And no...I don't mean short ram intakes.....

I was wondering if anyone has tried ducting air from the high pressure area in the front of the air dam....like where the fogs go. If you could make the pipe straight enough it would seem that you could increase the pressure of the intake charge. Granted this will most likely require a battery relocation, but I was going to do that anyway. At the very least the air is as cold as a CAI.

 

There has been a ton of discussion on the effect of 'Ram Air'. I think it boiled down to the fact that to notice any performace gains from Ram Air, you would need to be going about 250 mph.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I have had trouble with the search function for a couple of weeks so I haven't been able to see any old conversations... I have heard 130mph and now 250mph... Just speaking from fthe experience of sticking my had out the window I would think on a very simplified level that you would see gains above even 60mph. The approximate pressure at the front air dam at a given speed could be calculated based on how much HP is required to maintain that speed. If I had the equation for the HP I would do it ... anyone have this off the top of their head?

 

Hey LudeLC,

check out this link I was on HP.com and somebody had the same question. They wanted to know if XXX MPH through the intake could be translated into PSI.

Its slightly different from your questions, but maybe you'll get some answers.
http://www.hondaprelude.com/webboard...d_id=0&style=2


EDIT: And by adding a "ram-air" effect to your intake you arent increasing pressure, you are increasing the air velocity and airflow. The only way to increase pressure is by compressing it (Turbo or Super).

I think the only way to increase pressure via "ram-air" is to go very fast...I'm talking about breaking-the-sound-barrier kind of fast. Thats just speculation though.


[Modified by BlueShadow, 10:31 AM 4/10/2002]

 

I did read the posting..thank you. BUT, there is one very important assumption that is incorrect. The air directly in front of the air dam is not moving! If you put a huge hood scoop on the car then the assumption is correct but thats not what I am thinking...I should have been more clear. I'm talking about taking air from the front of the air dam. The air in this area is under an increased pressure anytime you are moving....granted I don't expect to see any difference until 50 or 60mph but there is an increase in pressure. This is the most contributing surface to wind resistance (drag) on a car when moving. We all know that drag increases with the square of velocity and that force (drag) divided by the area is a pretty good approximation for the pressure of the air at the front of the car. In the next week or two I am going to set up a pressure gauge to measure pressure in front of the fog lamp cutout and see what the pressures are. I will post them up when I get them. I'm not trying to replace FI...not at all. I am pretty sure though that if you could increase the pressure only 1 or 2 psi at the throttle body the gains would be noticable and it should only cost ...... maybe $20 or $30 plus the battery relocation..

 

I doubt in our Preludes we could find a way to actually increase air pressure "measurably" with a system like this. But I am thinking about trying to fabricate my own system similar to the Comptech Icebox for my 4th gen VTEC.

What I want to do is get rid of my AEM CAI. Purchase a short-ram intake. Then fabricate a sealed box to shield engine bay heat. I would have an opening at the bottom of the box where I could install some thick-sturdy plastic or ceramic piping and have its opening in the upper grill area. I'm sure if designed right, this would perform MUCH better than an AEM CAI.




[Modified by Mike95lude, 11:53 AM 4/10/2002]