Originally Posted by JHM2K
Here's how I see it:
All of them have switched to bigger intakes. Most of them have intakes routed outside the engine bay. Many additionally have the intakes routed as far forward as possible.
CAI's are in front of the rad as is the stock one and no one has gone farther forward than the rear of the grille.
Instead of the arm-chair physicists giving me hypothetical numbers from airplances, textbooks, etc... we need to figure out how many CFM the intake sucks in at ~2,000 RPM, 4,000 RPM and redline.
Max volume is 1.6 Litres per rev. or 1,600 Liters/min at 1,000rpm.
We then need to calculate the CFM and circumference together to approximate a figure for the velocity of the air traveling through the tube.
At 1,000 rpm the air will travel at 18.8 mph through a 2.5" diameter inlet.
Once we've figured out the rate of the air exiting the back of the "scoop" we can then figure out how much more beneficial it would be if there was a constant supply of fresh, cool air buffeting the front of the scoop. At ALL rpms.
We do not want any buffeting, we want a smooth flow of air.
The people always crowing about mods being useless are the same people that DON'T mod their cars for performance. So, in essence, performance mods WOULD be useless because those types of mods necessitate performance drivers. Yep, I said it.
I never said mods were useless, each to their own. But why waste money on mods that have little or no benefit. You are correct, I do not race around these days.
The devil-horns are on my short-list of things to buy. Why? Because I want my car to be drawing cool, clean air from as far in front of the smoldering-hot engine as possible. They smoothe the air flow out, and move the intake point out to the coolest area possible, gulping all the air they can jettison out the back.
They do nothing in this regard, the air will just bounce of them and continue through the rad. All the air around the horn is going through the rad and to think that an open path will be made at some angle through this is pure wishful thinking.
The alternative is a squished, oblong opening flanking each side of a 180-degree radiator.
If the air has not gone through the rad it will not be hot.
Call me crazy, but that's an effective mod. Regardless of what the Canadian research says.
It's not an effective mod and OK, you're crazy.
Check my figures, the Institute is closed at this time and there is no one to check them here except the cat and he said they were purrfect. Of course they are calculated with no losses and apply in the perfect world which may exist somewhere.
I can see no scoops on F1 cars, just a hole. This hole opens up inside to slow down the air and increase the pressure(? beats me) and is far more complex than we can figure out on our fingers and toes.