[Austin Goblin]

So I recently upgraded to the 2020 Veloster Turbo and right now everything is fully stock, for my first mod I am thinking about throwing an Injen SRI in there and adding a Velossatech Big Mouth ram air intake so that there's little to no possibility for heat soak.
I'm mainly wondering if anyone's done this or something similar, and can testify to any HP/torque gains/losses from doing so.

This is going to be my first real performance modification attempt on any car, and I'm pretty much an amateur when it comes to this so any do's/don'ts would also be much appreciated.

 

[Meaker]

The engine will adapt somewhat but a tune will make the most out of it.

 

[Austin Goblin]

The engine will adapt somewhat but a tune will make the most out of it.

And for that I'd need a chip, right?
I'm starting with this project mainly because it's on the cheaper side and I'm not quite ready to drop $500+ on any parts just yet..
Do you think it'd still be worth it if I were to hold off on the tune?

 

[Meaker]

It will make a nice sound

 

[trdtoy]

On the 19+ VT little to no gains will be had and sometimes a loss of power with bolt ons with OEM tune. It will mostly add some sound and efficiency with the OEM tune still in the car. The SRI and big mouth inlet tube will not do anything for heat soak. A properly setup water/meth injection kit will do that the best.

When going for more power an ecu tune from a reputable tuner like SXTH element engineering is the way to go on the 19+ VT. No piggyback or other sensor coolers should be used.

 

[Mazda3]

Has anyone actually seen the big mouth intake? Photos make it look like it is larger at the intake end and tapers at the air box end which in general would be an inefficient design. Perhaps it is just angle of the photo.

 

[RPW00Mirage]

On the old Honda’s we would call them the whale penis intake.

 

[trdtoy]

Has anyone actually seen the big mouth intake? Photos make it look like it is larger at the intake end and tapers at the air box end which in general would be an inefficient design. Perhaps it is just angle of the photo.

The inlet is larger to gather more ambient air and force it into the bay at the air filter area. The design could be better for sure but meh, not a wise use of $ anyway.

 

[Mazda3]

If you are looking for ram air effect and an air box pressure rise that is backwards. I know at first glance a funnel shaped intake seems like a good idea but it is counter productive. Just as in a carb venturi,as the cross section of the intake narrows the air must speed up and the pressure drops. Basic physics. Look at any modern sport bike with ram air and compare inlet size to duct size. There was a ram air Firebird, don't remember the year but the intake slots were well forward on the hood and small. An excellent example of air flow and pressure control was the cooling system on the WW2 P51 Mustang. Look how small the cooling system inlet is considering that it had to cool over 1500 hp. Also the charge air heat exchanger and oil cooler were in the same location. Pressure was so well controlled that it was at worst a zero drag cooling system and there is some thought that it actually added a bit of thrust. I am sure a quick web search will contain ram air design theory. When I get time I will take a look and post results.

 

[Mazda3]

Search Automotive ram air pressure duct design and click on images. There is an excellent colored diagram clearly showing air velocity and pressure changes as the duct increases in cross section. Also look at F1 intake design. Opening above drivers head expands away from inlet. Almost all piston driven light aircraft use this theory to provide pressure engine cooling systems. Of course like any surface exposed to air flow to rapid a change in cross section will result in loss of laminar flow and energy consuming turbulence.

 

[trdtoy]

There are much better functional ram air designs out there for sure but nothing for a VT that'smass produced. With a SRI in place it's pointless in adding pressure anyway in the open engine bay so just lucky if it aids in cooler air at the filter.

 

[Mazda3]

I agree in general terms but the big mouth appears to work with the stock air box. If it does decrease in cross section, and again this may only be a trick of photography, I see no benefit to lowering the pressure in the oem air box. There are more products on the market that appeal to the enthusiasts hopes, dreams and misguided expectations than there are actual documented performance enhancing products. I believe that we as enthusiasts should demand more in the way of independent dyno and engineering data before we part with hard earned cash. This is our hobby and our passion which makes us ripe for fleecing. Lets demand documentation and then support, with our money, those that are supplying proven performance enhancing parts and services. I can not express the endless stream of magic power, gas mileage, oil filtration and handling enhancers I have seen in the last fifty years. Do some work? absolutely, but most are smoke and mirrors.

 

[trdtoy]

I agree in general terms but the big mouth appears to work with the stock air box. If it does decrease in cross section, and again this may only be a trick of photography, I see no benefit to lowering the pressure in the oem air box. There are more products on the market that appeal to the enthusiasts hopes, dreams and misguided expectations than there are actual documented performance enhancing products. I believe that we as enthusiasts should demand more in the way of independent dyno and engineering data before we part with hard earned cash. This is our hobby and our passion which makes us ripe for fleecing. Lets demand documentation and then support, with our money, those that are supplying proven performance enhancing parts and services. I can not express the endless stream of magic power, gas mileage, oil filtration and handling enhancers I have seen in the last fifty years. Do some work? absolutely, but most are smoke and mirrors.

100% agree. Which is why myself and the late -X- on this forum spent countless hours and $ doing testing on various parts available and self made parts as well. From air flow to thermal capabilities to mpg to dyno we've tested many things available(some documentedon the forum here some not). At this point I can pretty much look at a part and tell how well it'll perform.