Quantum Racing (Thanks Mark) was able to obtain and install the new RMR cai hood scoop yesterday on my Evo. I have the RMR mas pipe and HKS filter installed along with e-manage, profec b ll, ic piping kit, 3" turbo back. The quality and fit of the piece are excellent. Mark at Quantum had to custom cut the supplied hexagonal screen material for the open side and longer bolts were needed. Other than that the install and fit were fine. The pictures on RMR's website give you an idea of how it looks under the hood. What you can't appreciate from photos is how it looks on the car. I wasn't expecting it to look as good as it does. The airflow is right on top of my filter, a perfect fit. The intake noise is louder with the windows down, but not much. Throttle response might be slightly crisper, but it has been good since the weather has cooled off anyway. Anyways, here are some pics.
Bluesmaster

i still think that the place is for cooling and not for air flow.

Hmm.. I don't like it.. Blocks the airflow for the engine for cooling, plus it kinda reminds me of someone with something up their nose hanging out.. I personally don't like carbon fiber, but I think a better place would be where the stock air intake goes.. where you really can't see it.

You could always do what I'm planning, cut out the section of the stock airbox so the aftermarket air filter fits inside it and can get cold air. The stock airbox flows alot of air, the restriction (in some peoples opinion) is the amount of surface area that the filter has in that box. Putting a cone filter inside the box would solve both problems. However many people put on the aftermarket cone filter because of the sound.. you can hear the whoosh of the diverter valve and the whine of the turbo.

I did notice that the location of the filter is actually a low pressure area at high speed, theoretically it could starve the engine for air, however the easy fix for that is to leave the snorkle from the stock air box on so the air is routed near the cone filter. No ram air effect, but cooler air and no more low pressure area.

I forgot to mention that I noticed better cooling with the louvers removed, even halfway covered up. I have removed the sprayer system and bracket which allows another cool air path to the intake and under hood area in general. The Mitsu ralley cars have a round scoop in the front bumper in this location. My next 2 mods are an Avo fmic and jethot coated exhaust header. With my piping kit, cooling will be no problem.
Bluesmaster

The louvers are there for a reason.. keep rain and crud out.. Plus some h8r may screw with it if its wide open like that..

More power too you if it works for ya.. I don't like mods that draw more attention like add-on scoops and visible gauges so its just my personal opinion.. But i'm one of those people who likes symmetry, so the scoop on one side just doesnt look right to me..

Let us know how much of an improvement it makes before you start doing any other mods.

Oh didn't notice the screen in there.. at least you don't have to worry about a joker yanking anything out from there.. hehe..

It looks like half of it is missing. I think I'll keep mine just like it is.


The amount of heat waves I see pouring out of the top vent while I'm at lights and stop signs, I'd say it is pleanty effective even with the louvers; I'd say it must be pulling some serious heat out of the engine bay at speed.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MalibuJack
[B]The louvers are there for a reason.. keep rain and crud out.. Plus some h8r may screw with it if its wide open like that..

More power too you if it works for ya.. I don't like mods that draw more attention like add-on scoops and visible gauges so its just my personal opinion.. But i'm one of those people who likes symmetry, so the scoop on one side just doesnt look right to me..

Malibu,
I hear you about the symmetry thing, crud, and attracting attention. I have avoided doing anything to my previous cars or my Evo that noticeably change the exterior look of the car until now. This car is not a daily driver and is always garaged and not driven in bad weather. The nice thing about this is you can return to stock in 15-20 minutes if necessary. Nothing is cut, it's just 6 screws off and six nuts back on. I guess the back end of the car loses some symmetry with one exhaust pipe so why not the front? You need to see it to get a better idea of the look, pictures don't do it. As far as performance goes, I don't think it will make a drastic difference, but it sure hasn't hurt so far. I kind of took a flyer on this, ya know?
Bluesmaster

That looks cool. Notice any improvements? Does it help you pick up more chicks? And how come you didn't buy it from us? J/K Looks good and with out a doubt, your one of the very few who have this on thier car. That's the way to be OG.

Looks very good close up!

Your pics definitely provide more detail regarding the fit, finish and look from different perspectives. My only fears would be:
1) will enough heat be abe to escape?
2) will the extreme heat cause any damage to the new scoop?

Btw- thanks for the pictures!

N10S

N10S - I was still in Cali, living near the RMR shop, when the development was going on. I saw some early samples, but these production ones fit extremely well. As for the heat problem, if I remember correctly, RMR put an under-hood temp gauge and it wasn't hotter at idle. The vent that is in place is right above the turbo, which along with the exhaust manifold, are the prime heat sources. As for the heat on the scoop, the carbon fiber is highly resistant to heat - think about F1 suspension arms right next to the exhausts. I don't know about the fiberglass snorkel, but I think they worked all of the issues out before making this piece. It's pretty wild - I might get one after the winter.

Chris

Chris- Thanks for the info on the heat issue concerns. Bluesmasters photos are really excellent and provide a great view of just how nicely built the cold air scoop really is. The pics I had seen previously didn't do the part justice.

Its still a little odd looking, but the more I see it the better it looks.....kind of makes me think of something MadMax would have on his Holden!

N10S

while moving, i would think it would INCREASE engine compartment cooling by creating more circulating airflow.

once you stop though, you can't get by the physics that there is now less area for the heat to disipate through.

looks pretty good though.

That is just so ugly IMO