LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

Regular Intake to Ram Air?

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Old Jan 29, 2014 | 10:22 AM
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Default Regular Intake to Ram Air?

Hi all!
I have a 1995 Trans Am LT1 A4 and I was wondering if anyone has or has thought about experienced...... etc. on changing the regular intake to the WS6 style Ram Air? Is this possible and about how much would the stuff run??

Any help would be great!
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Old Jan 29, 2014 | 10:28 AM
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RAM IT! Better intake flow at 50+ mph. It would help if you had a functional ram air hood too.

As far as price goes, I do not know because my 97 TA came with Ram air.
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Old Jan 29, 2014 | 09:05 PM
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But it is possible to convert it from it's stock form to a ram air??
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Old Jan 29, 2014 | 09:32 PM
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I played with that. The K&N set up is worth a few hp. I dynoed one (3 pulls) then installed the K&N while the Camaro was still sitting on the dyno. Three pulls, averaged 6 or so (been a few years LOL) more rwhp with the K&N. Thought "Wonder how much more the straight ram air box off my ram air TA is worth over that curved K&N ducting?" Surprise! Nothing! Made identical numbers.
So, I wondered how much power the ram air is worth? Friday night test & tune: ran it with the holes in the hood open, then taped up. Another surprise! Ran the same. I do what I call A-B-A testing like that. Ran the ducts open, taped over, open again. Found no difference. In different weather there may be a little.
So, it appears the K&N kit is as fast as a ram air hood, etc. These cars won't run fast enough to "ram" more air into these engines at WOT anyway. They suck air in at a much higher velocity that any ram air effect we will ever see. Cooler outside air would be where gains would come from. So different weather might show a little bit.

Long as I have done this, I still find things that surprise my that either help, or was sure would help but don't seem to matter.
I about wear my **** out testing, but I still like to learn.
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Old Jan 29, 2014 | 09:56 PM
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I think Ed covered the performance explanation, this will give you a good idea of the cost, $865 for hood and intake, before upgrade to chrome insert. http://www.xtremeautosport.net/servl...,-chevy/Detail
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Old Jan 30, 2014 | 12:22 AM
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The K&N FIPK is more then enough air for a 350ci LT1.

During my dyno tune we pulled the elbow off my TB to chase a dip in the graph that my tuner thought may be an intake restriction, and I was surprised to see an open TB only dyno ~2rwhp less then my FIPK - and even that was mostly due to the filter starting to get dirty.

I got my TA with the WS6 functional hood and airbox and it looks cool and you can hear it breathe...but damn is it expensive and I doubt it is worth any power (maybe at ~150mph? That is where sportsbikes list increased HP numbers, and their ram air scoops are perfectly engineered to be in the correct spot).

I definitely wouldn't do the swap looking for power, only if you want the look and easy to clean filter .
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Old Jan 30, 2014 | 08:13 AM
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of course its possible, the only real modification i did to the car was slicing some sort of wire loom open a bit so i could get more slack for the MAF to come over since it sits right between the ramair box, a short piece of tube and then another short piece of tube going to the TB. Its an expenive CAI since your buying a hood in the process, but it looks awesome.
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Old Jan 30, 2014 | 09:45 AM
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Originally Posted by Ed Wright
I played with that. The K&N set up is worth a few hp. I dynoed one (3 pulls) then installed the K&N while the Camaro was still sitting on the dyno. Three pulls, averaged 6 or so (been a few years LOL) more rwhp with the K&N. Thought "Wonder how much more the straight ram air box off my ram air TA is worth over that curved K&N ducting?" Surprise! Nothing! Made identical numbers.
So, I wondered how much power the ram air is worth? Friday night test & tune: ran it with the holes in the hood open, then taped up. Another surprise! Ran the same. I do what I call A-B-A testing like that. Ran the ducts open, taped over, open again. Found no difference. In different weather there may be a little.
So, it appears the K&N kit is as fast as a ram air hood, etc. These cars won't run fast enough to "ram" more air into these engines at WOT anyway. They suck air in at a much higher velocity that any ram air effect we will ever see. Cooler outside air would be where gains would come from. So different weather might show a little bit.

Long as I have done this, I still find things that surprise my that either help, or was sure would help but don't seem to matter.
I about wear my **** out testing, but I still like to learn.
The scoops on the lt cars are too low and far back to be in the airsteam to get any ram air effect going. ive tested the slp kit and jaam ram air kit with a.water column gauge.and the intake is pressurized. Then theres a bunch of results with the ls guys picking up mph with ram air kits.
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Old Jan 30, 2014 | 10:05 AM
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Originally Posted by speed_demon24
The scoops on the lt cars are too low and far back to be in the airsteam to get any ram air effect going. ive tested the slp kit and jaam ram air kit with a.water column gauge.and the intake is pressurized. Then theres a bunch of results with the ls guys picking up mph with ram air kits.
I tapped up the holes in my '98 WS6 car, no change there either. They have openings below the edge of the hood. LSI factory ram air cars have a larger opening at the front/bottom of the air box than the non-ram air cars. The factory hod scoops have a rain baffle that is pretty restrictive. I cut that out of my race car.
I have logged enough runs that I can tell you your intake temps drop as you go down the track. Too far down to help ETs, but a little MPH. Less than one MPH for my race car. No ET. When I say no gain, I mean ET. Only thing that matters to me. MPH won't win a race. ET will.
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Old Feb 2, 2014 | 08:11 AM
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Thanks for all the responses guys! Yeah, if anything it probably would have been more for the look versus any actual performance. So, the K&N set up is the way to go? ANd weren't the 96-97 LT1 WS6's the only ones with "true" ram air? I thought I read somewhere that the 98 and up WS6's were not.
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Old Feb 2, 2014 | 09:41 AM
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The Lingenfelter Supertube is a very nice cold air intake, I've run one for 5 years now. No fitment issues and looks OEM. Check it out and they have it on sale now for $140 bucks!!! I hope they aren't discontinuing it.
http://www.lingenfelter.com/mm5/merc...8#.Uu5mYd3wM_0

Last edited by guppymech; Feb 2, 2014 at 02:00 PM.
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Old Feb 2, 2014 | 10:28 AM
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Originally Posted by 1995TransAMLT1
Thanks for all the responses guys! Yeah, if anything it probably would have been more for the look versus any actual performance. So, the K&N set up is the way to go? ANd weren't the 96-97 LT1 WS6's the only ones with "true" ram air? I thought I read somewhere that the 98 and up WS6's were not.
'98 & up WS6 cars certainly had ram air hoods. Just sold my '98 WS6 convert Friday. Definitely had a ram air hood. Kinda miss it already.
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Old Feb 2, 2014 | 10:52 AM
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Default Ram air lt1

Here is a ram air setup on my lt1 ws6, the orginal airbox was rotted out. So I switched to a K&N Fipk with a cnc cut one piece that was bent and not welded nice and light. It has been painted black and more weather stripping added since pics. It seals well to hood.
Attached Thumbnails Regular Intake to Ram Air?-air-box-1-.jpg   Regular Intake to Ram Air?-airbox-2-.jpg  
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Old Feb 7, 2014 | 09:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Ed Wright
'98 & up WS6 cars certainly had ram air hoods. Just sold my '98 WS6 convert Friday. Definitely had a ram air hood. Kinda miss it already.
Right, I understand that the it had the Ram Air hood but I thought I heard somewhere that 98 and up were non functional. I could easily have heard that wrong!
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Old Feb 7, 2014 | 12:16 PM
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98+ trans am were ram air still, they have a raised lip base for the air to flow through. It is the 98-02 camaros that aren't functional, but the 96-97 ss's were functional, although a horrible setup.
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 08:22 AM
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Originally Posted by 96z28_lt1
98+ trans am were ram air still, they have a raised lip base for the air to flow through. It is the 98-02 camaros that aren't functional, but the 96-97 ss's were functional, although a horrible setup.
Thank you for clearing that up for me. I think I am going to go with the Lingenfelter one CAI, but before I do that, I need a new fuel pump. As I understand this is a bit of a laborful task. ANy tips there?
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 12:42 PM
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trap door mod, look it up, if you dont want to do that only thing to really do is get to wrenching and drop that rear.
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Old Feb 27, 2014 | 01:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Ed Wright
'98 & up WS6 cars certainly had ram air hoods. Just sold my '98 WS6 convert Friday. Definitely had a ram air hood. Kinda miss it already.
It should also be noted, the 98 and up Firehawks have the best Ram air setup on any 4th gen; SLP specific hood, SLP specific airbox, and rated at 327-335HP depending on year, I love mine!

Oh, yea, 93-97 LT1 Firehawks also had a different ram air hood, air box as well than the 96-97 WS6 cars...not sure which of those is superior.

Car and driver:
"Lurking behind the Firehawk's beak is the Trans Am's stock LS1 V-8 fitted with a type of Ram Air induction that uses a lower-profile airbox than that in the WS6. It snorkels through SLP's own composite hood, which mercifully has smaller openings than the WS6's wildly flaring nostrils."

^LMAO

Last edited by ahritchie; Feb 27, 2014 at 01:18 PM.
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