Making power relies on one main ingredient-ok, maybe more than one, but unless you have this one, the others are a moot point. Giving an engine more cool air is essential in making more power. Making sure that air isn't contaminated with dirt, debris, or any other foreign matter is the Achilles heel that auto manufacturers have been dealing with since the invention of the automobile. The task of an OE filter is to remove as much foreign matter as possible from the air before it reaches the engine. The problem this presents for performance-minded enthusiasts is that the OE air filters are overly restricted from a performance standpoint.
There are plenty of aftermarket manufacturers that make performance-oriented air filters for a stock application, but by virtue of using a stock OE filter housing, air flow is still restricted to an extent. You can find aftermarket filter assemblies that will free-up some air flow, but the one drawback to that style of filter is it usually draws air from a location under the hood, and thus the warm air from the engine's heat is what your engine is breathing. It's kind of like a catch-22-you get more air, but it's heated and not as dense.
There is an alternative, and we found it at AutoTruckToys.com. In order to get the best air for your engine, you have to think outside the box-or in this case, the hood. Mopar muscle cars have long been known for the brash, functioning hoodscoops that they left the factory with. Be it a Hemi Dart or Barracuda, an A12 package car with its "Six Pack"-style scoop, or a T/A Challenger with its T/A-style scoop, they all had one purpose-getting fresh air to the engine. Even the factory still realizes that hoodscoops mean performance-think SRT.
But one scoop stands out as the most ingenious, and that's the Shaker-style scoop. It can't really be called a hoodscoop because it didn't mount to the hood, but you guys reading this know what we're talking about. It's the way the scoop mounted to the engine and "shook" with the cam lope, or the driver playing with the throttle pedal.
We got to surfing the Internet one day and found that there are a myriad of hoodscoops-functioning and decorative for many late-model performance vehicles as well. We checked out the www.autotrucktoys.com website and found that they even carry a Shaker-style scoop for our Project Ram that we've been modifying over the last couple of years. They also sell performance hoods for your Magnum, 300, or Charger vehicle as well. The hood we got, made by Goodhood, is a fiberglass replacement that not only looks good, but is also a functioning setup that will direct cooler air from outside of the vehicle to the engine-that's a good thing.
We're sure you guys want to know how it fit and how much work it took to install, so here it is. It's a fiberglass hood that needed minimal work to get ready for paint, and the actual install of the Shaker portion is so simple that anyone can do it with a few wrenches. So there you have it. We gave our Ram a boost in the cool factor, and performance just by adding a new hood. How much easier can it get?
