94ponform

i want to keep the sleeper look on my 94 formula. is it worth the horsepower i'm going to gain by putting a ram air hood on, or just staying with the stock hood and keeping my sleeper look?

ExtinctBird

iTrader: (1)

I don't think you will really retain a sleeper look with a ram air hood. I switched to a ram air hood and air box on my 95 Formula cause I like the look alot better, and the stock hood had some minor hail damage when I bought the car.

I doubt that the HP gain from ram air is much different than a good CAI.

aaron653

iTrader: (1)

there is no gain from a ram air hood...its a hood

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

Actually on a LT1, a good CAI offers a much better performance gain than a ram air hood. You'll be lucky if you even notice a perfomance gain at all from a ram air hood, it doesn't really do anything until you're over about 70 mph. You'd gain more from the weight savings.

94ponform

So where am i going to get a good CAI?

DHiser27

iTrader: (3)

if you take the baffles out of the ram air hood though it starts helping a lot earlier than 70mph. I just drilled out the rivets on mine and took out the baffles, and theres no way you can convince me that ambient air isnt going through those intake points until 70mph. http://www.lmperformance.com/2386/1.html thats what im going to put on my car here very soon. completely sealed, pulls in only ambient air through the ram air vents.

Dan Stewart

Ram air has no effect until the air flow through the ducts exceeds what the engine pulls in under it's own power.

Example:
If the engine is pulling air through the intake at a velocity of 70mph and the car is only going 35mph, then the engine is drawing air at a velocity faster than what the ram air can supply. Accelerate to 70mph and the air flowing through the ducts is only matching the velocity at which the engine is drawing it in. Only when the vehicle exceeds 70mph does the ram air velocity exceed the velocity at which the air is drawn into the engine under it's own power and begin to pressurize the intake. Even then, it is only a fraction of a psi.

94ponform

so with a ram air hood and box, your sayin that it won't help untill 70. cuz thats not what i have heard from many other people.

Dan Stewart

Well......let's review!

It's been proven multiple times, Z28's, SS's, T/A's, WS6's, and Formula's all perform about the same engine for engine, tranny for tranny (LT1 vs. LT1 or LS1 vs. LS1), ram air or no.

If you want the awesome look that the ram air hood provides, great! I personally like the way the hood looks and that's why I'm searching for a WS6 over a base T/A (and the fact that I want an authentic WS6 and not just another clone). But, if you want performance, the ram air hood isn't going to net you any gain over a nice CAI. My '95 Z28 beat my friend's '97 Ram Air time and time again when we were both bone stock and both had A4's. Mind you, the sole reason for that was my car was nowhere near as optioned as his was and therefore weighed a lot less.

To put it simply, Ram air (and the old cowl induction on the chevelle ss 454) was nothing more than a marketing gimmick.

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

I've owned two LSx cars that were both standard models converted to have functional Ram Air hoods, and I ran them both at the track like crazy... neither gained any actual performance from the hood.

Captainofiron

iTrader: (1)

I cut my baffles out, moves more air now, ram air works, if anything gives you the cool sucking sound from the front

94ponform

allright, i never said i didn't beleive you, i just said i had heard other things. so who makes a good CAI?