Corvette3401
New member
I'm looking to buy one and wanted your input:
Thanks!
Thanks!
DDM and ZZP are the two best IMHO for power production.
Looking at this objectively
the DDM is better for a person just bolting up an intake and that's it. The heatshield promotes a colder charge and the DDM doesn't throw CELs and makes more power than stock (with a tune to keep the gains)
The ZZP is better for someone looking for Max Powwaa, especially a DIYer looking for the best intake. Its a good option just thrown on the car as it makes more power than stock and won't throw codes. BUT its not optimized for that. For max gains the insert needs to be removed so it can be the best flowing intake (requires a tune), and a heatshield needs to be added (I think BNR sells the ZZPintake with DDM heatshield for a price).
I picked the ZZP as the best because of the ability to remove the insert and the fact that I'm adding something that's Way better thab a heatshield.
Again if you're not a tinkering or don't want to mess with a removable insert (and mandatory tune that goes with it) then the DDM is the best option. It all boils down to context. Just like the Injen is supposedly best for MPG, seems logical but there hasn't been much evidence to show its better than any other option
I have seen this come up a couple times and wanted to give out some information that we have from testing here:
The 2.0L LNF engines also come standard with a 2.75" intake on a car that makes 260hp stock. There have been many intakes tested on those cars and most have found that until you get over 350hp at the wheels, the stock intake will flow just about as well as the aftermarket intakes on that car. On the Sonic we are seeing some gains with an intake, from what we have tested it is mainly because of the size of the filter in the car stock and also the 180 degree bent tube in the fender being the biggest restrictions in the system, but the 2.75" intake tube does not appear to be the restriction.
This is what we have tested here and found -
- A 2.75" intake tube keeps the stock size tube, and therefore, the fuel trims stay consistent with stock and will not throw codes or lose power.
- The 2.75" intake tube will outflow whatever the stock turbo will ever be capable of moving because of the small inlet diameter of the turbo compressor housing.
- Larger intake tubes, do not necessarily produce more power (if this was the case, we would just bolt on a 6" intake tube)
- Reducing the size of the tube while also making a 90 degree bend is not something that is good for flow.
Not sure if anyone else has tested a DDM vs. ZZP vs. Stock vs. Injen but just because the tube is larger does not mean that an intake will produce more power, at least that is what all of our testing has shown. Once the intake tube will outflow the turbo, you will not make more power with a larger tube.
The biggest issue with the ZZP and the CXracing intakes from what we have seen, is that they both use a 3" to 2.25" reducer that does the reduction while also doing a 90 degree turn. So the air has to turn and also neck down at the same time, that is not good for airflow. That is why we kept the bend in our intake the full 2.75" then make the transition from 2.75" to 2.25" after the bend, better for flow.
Here is a picture of the difference for comparison - The DDM is on the left, ZZP on the right.
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When the air makes that hard 90 degree bend, it creates a little pocket of vacuum where it can not make the bend that sharp and also reduce in size, so you lose some of the overall area of flow through that kind of silicone reducer, so even though you have a larger 3" tube after it, that silicone 90 becomes more restrictive.
Hope that helps,
Dave
Air behaves similar to traffic. The worst thing you can do is make fast transitions. Having a reduction coupler like the DDM is certainly the lowest cost method to develop an intake but it does come at a performance hit.
Think of a 3 lane highway with a wall that stops one lane of traffic. What happens? ALL of the traffic grinds to a halt. This is because people don't have time to transition into the 2 lanes gradually. Airflow is the same way.
When you port a head, do you hog it out for as long as you can and then have a small opening at the end of the cylinder port? No. Every performance head you've ever seen has a few things. They turn, they taper, they are smooth and they are as gradual as possible in transitions. Again, this is because maximizing airflow is all about gradual transitions. One intake makes the entire transition in about 1/2" while the other in ~5 inches. There's a reason a more expensive tapered silicone piece was used.