Why flared airbridges?
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 3,060
Likes: 3
From: Dublin CA
Why flared airbridges?
...If you have a lowered radiator?
With a stock radiator setup the area between the hood and radiator is pinched, it seems the airbridge is flared for a somewhat consistent cross-area. You don't need a pinched airbridge design for a lowered radiator, do you?
Wouldn't a round tube give you consistent airflow speed? Isn't changing airflow speed and creating excess volume in the intake a bad thing?
[Modified by rd98rdstr, 12:29 AM 5/17/2003]
With a stock radiator setup the area between the hood and radiator is pinched, it seems the airbridge is flared for a somewhat consistent cross-area. You don't need a pinched airbridge design for a lowered radiator, do you?
Wouldn't a round tube give you consistent airflow speed? Isn't changing airflow speed and creating excess volume in the intake a bad thing?
[Modified by rd98rdstr, 12:29 AM 5/17/2003]
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 915
Likes: 1
From: UK
Re: Why flared airbridges? (rd98rdstr)
Wouldn't a round tube give you consistent airflow speed? Isn't changing airflow speed and creating excess volume in the intake a bad thing?
I don't know this for a fact, but I would wager that at the intake volume required by a stock engine, the stock airbridge is not impacting power.
If, however, you're running a blower set-up that taps-into the intake after the airbridge, the restriction in the airbridge may become an issue.
Regarding excess volume in the intake... more intake volume = more power = a good thing :)
:cheers:
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 54,204
Likes: 180
From: S.W. Ohio. . . . . . NRA Life Member
Re: Why flared airbridges? (i_york)
Wouldn't a round tube give you consistent airflow speed?
But in the real non-labratory/non-textbook environment that we all operate within; the shape of the factory airbridge probably does not hinder any airflow it will ever see.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 802
Likes: 0
From: Glendora CA
Re: Why flared airbridges? (vetterdstr)
Andy is working on my car and I was thinking the same thing. With the radiator laid down I could have a round tube made since clearance wont be an issue. It would propably be purely aesthetic but hey.... looks ARE everything!! :D
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 892
Likes: 1
From: Houston Texas
Re: Why flared airbridges? (rd98rdstr)
i have a 3" tube which has a 45 degree bend that goes from the "Y" duct in front of the radiator up to the MAF adapter. I used a 3" exhaust pipe and had it bent and then painted it black. It works very well and looks better than that typical flattened air duct.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 3,060
Likes: 3
From: Dublin CA
Re: Why flared airbridges? (Av8ter)
i have a 3" tube which has a 45 degree bend that goes from the "Y" duct in front of the radiator up to the MAF adapter. I used a 3" exhaust pipe and had it bent and then painted it black. It works very well and looks better than that typical flattened air duct.
sure, on sensitive test equipment in a controlled labratory environment with air speeds above 200mph.
If the stock TB handles 500cfm, that means it flows 864,000cubic inches per minute (cfm x 12^3). A 3" tube is 9.4" area (3 x pi) and a mile is 5,680feet. Linear flow would be 864,000"/9.4" = 91,915 inches per minute, or 5,514,900inches/hour, or 459,575feet/hr or 81mph.
I wonder how well air changes shape at 81mph.
[Modified by rd98rdstr, 9:54 PM 5/17/2003]
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski