I feel like this has been asked in the past, but I haven't seen any substantial resolution of the issue. I apologize if this is beating a dead horse, but I'm trying to decide whether or not it's worth it. If the horse was dead, consider it now a zombie horse and you have to deal with it. Bwah.

Question(s):

- Do the Varis/Titek style ducts that cut through the front bumper yield any performance gains? Are they functional or just aesthetic?

- Has anyone performed tests to determine this? Dynos, sensors, etc?

- Can someone please provide me (and other likewise curious individuals) with an answer?

The reason I ask is that I'm considering getting one. It's a fairly simple, fairly cheap mod. My car is substantially modded, but looks virtually stock. I think it would be a nice little aesthetic touch, but I'm not going to cut a duct into my car if it isn't functional. That just sounds silly to me.

I notice that all sorts of aftermarket body kits have them and all kinds of 350Z race cars have them. It seems like the logical conclusion that they must work, but I haven't found any evidence to support such a claim - just a preponderance of Z's with similar ducts installed.

So if someone can give me a solid, logically supported answer, I would be forever indebted.


SIDE NOTE:
I am aware of the various ducts that substitute for CAIs and such that are available, but I'm really not a fan of them. I'm looking at these particular ducts because they seem as though they would be an ideal synergy of performance and aesthetics for my car while maintaining a relatively subtle/stealth appearance.

I am also not concerned with resale value of my car. I have absolutely ZERO intention of selling my Z. I love it.

 

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=350z+titek+air+...formance+gains

 

I believe it's mainly for look.. My 2 cents

 

Did you find something with that Google search? Because I definitely didn't.

 

Good thread. I was wondering the same thing!!

 

haha. good thread my A$$! Dude, its a hole in your bumper, do you think that small of a difference in air flow is gonna yield any noticeable gains?? Maybe like 1 hp. The only thing I can really see it helping is getting cooler air into the engine bay.

 

The question wasn't whether or not you thought this was a good thread, but thanks for your rude opinion.

I wasn't originally going to go this direction, but the more I analyze your response, the more necessary I feel this becomes:

Look at all the 350Z's out there that have this mod. Look at all the racing model 350Z's with intake ducts. Look at all the aftermarket body kits that include duct features. It's EVERYWHERE. And it's everywhere for a reason. My question, and the purpose of this thread, is to ascertain that reason - to find the justification behind an aftermarket air duct in the bumper of a 350Z. That is a perfectly legitimate and practically worthwhile question. The fact that nobody has answered this question with anything more than speculation and - in your case - rude, dismissive responses even further supports the creation of this thread.

So, it actually IS a good thread. There is a substantial number of people who would like to know if there's any substance behind this style and if there has been any research or testing done to support its existence.

When people bash aftermarket ram air intakes for their engine bay heat absorption, and a duct like this could potentially fix any such problem, don't you think it's a worthwhile endeavor to find out? I do. We're not alone. And if you're just coming on here to laugh at how stupid you think the thread is, you can go somewhere else.

 

Escobar I think this is a good thread for many reasons. Alot of people run short rams and CAI's and personally I don't see how intakes like the pop charger offer much performance gain if any over the stock intake, espcialy for the price. However feeding the stock intake with a more direct turbulence free source of air I am sure at least equal if not better performance gains could be made. Take a look at this Mines na build they left the stock airbox but added their own duct http://www.turbomagazine.com/feature...50z/index.html
If a short ram or cai could provide the same or better flow why didnt they use that?

 

I'm wondering the same thing. A few vendors and MRC suggested that this supports better charge density.

I'm also curious as to how this respond to a car wash/rain.

Can anyone help us out?

 

The rain and car wash bit has been tested in some of the threads I've read. Apparently, there's pretty much zero risk of that being a problem. A guy even took a power washer to his duct and it hardly got the filter wet if at all. So I wouldn't worry about that.

The bit about charge density... well, that remains to be said. It makes logical sense, but I'd love to see some numbers or facts to support it. If I end up getting this thing despite everything, I'll run some tests myself. I have Uprev's Cipher, and I could perform a couple of datalogging runs - one with the vent open and another with tape over it. I would love to know one way or the other BEFORE buying and installing it, though....

 

Honestly though, i can't imagine it being enough to justify cutting a hole in yrou bumper. There's no turning back after you do that!! lol

 

It's so true. If it were only for performance and I were concerned with resale of the car, I'd say no pretty much automatically. It can't be a huge amount, or else Titek and Varis would advertise numbers and dyno charts. But it has to be something worthwhile, or else I imagine we wouldn't see them on so many professionally done cars and kits - the Mine's 350Z is a good example of that.

 

You know what, the v8's have been doing this forever with their homemade ram air and when you have a opening directly in front of the intake, you are giving it fresh air and a straight shot into the manifold without going though hoses. At the track, I always see mustangs and chevy trucks without their headlight thats in fron of there intakes. I would like to see a dyno with this mod.

 

Thats the whole point

 

as i see it, this mod is only usefull in a driving/racing scenario, on a dyno that vent would only pull in the air unless you have a huge fan in front cooling off the radiator and some of that air getting to that duct, while driving you have that high pressure front of air that created as your car moves forward ramming itself into the vent, so at that point it "MIGHT" make some gain.

 

Easy there bro, don't take it so personally and get offended . I was more half kidding but whatever . Its just I have seen many threads asking questions about getting gains with a mod like this. I mean common, how much hp are you really going to gain?? Yes it is a cheap mod that has some benefit but I think you can be the judge as to how much...that being said I think it is a good idea and it sure cant hurt. Take a look at some of the responses in these threads. thanks
https://my350z.com/forum/exterior-an...-or-varis.html
https://my350z.com/forum/exterior-an...air-ducts.html

 

How much performance is that going to yield?

 

Just because they have been doing it for years, doesn't mean it necessarly works. Those guys try every snake oil trick known to man, it doesn't mean they work.

Take a look inside your bumper, it's really open in there, plus it doesn't heat up like your engine compartment because fresh air is always flowing through there. It's not like your engine is flowing so much air that it's gonna need a wide open straight shot in the front. And any benefits that you may gain from having a hole in the front would only maybe be seen at high speeds. AND at normal operating RPMs, you don't need the "ram" effect.

 

A good point is made about the standstill power gains and gains at speed. However the intake functions on suction. Take a look at the nismo v2 front duct. Once again stock box with an add on to add airflow. I wonder if we could also test other duct configurations personally I like the stealth look to my engine bay.

 

Tony from Motordyne mentioned that a hot engine bay (specifically from a stop) can cause aftermarket ram air intakes to lose as much as 15hp for the first 4 seconds of a launch until the air gets flowing and the intake isn't just sucking in all the hot air from the engine bay.

This came more from a brief discussion about JWT Popcharger vs. Stock Box w/ K&N Drop-In, but the concept is there nonetheless. If a duct increases air circulation and generally cooler air flow to the intake, I'd say that's a great thing. Regaining 15hp for 4 seconds (or anything like that) could be huge for some people.