Whats the difference between a cowl-induction hood and a ram-air hood performance wise? Which one is healthier for a stock vortec engine?

 

No difference really. Neither, if non-functional, will provide any gains. And the terminology of "ram air" is a misnomer for street vehicles. Even if functional, provided that you have a good hood to cowl seal, a cowl induction hood (well, it really is not cowl induction now is it) will pull in air that is just as cool as a "ram air" hood will. There is a slight added benefit that the air at the base of the windshield is a high pressure region due to the angle. This is why the boys in Nascar have their air pickups at this location and not some huge hood scoop.

 

I'm definantly thinkin functional with proper seals and everything. How much of an HP increase you think a cowl would give? Thats a good point with the NASCAR thing.

 

Not much. Go at it for the look. Whatever you gain in performance is just icing on the cake.

 

True. For $400-$700 i'm just tryin to make sure I do this as good as possible.

 

It will be a bit of fabricating to make it work with the MAF on both setups.

Biggest benefit of a cowl hood on our trucks is lower underhood temps due to "cool" outside air being drawn in, IMO.

Ram air only works once you get up to 60-70 mph for any apprecialbe performance gain.

Cheapest perfomance gain would be to get a tune on the PCM, again IMHO.

 

How much are those? Maybe I'll do that too!

 

Ram air at automotive vehicle speeds just does not work as the term "ram air" would have one believe. At low speeds (subsonic speeds) increases in static pressure are limited to a few percent which will not make any measurable difference.

 

Is it about the same for cowl-induction speedwise? If nothing else, it'll help my highway mpg's since the avg here is 80.


As far as fab goes, I've seen one hood where it has ducting going to the air box location. But I'm not sure if it comes with a new air box or if you have to install a cold air intake.

 

whats better for mudding? lots of high rpms but not much forward motion. would u use just the plain old after market cold air intake?