until you approach a high rate of speed. Meanwhile, the car's still breathing air that would be considered "un-optimized" for the car. Again, in my unprofessional opinion, I think a cold-air setup would be better because I'm assuming that "cold" or "cooler" air is being funneled into the engine at all times, not just at high rates of speed like in the WS6's setup.

There're lots of experts on this matter here on the forums. I'm sure they'll chime in and set the record straight for us...

its all in the same. ram air is cold air; cool air is entering the hood and pathed to the intake. The name ram air gives the idea that there should be some sort of forcing of air or pressurizing of it, but that is highly unlikely.

I'm not going to waste everyone's time getting into the physics of why that scoop would need to be 100 square inches for it to be remotely effective on a car moving less than 150mph to get a "ram air" effect(exaggeration, but you get the point)...

Bottom line, if you want ram air, get it for the colder air and leave it at that. Or, get it because you like the way it looks.

cold air is air that is cold ... ram air is forced air. both are advertising ploys... as far as ram air and "myk" is correct, it takes over 50mph for air pressure to compress on the leading edge of the front bumper which is then forced over the car. with well placed inlets, air can be forced in making more power. watch wind tunnel tests. air is forced both up, down and around a vehicle. that's why race cars have a splitter on the lower front bumper and a spoiler on the back so the air pressure forces the vehicle down with the least amount of drag. fins on the roof line like found on nascar bodies and dirt track print cars keep them from flipping over over laterally. why we laugh at fwd imports with wings ( other then looking dumb and unless angled right) put pressure on the rear wheels and lift the front taking away grip .. i believe wind tunnel tests proved that the the 1st gen ram air gto's air inlets were set too far back on the hood that the forced air flowed over them rather then in them. pulling the head light out is some what useless. by the time one hits the 1/4 mile mark is when air starts being forced in and by that time it's shutdown time.... if i'm wrong i'm wrong but i'm pretty sure i'm right

Who cares? It's a f***ing intake.

but a k&n and a sticker is worth 15hp!

Who cares? It's a f***ing intake.

Yeah, I know that was my point.

but a k&n and a sticker is worth 15hp!

At least!

LOL, go into the tech section if you want measured results. Asking in the gossip section won't answer your question. There are several threads in the external engine GenIII section that include measured effects of RAM air as opposed to just cold air. In either case, VE improvement is never a bad thing.

Hmmmm...wonder why the Chris1313 ram air kit sells to well?

http://ls1tech.com/forums/13459918-post14.html
looks like a good kit

Just food for thought. The Jaam ram air kit which is the same as sealing the front nostrils to the front of the lid with weather stripping makes a nice amount of pressure compared to just stock or even baffles removed. It doesn't show how a system that gets air from under the car compares but it's good to know taking out the baffling and sealing the nostrils to the front of the car really shines at about 80mph and up.

http://www.pfyc.com/supportfiles/fb3017_graph.jpg

In my unprofessional opinion I'd say that Ram-Air is garbage. Why? Take the WS6's for example; even if you sealed the hood nostrils to the airbox you still don't get the ram-air effect until you approach a high rate of speed. Meanwhile, the car's still breathing air that would be considered "un-optimized" for the car. Again, in my unprofessional opinion, I think a cold-air setup would be better because I'm assuming that "cold" or "cooler" air is being funneled into the engine at all times, not just at high rates of speed like in the WS6's setup.

There're lots of experts on this matter here on the forums. I'm sure they'll chime in and set the record straight for us...

One other thing I'm going to throw into this...

Even if one just counts the WS6 as a cold-air instead; removing the "Ram-Air" thought. The tubing/ducting losses alone from the "cold air kit" are enough to make the WS6 system better (De-baffled and properly sealed of course); this is even more pronounced on the LTx cars when comparing a CAI to the WS6 RAI setup. Hell, I can see the TB blades through the hood-scoops on my de-baffled/modified lid '97 (with the airfilter removed); can't get a much shorter cold air path.

ram that air!