Does the corregated coupler really cause so much air turbulance, and is it worth $50 for a smooth coupler to get rid of it?

 

Good question.
Its something I want to know as well :hurray:

 

My opinion is that if it caused that much turbulence, do you really think GM would use it? The only reason I'd spend $50 on one, would be to get a red one for appearance. Performance gain...no.

 

:rolleyes: .............Can I get back to you on that one? :lol:

:iagree:.............Yup! :yesnod:

 

no real gain that you can feel......looks only...... :yesnod:

 

Only my opnion: why would GM use it if it hurt performance? Surely GM could get a smooth one if it worked better. Maybe the turbulance helps?

 

I agree with everyone that you wont get much out of one but I disagree on the turbulence. I’m still in school for Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State for my Masters. I got to work on a project with a processor on air turbulence in tubing. You have to look at the air is coming in. It gets sucked in through those 4 runners on the side of the air box and if you look at the inside of the air box under the air filter you can see that it’s ribbed witch causes air turbulence and then passes thought that screen before it goes pass the MAF sensor. That screen is there to take out the air turbulence and they really works. But when you get to the coupler is causes more air turbulence with that ribbed wall. Think of air as water and they both flow about the same, do you think water would flow over that surface that well? Air flows over a surface with the air in the center moves the fastest and the air on the sides sticks to the surface witch causes this rolling action making turbulence, witch can be minimized by lowering the flow of air. But we don’t want that, we want as much air as we can get. Back to you question why does GM use that part, because they mass-produce it and it’s used on other cars and trucks and it comes down to money. Changing that out might only get you 1hp they say 3-5hp but that must be at the flywheel. Will you notice 1hp gain at the RW? So do it for looks or if you 50 bucks burning a hole in you pocket. I did if on my viper and corvette. The air box on my corvette I cut the front cover and made a 8x12” square hole for better air flow and took out the ribs on the inside of the air box. Also I put the aluminum MAF sensor on a lathe and cut that center aluminum air foil and screen out, and making it 3-5mm bigger. I can’t say I noticed any real gains but it was a free mod and I did notice my gas mileage go up 2-3 miles/gallon. If you put you hand 3” away form the air filter you can feel that air being pulled in. You play a game to get the most air with the least amount of turbulance.

 

The reason the factory coupler is corregated is to absorb fore-and-aft drivetrain movement, since the airbox is rigidly mounted.

I agree with the consensus that aftemarket couplers are a dubious source of HP. After saying that, I have one on my Halltech/Blackwing. If nothing else, it's torch red and looks cool.

Hey - Cyclone Engineer - I've got several friends that studied engineering at Ames and are great successes. Good luck on your graduate studies. I felt your pain (BSME, Illinois '85)

 

Good job extremecorvette. We have had other engineer and physics guys help out like you just did. Now go ahead and write up a peice on how there is no such thing as ram air at normal speeds so you can just cut and paste it into "ram air" discussions. Do you know of any links where this and other concepts are presented in laymens terms?

 

:iagree:
:thumbs:

 

Its for the look!! :thumbs: