Testing to determine if the popular grill blade/ramp/scoop makes any difference to intake airflow has been on my to do list for a while.
Because I believe any change will be slight I have been considering different ways to measure the conditions inside the intake piping. I decided to try splicing a sensor housing into the middle of a stock intake hose. The housing is shown below and will allow use of both an airflow sensor and temperature sensor.
Next up will be assessing the airflow through this housing on the flow bench to get reference values for airflow versus pressure.
Odds are that the numerical readings will be altered by the change, but will be only a change in the measurement, not the actual quantity of air.
If either of the measurements that I take show a positive change, cooler temperature or higher pressure, the benefit will be reducing the work that the turbocharger does. I won’t be using a mass airflow sensor that could register an increase in the mass airflow rate for the same volumetric flow rate. I have a MAF sensor but am not able to use it with this housing. If results of this test look like there is a change with the scoop I may further explore using the MAF sensor.