Static Pressure Probe

Ram Air Test Preparations

One theory about air intakes is that some of them take advantage of a ram air effect.  This potentially applies to the Eventuri intake that I am currently using or APR intake that I previously had.  It is also a concept that is linked to the supposed benefits of the air scoop that I tested previously.

To try and determine if there is a ram air effect going on under the GTI hood I installed a static pressure probe inside the grill on the drivers side inlet to the airbox.

Static Pressure Probe
Static Pressure Probe

The theory goes that at the front of the car there are areas where oncoming air is forced into the intake path and increases the air pressure, thus pushing air into the airbox rather than relying on vacuum from the engine side to pull air in.

Static Pressure Probe
Static Pressure Probe

As the pictures above show, the static probe is placed right at the entrance to the intake pathway.  As a bonus, for the first round of tests the air scoop will be in place.

Static Probe Signal Line
Static Probe Signal Line

The pressure line from the static probe is routed through the engine compartment and into the cabin.

Differential Pressure Gauge
Differential Pressure Gauge

Inside the cabin the pressure line is connected to one of the ports on a small self-contained differential pressure gauge.

With the installation of the sensor and data logger complete next will be driving the car to determine how much, if any, pressure is built up at the entrance to the air intake.

4 thoughts on “Ram Air Test Preparations”

  1. Really appreciate all the intake permutations and testing that you’ve done. Just wondering if you’ve run any tests to determine whether blocking the open section of the intake on the passenger side using the air intake trim plate (OEM part# 5Q0129849 / 5Q0 129 849) has any effect on intake temps?

    1. I’ve operated with that area open and covered but haven’t made a comprehensive evaluation. It looks like the intake pulls in some engine compartment air when the vehicle is stationary, but then the car is stationary so it doesn’t affect much. During normal operations I haven’t found a difference. A preliminary look at differences in airbox temps during a WOT pull seem to show slightly lower temps going into the airbox, but it was only in the single digit range lower and I haven’t logged enough to have confidence the difference exists.

      1. Thanks for the reply, I’m kinda undecided about blocking it off or not.

        1. A couple of pieces of duct tape works as well as the plastic plate to seal it off.

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