Sutherland Performance Intake Test

Background:

A comparison test performed by Sutherland Performance in New Zealand showed potential differences between a modified stock intake setup using some RAMAIR components and an aftermarket Blaze Performance intake.

Depending on an operator’s perspective the differences were insignificant, or up to a non-trivial power gain of ~20 HP.

In this post, I discuss the results that were obtained using a Golf R with a stock IHI IS38 turbocharger.

Comparison Data:

The following information was provided by Sutherland Performance.

Sutherland provided additional details about the test when I asked them some questions:

Dyno Chart:

Note that these results are with a DynaPack hub dyno and that a dyno that reads at the wheels, such as a DynoJet or Mustang dyno, would have slightly lower values due to losses caused by the tires interacting with the rollers.

Circled in blue is where differences between the two intakes appear.

Zooming into this area of differences:

The next chart shows the power delta in context with the boost pressure curve from an IS38 turbocharger.

Conclusions:

This comparison is useful for showing that an aftermarket intake can provide some performance gains over a modified stock intake, but there are a number of “qualifiers” that go along with that conclusion.

1. The power measurements are made using a hub dyno and will be slightly less with a dyno that includes tire-to-roller losses.
2. The ~20 whp improvement occurs momentarily. Based on a comparison with time measurements I’ve made on the road, the span of RPM where the power difference is more than 10 hp lasts ~0.5 seconds. This improvement may not last long enough for a driver to notice.
3. The difference is the greatest from ~6,300 RPM to ~6,750 RPM. Individual driving styles may have a driver operating in a range of engine speeds that never reaches this range to capitalize on this improvement.
4. This is a single data point. Sutherland Performance indicated during three pulls there was little variance, but without the full set of data, it is unknown what a small variance is.
5. The baseline performance was measured using components from RAMAIR, which I have no information on how they compare with products I have tested. Between aftermarket inlet elbows and aftermarket air filters I have measured some differences. Therefore, assuming the RAMAIR components are representative of “all” other similar aftermarket parts is risky, thus assuming this comparison is representative of all “modified stock airboxes” is risky.
6. This test was made on a right-hand drive Golf R. While the RAMAIR right-hand drive components appear very similar to the left-hand drive intake parts I have used, the Blaze Performance right-hand drive inlet hose has one less bend than the left-hand drive. The RHD hose correlated with a 2.5% increase in airflow over the LHD hose measured during product flow tests.