cryptic26djp

I know these items, individually, were designed to meet a certain goal. However, in combination, which one of these would function better together.

Saleen Supercharger (with upgrade)
Cervini Ram Air Hood
WMS CAI w/ram box


Saleen Supercharger (with upgrade)
California Dream Hood (with opened air duct)
C&L CAI


I guess the real question would be.... The combo of the Cervini hood and the WMS CAI. Would they compliment each other at all versus/over the C&L or JLT II CAI's? And I am not sure if the WMS would fit with the Saleen S/C either.....

RCT06GT

Going to have to be the second choice IMO. The Cervini's "ram air" hood is not functional. And as for the intake, the C & L is the best of the best. The California Dream hood looks a hell of a lot better than the other hood too.

cryptic26djp

Unless that Cervini is made of steel.... it can become functional with some work. I have a good body shop and they have stated that they could do it with no problem. The ONLY reason I was looking at the WMS is because of how it sits (directly in front of the TB) and the way the Ram Air is designed. Perfect fresh air flow into the CAI..... is how I see it - but that may not be correct.

C&L would be my CAI of choice, for sure!! But if this combo fit - who knows what could happen?

CrazyAl

I personally don't buy the "ram air" claim of the WMS.

"Ram Air" is a buzzword that a lot of gearheads like to talk about. But the truth is that real ram air is very difficult to pull off, and even then the HP gains are minimal unless you are pushing 100+ MPH. You can't just have a forward-facing filter and call that ram air. It doesn't work. You have to have very specially designed ducts and a SEALED system (where the air has no choice but to enter the filter), otherwise you get nothing. And even then, the difference in flow is negligleable unless you are going FAST. 0-60 you will see nothing. Once you start pushing 80-100 MPH you might get a few (less than 10) HP, if everything is set up correctly.

If you want to read about this, have a look at the book "Motorcycle Supercharging, Turbocharging, and Nitrous Oxide" by Joe Haile. I realize the book is about motorcycles, but the physics principles about ram air are the same for any vehicle with a piston engine, so it is perfectly relevant to cars as well.

There have been several mag reviews, and the WMS intake has gottend mediocre-to-low marks. The C&L and the JLT consistently come out on top.

Part of the reason for this is that once the car is moving beyond about 10 MPH, the outside air is flowing under the hood anyway, making the WMS "head shield" no better than any other intake.

...then again, with a blower, all of this is hair-splitting anyway. Just get the blower and be done with it, you'll be wearing an ear-to-ear grin.

cryptic26djp

Thanks for the explanation CrazyAl. I wasnt sure if there would be any significant gains with the WMS and a hood that fed it fresh air. The way the others are, off to the drivers side of the engine compartment, its not really "fresh" or "cold" air. Its merely a heat shield that provides, at best, a higher volume of cooler air. My thoughts were, if there is an opening in the hood (i.e. Cervini Ram Air) and a CAI that was directional in comparison (i.e. WMS) to those vents - then it would have to be a cooler air flow than a CAI with a heat shield. Does that make any sense whatsoever?? Maybe my thought process is just clouded. Figured I would give you guys, the experts, a shot at an explanation of how my thought process off.

CrazyAl

I agree that the average CAI isn't really "cold". As you said, it's just off to the side of the engine.

However, the key is that once the car starts moving forward, that changes. The ambient air around the car fills the under-hood area and the temps drop rapidly. You can check this for yourself if you have an SCT-II tuner, just data-log the intake air temp. When you're not moving and the motor is running the underhood temps (and intake temps) are hot. But once you start to move they drop very quickly. This means that "hood scoops" don't really have an advantage over the popular CAIs, except at very low speeds.

You might see a very small temp difference with a real hood scoop (shaker, ram air, whatever...) but it will not be significant. Those systems are mainly for looks--their performance isn't any better than a typical CAI.