Where did you get those side scoops? Did you buy them or fabricate them? Any chance I can get a close up pic of one, I would really like to do the same thing on my car
You are the first one to notice them (or at least ask!).
I will give some background with the requested info. And a long answer
I started data logging some ambient / IAT / coolant temps to see where I was. Houston daytime temps are getting to low-90’s now. I laid out an eight mile route where I could intermittently stop and record data. My turbo setup is all stock and assembled with all DF parts for the intake system. Like others, I found I was consistently getting 12-15 degrees higher temps for IAT over ambient. I found a few ideas on the forum here:
http://dfkitcar.com/forum/index.php?threads/things-to-do-while-quarantined.1663/
There is plenty of other stuff out there regarding cold air intakes. It is one of those ideas that you just inherently know is a good for power (cold air is more dense than hot air). The true impact is a little tough to quantify without dyno testing before and after modifications. My garage dyno seemed to be missing from the tool box….. That did not stop me.
My first thought was to not route the intake to the cold air, but rather route the cold air to the intake. I fabricated some scoops for the side of the engine bay. I thought the look of the scoops was cool. I made them from 0.160" aluminum. Overkill on thickness. They could probably be 0.08". Just Adel clamped to the frame. After installing the scoops, I returned to my data logging driving. Temps were reduced to only 7-9 degrees above ambient. Not bad! The scoops were definitely forcing in air to the front side of the engine bay. But, I immediately felt the impact of the scoops with more heated engine air rolling forward into the cockpit on the back of my neck. Not a good unintended consequence. Less than ideal. I also understand that controlling the air flow in and around the engine bay is not simple. I took an idea from Porsche. On the Boxster, they have a small “windscreen” between the two headrests to stop the back flow of air. I cut some Plexiglas and made a small temporary shield between the seats. It reduced the heated air into the cockpit somewhat. Not sure I will keep it there, though.
And yes, I am a degreed engineer with AutoCAD skills. Sometimes cardboard is just too simple, quick, and dirty...
An old engineer once told me the only difference between an engineer and any ol' redneck is time and money.
I got some redneck in me too......
I then went back to Indie Lonnie and Lethalcast (link above) and their solution. Part of me knows that shorter distances for air to travel are probably better - at least within the requirements of the MAF sensor. The aluminum pipe running around the engine bay carrying relatively “cold” air is not ideal with aluminum being such a great conductor of heat. I want to point out that Lethalcast did attempt to mitigate the heat by thermal wrapping the long tube that ran across the engine bay. Rather than running the intake across the engine bay to the driver side, I will simply turn it out. At one point, I looked into an Arial Atom / F1 snorkel setup. I read an article that an F1 going 230 mph only gets about a 2% increase in HP due to the added pressure from the speed of the air getting “rammed into” the duct. I would have thought it would be a little more. The article did not address the “cold” air versus hotter engine air HP increase. Again, it is a given that taking in “colder” air is the right direction for engine performance. Jeep snorkels look cool (on jeeps), but they are there more to not suck water in fording through rivers. I really did not want to snorkel up the Goblin. However, you cannot get away from sticking something into the cold air stream to collect it. I figure the coldest intake air is if the intake is outside of the engine bay in a stream of cold air. So, I figured why not give this a try to see what the IAT would get down to. Not done with that yet, so more to come.
There are some other variables here as well. The intake air has to travel through the tubes which are in close proximity to the engine and will therefor heat up. The air to water intercooler is not infinite (or instant) in cooling capacity and has limitations as to how much heat it can take out of the intake air stream. So, it is probably not really possible for us to get the IAT all the way down to ambient. This brings up another idea of either insulation wrap, or heat shields for post intake tubing. I will try that as well. As for engine heat mitigation, there are plenty of other points to address it as well. I may upgrade my radiator fan like Russel (Rttoys) to a higher power Spal model. I am also contemplating a remote oil coiler as well. That would fit in the driver side scoop well. I welcome others advice on their list of projects they are / would like to do and in what order of importance.
On a side note, I was curious as to what speed of the air flows into the engine. After some calculations assuming 2.0 Liter engine, 4 stroke cycle, zero boost, 5,000 rpm, 3” diameter intake duct, I got this: the intake air flows at 91 in/s = 7.6 ft/s = 5.2 mph. Part of me was surprised at the volume and the speed that it flows. 14;1 air to fuel means lots of air, obviously. The good news is that fluid dynamics says that at that speed, not a lot of bad things come into play such as flow restrictions due to elbows and internal friction (even though it is good to avoid bends and restriction when possible). Given all that - at the end of the day, getting the coldest, densest air to the cylinder is the elusive quest.
So, the question was about scoops, right?.....