TLDR:
The Blaze ATOM Race “ram air” effect is less than the stock GTI airbox, and neither Blaze Performance nor Equilibrium Tuning has evidence to support the claims they make for the Blaze intake’s ram air effect.
Background:
This post continues an in-depth look at the Blaze ATOM Race V2 intake for the Mk7 GTI.
In 2019 the grill “Air Scoop” got my attention as a product that one seller claimed would:
“This piece gives air no chance to not be shoveled straight into the cotton.“
The quest to find “Ram Air” was on. Sadly, after years of searching, I had not found any sign of significant Ram Air on my GTI.
A New Hope:
Then, in 2022, on the heels of making a post discussing flow test results with the Blaze ATOM Race intake, someone from Blaze Performance stated – no, those flow tests are not accurate, the ram air effect generated by our ATOM intake will make a difference on your car!
Intrigued that the people at Blaze Performance might have found the elusive Ram Air I inquired that they tell me more about their findings.
Dion was too busy to provide any more details after disagreeing with the results I had published.
Later, I checked back with Dion from Blaze Performance about his statement that the “Ram air effect does a lot on the atom“.
After waiting for a month for the evidence he said he would have for me the next day, I asked again about the evidence Blaze Performance had, but Dion did not respond.
Meanwhile, over at EQT, they were super-sizing the Blaze ATOM’s Ram Air Effect in their advertising:
EQT was also taking to social media to talk up the benefits of the ATOM’s Ram Air, while simultaneously trying to discredit the objective evidence that is available at this site for the Blaze ATOM.
Curiously, despite Aaron Zambrano’s reference to “data from real life logging from the car speaks volumes” and “It’s pretty great to see the data people actually experience and not just the flow bench“, when I inquired with EQT about the claims with the following questions:
- How did EQT determine how this air deflector performs?
- What alternative product(s) was it compared with?
- What were the measured results with the Blaze product compared with the alternative product(s)?
All I got from EQT was:
I see a trend building with the vendors selling the Blaze ATOM intake.
If you want something done right (or at all):
With both Blaze Performance and Equilibrium Tuning unwilling to provide any information about how they determined the Blaze ATOM Race intake will “ram as much air as possible into the engine“, it fell to me to go out and get the data.
Test Procedure:
To measure the Ram Air effect an averaging flow sensor is installed at the filter housing outlet. The pressure at the housing outlet is measured using a differential pressure sensor.
More details about the AFS setup are discussed in a previous post where the Eventuri intake was tested for Ram Air.
The Eventuri intake duct (red panel) is installed on the GTI, which was the case in other Ram Air effects tests; the previously mentioned Eventuri test, and the Stock GTI airbox.
The intake is not connected to the turbocharger so there is no influence on the flow rate from the vacuum created by the turbocharger.
Note: There is no reason to operate with boost pressure during this test since the objective is to measure the effect of the outside air “ramming” through the intake.
The GTI is then driven on the street at varying speeds while the pressure at the intake outlet is recorded.
Test Results:
An overview of the data collection session is shown below:
- in H2O (AFS) – The Ram Air pressure measured at the AFS in units of inches of H2O
- MPH (GTI) – The speed of the GTI on the road in MPH
- MPH (AFS-BLZ) – Estimated airspeed at the AFS in units of MPH
These results are very similar to those recorded with the Eventuri and stock GTI intakes as shown in the next charts:
The pressure readings at a vehicle speed of 60 MPH are used for further detailed comparison.
The highest average pressure is recorded from the Eventuri intake, the second highest from the stock GTI, and the least from the Blaze ATOM Race.
Looking at the data in histogram format:
Quality Check:
Next, a t-test is performed on the pressure data comparing the Eventuri to the Blaze, and the Modified Stock to the Blaze.
The Eventuri average “Ram Air” effect is slightly greater, and the hypothesis that there is no difference between the intakes is rejected.
The t-test is repeated with the data from the stock airbox:
Once again the hypothesis that there is no difference in the intakes mean ram air pressure at 60 MPH is rejected.
The small increase in ram air effect with the Eventuri versus the Blaze, and the stock airbox versus the Blaze, is likely accurate.
Measurable vs Meaningful:
It’s important to point out that just because there is a measurable difference, that does not mean that the difference is meaningful. At least not to the vehicle operation.
The amount of ram air effect is minuscule. Each of the overview charts includes a blue line that represents the approximate air velocity through the AFS.
This “ram air” velocity peaks around 15 MPH, even though the GTI is traveling at 60-70 MPH.
The supposed “ram air” is a non-factor in how well the intake supports the turbocharger.
Conclusions:
Claims made by the manufacturer and EQT for the Blaze ATOM Race V2 intake are not supported by the evidence recorded on the street (real world) using a Mk7 GTI equipped with the Blaze ATOM Race intake.
Neither manufacturer nor distributor has provided evidence to support their claims, despite my requests to both businesses for evidence.
Businesses such as Equilibrium Tuning Inc. are required to have substantiation for claims they make about the products they sell:
It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for an advertiser to make an objective product claim without having a reasonable basis, at the time the claim is made, consisting of competent and reliable evidence.
Federal Trade Commission Act – Section 5(a)(1)
A road test using the Blaze ATOM Race V2 intake was performed to record data to evaluate possible “ram air” effects caused by the intake.
Data from this test is very similar to results obtained using an Eventuri intake and a stock Mk7 GTI intake with the Eventuri and stock airbox both exhibiting a slightly higher “ram air” effect than the Blaze ATOM Race V2.
In addition to the business selling the product failing to substantiate its claims about the “ram air” effect, evidence from this “real world” test suggests the Blaze ATOM creates less “ram air” effect than the Mk7 GTI stock intake system.
Thank you so much Jeff. And to think I had this in my shopping cart at one time hovering over the checkout button. Good thing I waited. Performance actually worse than stock! Makes you wonder if there are any engineers working for Blaze Performance or just marketing people.
Thanks! It has taken a while to get around to looking at this intake in more depth.