Air baffles

[johnfin]

What exactly were the air baffles for in the ram air system and do they decrease the performance?

[BBATCAR]

If your talking about the baffles inside the ram air hood, there are two. One in at the back of the hood and a set in the middle. These are there to prevent rain getting to the air box/filter.

One at the very back of the hood opening and lines up at the opening to the Air Filter/box opening, in the hood. It blocks most of the opening except the top area where the air comes in. I removed mine by drilling out the rivets that hold the baffle/plate in place.

Second, there are baffles about the middle of the Ram Air hood in the nostrils. Those are glued in and some have rivets like mine. The air runs below those. So when in place the air runs below the first set of baffles, then above the rear baffle and exit to the air box. In my previous car I removed both and drove in the rain. Never had a problem and only a couple drops made it to the edge of the air box. I must say some I believe there is some performance improvement and definitely a 5 MPG better gas mileage.

My new WS6, I don't drive in the rain but took the rear baffle out, easy and no one can see it. Air will definitely flow better. I'm still debating the middle baffles only because you can see into the oval nostrils of the hood and can see the rectangle hole at the air box, but you have to look closely and directly into the hood. Best to paint it flat black inside the nostrils if you are going to remove both baffles. I am leaning to removing them both. It will improve gas mileage and I have hear others state .2 faster in the 1/4 mile.

[johnfin]

I meant the piece between the airbox and the MAF

[98TransAmWs-6]

I meant the piece between the airbox and the MAF

They were meant for noise dampening and yes it does hinder performance.

[35th-ANV-SS]

An aftermarket air lid will remove the secondary air resonator, aka baffle.

[pajeff02]

That thing is officially referred to as a Helmholtz Resonator -- it is designed to cancel standing waves in the intake charge and to silence the airflow. As stated, tossing it in favor of an aftermarket lid is the best solution.

[Too Fast]

Yes a lid has been a dyno proven 8-10 HP gain. And if you have a quiet exhaust, you will now hear your intake growl. A deeper growl then with the Hemholtz resonator. Sounds great!

And no, you will not gain 5 MPG by de-baffling the hood. If it were that easy for that big a gain, the manufacturers would already have done that, and figured out another way to deal with water ingestion.

[35th-ANV-SS]

Was waiting on someone to comment about the 5mpg.

[pajeff02]

I did miss that in the original post. Can't keep my foot off the loud pedal so no matter what I do our mileage is going to suck.

[Too Fast]

^^^got that right!

[BBATCAR]

Yes a lid has been a dyno proven 8-10 HP gain. And if you have a quiet exhaust, you will now hear your intake growl. A deeper growl then with the Hemholtz resonator. Sounds great!

And no, you will not gain 5 MPG by de-baffling the hood. If it were that easy for that big a gain, the manufacturers would already have done that, and figured out another way to deal with water ingestion.

I beg to differ on the MPG. Without the hood baffles and highway driving I definitely get better gas mileage. My "guesstiment is 2-5 MPG with the de-baffle and new lid, and based on a full tank of gas to the next full tank of gas, Mostly freeway driving. You can hear the wind get sucked in. This is my opinion and my experience measuring miles from tank to tank. Others can chime in and agree or disagree, I'm good with that. Of course if you are stomping on it all the time, I'm sure it hard to tell

[Too Fast]

I could see a *slight* improvement from a lid. It is very easy to get a 2-5 MPG variance from one tank to the next. Where and how you fill up with gas, what type of gas are you using, (E10 gets worse MPG that pure gas, and what if the mix was closer to E15). I do get about 1.5 MPG better since I put on the LTs/ORY tho, went from usually 26.x highway MPG to usually 27-28.x highway. Some people claim 30 MPG. The only way to really tell is do a back to back test, with the same fuel, fill the tank at the same pump, and only do one mod at a time. And really, 2-3 tanks one way and then with the mod, and average out the MPG. That would really tell what any change does.

My hood is de-baffled, sealed to the airbox, and of course I have the OE lid/baffle assembly on the garage shelf. I've never had a problem with water, and I've had to drive in some pretty heavy rainfall. I do watch out for the big puddles that someone next to me might hit and send water my way.

[initechpeter]

Can someone post pictures of what they have done?

[KMdef9]

Can someone post pictures of what they have done?

Aftermarket air lid with aftermarket bellow.

[nfellman]

My question is do you have to use an aftermarket smooth bellow? or will the stock one work for the time being?

[Too Fast]

No you do not have to. The jury is still out whether a smooth bellow helps HP anyway, besides looking good. I still have my stock bellow. Clean looking underhood, Kevin!

[pajeff02]

I also kept my stock bellows. Less stress and pressure on the lid versus a Fernco coupler.

[nfellman]

Awesome! Thanks for the info Too Fast and pajeff02

[35th-ANV-SS]

I removed my air lid and bellows all together

[98TransAmWs-6]

I use a custom smooth bellows from my lid to my TB. It seals very nicely. Best of all it cost $10.