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**Edit** I'm referring to a BOV ADAPTER when comparing that option to the benefits of a SRI and brand makes no difference in my points mentioned below. **Edit**
Disclaimer To start off, let me say I've never owned or installed an aftermarket Blow Off Valve on my Fiesta. However, I do have installed an Injen Short Ram intake, and feel I know enough about BOV's, read enough reviews, and watched enough videos to say confidently that if you want to spend your money the right way, a vent-to-air BOV is not the best direction to take your car unless your mod budget is strictly under $100.
Induction Noise = Winning Induction noise trumps exhaust noise any day. Regardless of whether you've got a naturally aspirated v6, or a turbocharger or supercharger, increasing induction noise has got to be the sweetest sound a car can make, and each of those variants offers a different and complex sound.
Exhaust noise = bleehhh Now don't get me wrong, the right exhaust can be wonderful. But often, loud(er) aftermarket exhaust sounds are overrated and can also be very tricky to get quite right. You have to worry about highway drone, pissing off your neighbors (and wifey?), and overall trying to find the right exhaust that meets your budget while giving that tone that best matches what YOUR ears want to hear. On the other hand, increasing induction noise is easy to control since when the throttle is closed or mostly closed, you won't notice much difference until you open that throttle up wide, and the options are usually more affordable and easier to get right.
Since aftermarket exhausts have a bad stigma about them due to the many obnoxious tasteless cars out on the road, are generally expensive to buy, because the gains are relatively modest on our stock turbo, and since the Fiesta ST exhaust has a decently nice tone and performance as-is for a stock setup, it's not worth it to me to replace it for my build. I'd rather spend that money elsewhere.
Aftermarket BOV's With that said, most people turn to an aftermarket vent-to-air Blow Off Valve such as the Boomba BOV to get more induction sound. It's cheap and easy, but not very effective. With a BOV, you're only hearing a fraction of the beautiful induction noises your Fiesta ST has to offer, and not even the best part of it.
Here are several reasons to choose a Short Ram Intake over a BOV:
1. Blow-Off Vale Sound: The blow off valve noise of a SRI is still very audible like with a BOV, but slightly muted as the sound still has to travel a couple feet of pipe and escapes further away from the cabin than the BOV. Whereas it seems people often get tired of the loud in-cabin PSSHH of the BOV, the Short Ram intake muffles the sound just enough to still be aggressive and obvious inside and outside the car, without becoming obnoxious to hear on every shift.
2. Induction Noise Sound: In addition to hearing the beautiful BOV sound, with an SRI you can also clearly hear not only a quite agressive turbo spooling sound throughout most of the throttle range, but also some occasional turbo flutter and other sounds if you hit the throttle just right. You can also get good sound from cold-air intakes, but they will be somewhat quieter depending on each brand's design. Modulating the throttle input and the distinct change in turbo sound that results is quite addicting, fascinating and damn near magical.
3. Still Affordable: Short Ram Intakes are some of the cheaper and simpler intakes on the market, and still quite affordable compared to a BOV, as well as fairly easy to install. I got my Injen used on this forum for $120 and spent another $45 adding a Woosh Motorsports adapter for 2016+ cars.
4. Power gains: While theres some debate on this and it does vary, Short Ram Intakes have the opportunity to net you some modest gains, whereas a BOV will definitely not. On installation, I immediately noticed a much more snappy throttle response and what I believe to be a slight but definitely noticeable gain in power, perhaps around the 5hp mark that some SRI's claim. It's true that SRI's draw heat from the engine bay, but I believe this only a concern on very hot summer days and sitting in traffic, but not much if you're moving and in sub 90 deg weather. Add an aftermarket intercooler is a great idea here and negates any loss of power from heat soak. Driving in moderately hot 85 degree weather and without my intercooler I still felt a gain during my daily highway/city driving.
5. Dignity: Blow Off Valves don't do anything for your performance. Aftermarket intakes however do. BOV's just simply aren't interesting from a performance standpoint and anyone who knows that is going to look at it as just a cheap way of showing off rather than improving your car. With a SRI, you can still be a show-off without coming across as simply trying to be cool.
The above comments are based on a bunch of forum reading I did on the pros/cons of Short Ram Intakes versus other intakes, the reviews I read and videos I watched on the Boomba BOV, understanding the principles behind these things, my own opinions and build-plan, and my own personal experience with my Short Ram Intake which has exceeded all my expectations. I hope this helps encourage people to choose induction noise with an aftermarket intake such as a Short Ram over the other options as the induction noise these turbocharged cars make is quite spectacular and should not be overlooked!
**Edit** I'm referring to a BOV ADAPTER when comparing that option to the benefits of a SRI and brand makes no difference in my points mentioned above. **Edit**
Disclaimer To start off, let me say I've never owned or installed an aftermarket Blow Off Valve on my Fiesta. However, I do have installed an Injen Short Ram intake, and feel I know enough about BOV's, read enough reviews, and watched enough videos to say confidently that if you want to spend your money the right way, a vent-to-air BOV is not the best direction to take your car unless your mod budget is strictly under $100.
Induction Noise = Winning Induction noise trumps exhaust noise any day. Regardless of whether you've got a naturally aspirated v6, or a turbocharger or supercharger, increasing induction noise has got to be the sweetest sound a car can make, and each of those variants offers a different and complex sound.
Exhaust noise = bleehhh Now don't get me wrong, the right exhaust can be wonderful. But often, loud(er) aftermarket exhaust sounds are overrated and can also be very tricky to get quite right. You have to worry about highway drone, pissing off your neighbors (and wifey?), and overall trying to find the right exhaust that meets your budget while giving that tone that best matches what YOUR ears want to hear. On the other hand, increasing induction noise is easy to control since when the throttle is closed or mostly closed, you won't notice much difference until you open that throttle up wide, and the options are usually more affordable and easier to get right.
Since aftermarket exhausts have a bad stigma about them due to the many obnoxious tasteless cars out on the road, are generally expensive to buy, because the gains are relatively modest on our stock turbo, and since the Fiesta ST exhaust has a decently nice tone and performance as-is for a stock setup, it's not worth it to me to replace it for my build. I'd rather spend that money elsewhere.
Aftermarket BOV's With that said, most people turn to an aftermarket vent-to-air Blow Off Valve such as the Boomba BOV to get more induction sound. It's cheap and easy, but not very effective. With a BOV, you're only hearing a fraction of the beautiful induction noises your Fiesta ST has to offer, and not even the best part of it.
Here are several reasons to choose a Short Ram Intake over a BOV:
1. Blow-Off Vale Sound: The blow off valve noise of a SRI is still very audible like with a BOV, but slightly muted as the sound still has to travel a couple feet of pipe and escapes further away from the cabin than the BOV. Whereas it seems people often get tired of the loud in-cabin PSSHH of the BOV, the Short Ram intake muffles the sound just enough to still be aggressive and obvious inside and outside the car, without becoming obnoxious to hear on every shift.
2. Induction Noise Sound: In addition to hearing the beautiful BOV sound, with an SRI you can also clearly hear not only a quite agressive turbo spooling sound throughout most of the throttle range, but also some occasional turbo flutter and other sounds if you hit the throttle just right. You can also get good sound from cold-air intakes, but they will be somewhat quieter depending on each brand's design. Modulating the throttle input and the distinct change in turbo sound that results is quite addicting, fascinating and damn near magical.
3. Still Affordable: Short Ram Intakes are some of the cheaper and simpler intakes on the market, and still quite affordable compared to a BOV, as well as fairly easy to install. I got my Injen used on this forum for $120 and spent another $45 adding a Woosh Motorsports adapter for 2016+ cars.
4. Power gains: While theres some debate on this and it does vary, Short Ram Intakes have the opportunity to net you some modest gains, whereas a BOV will definitely not. On installation, I immediately noticed a much more snappy throttle response and what I believe to be a slight but definitely noticeable gain in power, perhaps around the 5hp mark that some SRI's claim. It's true that SRI's draw heat from the engine bay, but I believe this only a concern on very hot summer days and sitting in traffic, but not much if you're moving and in sub 90 deg weather. Add an aftermarket intercooler is a great idea here and negates any loss of power from heat soak. Driving in moderately hot 85 degree weather and without my intercooler I still felt a gain during my daily highway/city driving.
5. Dignity: Blow Off Valves don't do anything for your performance. Aftermarket intakes however do. BOV's just simply aren't interesting from a performance standpoint and anyone who knows that is going to look at it as just a cheap way of showing off rather than improving your car. With a SRI, you can still be a show-off without coming across as simply trying to be cool.
The above comments are based on a bunch of forum reading I did on the pros/cons of Short Ram Intakes versus other intakes, the reviews I read and videos I watched on the Boomba BOV, understanding the principles behind these things, my own opinions and build-plan, and my own personal experience with my Short Ram Intake which has exceeded all my expectations. I hope this helps encourage people to choose induction noise with an aftermarket intake such as a Short Ram over the other options as the induction noise these turbocharged cars make is quite spectacular and should not be overlooked!
**Edit** I'm referring to a BOV ADAPTER when comparing that option to the benefits of a SRI and brand makes no difference in my points mentioned above. **Edit**
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