Are air scoops worth is?

[Volfy]

You know... the convoluted path of the stock air duct is purposely designed that way for a very good reason. Around where we live, flash floods are a common occurrence. It isn't uncommon for an oncoming pickup truck to kick up a huge rooster tail that would inundate my car with a solid sheet of mucky slop water. It's so bad sometimes I'd be blinded for a few seconds. Guess what... if I had those "air scoops", they'd be even more effective "water scoops" diverting all that slop water straight into my airbox.

I'll keep my convoluted-path air duct, thank you very much. Instead, I enclosed my K&N cone filter so that it can only draw outside air from the protected inner fender cavity, in addition to the stock air inlet. Both are protected from water ingress.

Next time, I'll save and post a dash cam vid of the Stinger getting walloped. Here is a googled pic that illustrates what I'm referring to.

 

[Rodtheviking]

Is there any tutorial on the removal of the stock intake channels? Really want to do that but unsure if i can do it myself.

 

[Devin]

You know... the convoluted path of the stock air duct is purposely designed that way for a very good reason. Around where we live, flash floods are a common occurrence. It isn't uncommon for an oncoming pickup truck to kick up a huge rooster tail that would inundate my car with a solid sheet of mucky slop water. It's so bad sometimes I'd be blinded for a few seconds. Guess what... if I had those "air scoops", they'd be even more effective "water scoops" diverting all that slop water straight into my airbox.

I'll keep my convoluted-path air duct, thank you very much. Instead, I enclosed my K&N cone filter so that it can only draw outside air from the protected inner fender cavity, in addition to the stock air inlet. Both are protected from water ingress.

Next time, I'll save and post a dash cam vid of the Stinger getting walloped. Here is a googled pic that illustrates what I'm referring to.
View attachment 81805

Splashing isn't going to cause an ingestion of water. This puddle I drove through might though.

 

[StingerMG]

I have the JA air scoops which are no longer available but functionally the same as the other ram air ducts. I've never had any water touch my air filters (I've driven though heavy downpours), dynos won't show any gains but doing pulls from highway speeds 60mph+ seems smoother. The added induction noise from the aFe enclosed intakes are nice as well, not so much noise from the inside but it's loud from the outside.

 

[Volfy]

Splashing isn't going to cause an ingestion of water. This puddle I drove through might though.

Watching folks speed through flash floods is always cringe-worthy. For a low-to-the-ground vehicle like the Stinger, it doesn't take much speed for high water to flow over the front bumper and into the grill. But at least driver has control over his own speed. It's other drivers that are the problem quite often. Just before I get to my office is a two-lane narrow road that floods easily every time it rains hard. Those high ground clearance pickups don't always bother to slow down, and when they come toward you 2ft apart, they push a wake front that, with flood water already shin deep, could crest to bumper level... or higher.

Then there are the rooster tails they kick up. Those hit the windshield hard & heavy enough, they sound almost like they'd break the glass.

It's the reason I take my GMC Savana to work in inclement weather. Having a high-ground clearance vehicle is a must living in these parts.

 

[LordKOTL]

Watching folks speed through flash floods is always cringe-worthy. For a low-to-the-ground vehicle like the Stinger, it doesn't take much speed for high water to flow over the front bumper and into the grill. But at least driver has control over his own speed. It's other drivers that are the problem quite often. Just before I get to my office is a two-lane narrow road that floods easily every time it rains hard. Those high ground clearance pickups don't always bother to slow down, and when they come toward you 2ft apart, they push a wake front that, with flood water already shin deep, could crest to bumper level... or higher.

Then there are the rooster tails they kick up. Those hit the windshield hard & heavy enough, they sound almost like they'd break the glass.

It's the reason I take my GMC Savana to work in inclement weather. Having a high-ground clearance vehicle is a must living in these parts.

Circling back...

Last night we had a nice deluge on the way home from work. Lots of rooster tails and standing puddles which got a lot of splashes. Average speed of about 45mph.

When I got home I opened up the air boxes. Nothing. No water inside of them much less on the wrong side of the filter. There was water in the snorkels but it stopped right at the airbox entrance...

Not scientific mind you and of course higher speed as well as bigger splashes might pose a danger, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised that there was no water in either airbox; I thought there'd be some at the bottom.

YMMV of course.

 

[Devin]

I'm still not convinced there is any performance reason to use the scoop ducts, but it's good to see results like that.

 

[Volfy]

I'm still not convinced there is any performance reason to use the scoop ducts, but it's good to see results like that.

If an aftermarket open intake is used, I can assure you there is ZERO performance benefit. With an enclosed plenum, like OEM or AFE airbox, you might argue there could possibly be a very slight positive pressure increase due to ram air effect, but unless the folks who make these things have done CFD analysis and shaped the passage way accordingly... yeah, I don't think so. Even if there is an appreciable pressure increase, it would only be realized at very high speed (i.e. triple digit). MotoGP bikes gain at most 3% at 160mph and very high RPM. And that's with a normally-aspirated engine. With a turbo... uh, no.

I think the most likely benefit is having outside colder air displacing heat soaked underhood air away from the open cone intake filters, when the vehicle is at speed. That's about it.

 

[Volfy]

Circling back...

Last night we had a nice deluge on the way home from work. Lots of rooster tails and standing puddles which got a lot of splashes. Average speed of about 45mph.

When I got home I opened up the air boxes. Nothing. No water inside of them much less on the wrong side of the filter. There was water in the snorkels but it stopped right at the airbox entrance...

Not scientific mind you and of course higher speed as well as bigger splashes might pose a danger, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised that there was no water in either airbox; I thought there'd be some at the bottom.

YMMV of course.

That's good to hear. I don't doubt that is the case with most folks. If water ingress was a wide-spread problem, I figure we would've heard it by now.

That said, my locale is such that I just don't feel comfortable with them. Falling rain itself isn't what I worry about. As I mentioned in my neck of the woods, having to drive through shin-deep or even knee deep flash floods is not uncommon. I do try to take my high ground clearance vehicle on days with heavy rain, but mother nature doesn't always play nice and predictable. The fact that you are seeing water coming right up to the entrance to the airbox, just from falling rain, means that it is just a matter of how heavy is the flow volume. The path is open and unimpeded, if the funnel is presented with a heavy enough torrent of flood water. That's what worries me.

 

[LordKOTL]

That's good to hear. I don't doubt that is the case with most folks. If water ingress was a wide-spread problem, I figure we would've heard it by now.

That said, my locale is such that I just don't feel comfortable with them. Falling rain itself isn't what I worry about. As I mentioned in my neck of the woods, having to drive through shin-deep or even knee deep flash floods is not uncommon. I do try to take my high ground clearance vehicle on days with heavy rain, but mother nature doesn't always play nice and predictable. The fact that you are seeing water coming right up to the entrance to the airbox, just from falling rain, means that it is just a matter of how heavy is the flow volume. The path is open and unimpeded, if the funnel is presented with a heavy enough torrent of flood water. That's what worries me.

I totally get it. We usually don't get heavy deluges here but rather a near constant light rain or drizzle from September to June.

I just figured it would be for the good of the collective knowledge of the board when we got some heavy rain to open her up right after driving to see what was going on. Heavy rain at about 45mph? You're probably okay but it's your ride, so if you don't want to risk it that's perfectly fine.

 

[Slip_Angle]

If an aftermarket open intake is used, I can assure you there is ZERO performance benefit. With an enclosed plenum, like OEM or AFE airbox, you might argue there could possibly be a very slight positive pressure increase due to ram air effect, but unless the folks who make these things have done CFD analysis and shaped the passage way accordingly... yeah, I don't think so. Even if there is an appreciable pressure increase, it would only be realized at very high speed (i.e. triple digit). MotoGP bikes gain at most 3% at 160mph and very high RPM. And that's with a normally-aspirated engine. With a turbo... uh, no.

I think the most likely benefit is having outside colder air displacing heat soaked underhood air away from the open cone intake filters, when the vehicle is at speed. That's about it.

I believe the improvements mostly come from the removal of the stock inlet from under the bumper. They add 4-5 inches of vacuum.