Another question, How can the system hook too a cervini's cowl?

 

How bout it JL, anything worked out for us physical challenged ram-air Lightning owners?

 

 

No you can't "ram air" but you can supply cooler air to the motor. It's been tested and does make a difference.

No, the top of the box doesn't seal, so you can get as much air as needed under boost.

 

4D-

Ok...I admit, my 2nd to last question did have a bit of a smart-a$$, sarcasm to it. Obviously I realize that it can't filter out hot and cold air. I'm dumb...but I'm not THAT dumb.

It just cracks me up to hear "cool air from outside vs Hot air from inside" the engine bay. Maybe my L is different than everyone elses, but I can easily see pavement on all sides of my engine, when I pop my hood. That tells me that my engine bay is not sealed, nor is it air tight. That also tells me that while my vehicle is moving, fresh, cool air is being circulated up, through and around my engine in copious amounts (reaching my Air filter at the same time). Now, admittedly it doesn't offer the "RAM air" effect that this kit supposedly does, but unless the top of that box is sealed tightly....there is NO WAY IN HELL that the RAM effect is taking place. RAM air is all about pressurization and Volumetric efficiency (just as you explained w/ your Barometer analogy)....if the air inside the tube is only equal to, and NOT Greater than, the surrounding/external air pressure, then you are doing nothing more than splashing "fresh cool" air onto a filter.

Are there any CFM Flow #'s to support the Ram air effect? Has JL done any Volumetric efficiency tests w/ it? Has anyone done VE tests? I'm talking about an actual scientific survey using a Diagnostic software (Autotap or TechII) where it measures:

-Engine speed (Rpms)
-Mass Air Flow Rates (lbs/min)
-Air intake temps

Then applies those measurements to the VE formula and spits out a percentage increase (or even decrease).

Anyone can say "It feels stronger now"...or "I gained .15 and 1 mph with it". (all of those can be attributed to a gazillion different track-time variables) Unfortunately I was born with an ugly curse known as skepticism.....It's a horrible condition (but it saves me $$$), therefore I would like solid, controlled, scientific proof that this kit can increase the VE of my SUPERCHARGED engine, thereby increasing my hp output.

Please don't interpret this post as a flame of any sort. It HONESTLY is not. It's just my attempt at understanding how effective this mod really is before I drop $xxx. If I can be shown that it works, I will not hesitate to plunk down the $$ for it. Hell, I'll even be a vocal supporter of it.

Thank you....good day.

 

99svtlightning answered the ram air question when he said it isn't sealed so that only leaves the cooler being of any help.

 

Is that the same Air intake setup that you ran your 11.40?
That thing is awesome. Can't wait to hear from ya.

Later...

 

Thank you...I missed that.

Well, that's all I need to know. That's just more $$ towards a torque converter

 

I ordered mine the other day, It should be here tomm, I got the Chrome(Silver) color.....

 

Ebbs is right,
You're not stuffing any more air into the motor than the blower is capable of ingesting. Now, go back & read the sentence again. The blower is capable of processing n cfm of air. When you put obstructions in the airflow, it's obviously not getting 'n' for airflow at WOT. There are 3 limiting factors to 'n' -
1) throttle body - not a whole lot to do here...
2) kinked, non smooth air tube from air box to throttle body
3) limited surface area of the air fliter, enclosed in above mentioned airbox.

The airbox in the Lightning is not pressurized, or postively fed air, rather, it relies on the engine to 'vacuum' air past the filter & into the throttle body. The airbox DOES serve 1 legitimate, irrefutable purpose - to insulate the intake charge from heat inside the engine bay... Some call this 'fan wash' but that's more or less a myth, the engine & exhaust give off far more heat.
One reason that the airbox is not pressurized is the size requirement. On my well over 1200cc ZX11 Kaw, the airbox is almost as big as the motor itself. A common problem with early ram air ZX11's was 'airbox evacuation' which occurred when someone whacked the throttle to the stops from about 30 - 60 mph. What happened was, all the 'pressurized air' was sucked in by the carbs before it could be replenished by the single ram air duct. Solution ? Modify airbox to increase volume and add 2nd intake in different position. Despite this, motorcycles don't see a performance increase from ram air until about 90mph & up, at about 90, you're seeing about + 1 hp, 120 about +7 or thereabouts... That's not insignificant to a bike... A pressurized airbox for the Lightning would probably take up a sizeable portion of our beds...
The best we can practically achieve on the Lightning is a steady supply of cool air into a as free a flowing air filter as can be obtained, while maintaining some heat insulation, flowing SMOOTHLY into the throttle body & blower. Smooth counts, if you just jam air into the airbox without thought, you create pressure 'back waves', which you can illustrate yourselves by taking 2 hoses & crossing the 'streams' (like they did in Ghostbusters ) of water. Now, imagine trying to drink from that... That's the same thing that happens when you just try to 'stuff' air into the airbox from every direction. Sometimes, ultimate flow is not the most horsepower...

SO - is it worth spending the money to add an airbox ?

Riddle me this - What is the max cfm rating of our blower ?
What is the cfm rating of the stock air filter, K&N panel & K&N cone ? no sense paying for a filter that flows 1800 cfm if your TB can only handle, say, 1200...

I suggest, that if you are going to mod your stock box with a K&N panel, modify the lower so that air is ONLY coming from 1 direction - the bottom. NOT the side AND the bottom. This will create turbulence in the airbox & ultimately, cost potential horsepower.

If you're going to use a big cone filter, then the airbox pictured will most certaily work better than just an open element stuck in the engine compartment because it will have a steady supply of available (not pressurized) ambient temperature air, not 150 degree air radiated off the engine. While moving, the filter will be exposed to more cooler (ambient temp) air than hot air, so this is also good. I maintain that a sealed box would be better, with a few large tubes feeding the filter... I think the panel filter is a better choice (although, I'm not sure of the cfm rating(s) so a larger one may be needed for max potential) because if the air entered from one direction & would also be ingested - from the opposite direction - making for as little as possible air turbulence, and thus increasing the 'pressure' in the airbox - or at least preventing 'lower pressure' ...

Finally, there should be a market for a smoother intake tube. All the smooth intake tract in the filter / box area won't be for beans if it enters the tube to the TB & gets constricted, thus breaking the 'smooth flow' & creating turbulence...

<wipes sweat from brow> whew.

HTH

 

According to Magnusons website, about 800cfm @ 14,000 blower rpm @ 10psi. Now who knows with the addition of all the lower and upper pulleys producing 15 or more psi.