nikhsub1
FRF Addict
My assumption is the "tornado" in the intake is to reduce intake noise... it's crazy how much NVH is attributed to intake sound... they're definitely restrictive just due to surface area reduction it does force the air like a fluid to move differently... I think anyone kidding the intake wants more sound and airflow...
Many cars get good power gains just removing restrictions and optimizing airflow using the stock parts - and keep hot air out which is really important.
For sure.. you will always find lots of folks throwing money at things that yield little to no gains... I had a 2006 Volvo S60R - basically a turbo 5 cyl motor putting out 300HP. We discovered that under FULL boost, the intake box had a vacuum inside of it, it was measured with a manometer and IIRC had something like 3-5psi of vacuum. There was a very simple fix to eliminate this problem - my point is, sometimes OEM's can do things that lead to some head scratching.
One thing that was stressed over and over and over in my fluid dynamics was to never restrict the inlet of pumps. It's the worst thing you can do, and since the turbo and engine are pumps, yeah we don't want to do that. Again, compromises are made and it is our job to figure out what is acceptable and what isn't (if you care enough).
Anyway, I am getting this thread WAY off the rails