Hood Scoops: Just For Show Or Do They Actually Work? #MuscleCarTech

18 Oct 2016

I am fully aware that the subject of hood scoops has been talked about before and in good depth as well. So, instead of me talking about all the technical stuff and butchering it, I’ll put up a good technical article on hood scoops and then speak my mind a little on the subject.

Functional hood scoops are in my eyes, underrated. On the other hand, fake hood scoops are an eye sore and should not exist in this world. Some people might not want hood scoops because unwanted things can get into the intake and potentially cause problems The solution is to either install a grate on the intake so only really small things can get inside or just use an air filter.

I’m a big fan of cars with no hoods, it’s a ghetto yet effective way of reducing weight and reducing heat in the engine bay.

What are some cars that have factory hood scoops? Let’s take a look…

Hood scoops aren’t really a European thing, and for a legitimate reason. They’re rather brash and not very subtle, the opposite of the design language for many American and Japanese sports cars. Cars that have factory hood scoops include but aren’t limited to the Dodge Challenger Hellcat, Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack Shaker, Subaru WRX/WRX STI, Subaru Legacy GT, Mitsubishi Evolution, MazdaSpeed3, and so on and so forth.

What are your thoughts on hood scoops?

Comments

If they are legit…they are amazing.

I’m a Euro guy…but I like hood scoops…

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I like them on certain cars, mainly muscle cars :)

They can be a nice addition on cars where they belong to, meaning cars that have the looks, size, performance and sound to back it up. I always find them to look a bit pretentious on small cars (like the Mazdazpeed 3 or the Impreza WRX), even if they serve a purpose there.
From a technological point of view, they are questionable. Sticking a huge scoop out of the bonnet to put an intercooler beneath it isn’t exactly what you want if you were to care about aerodynamics, ease of maintainance and so on. A front-mounted intercooler is in 99% of the cases a better solution.

love the scoop and the vents on my viper ,the car would look dull without them

I like the shaker though

I usually like hood scoops, but I saw a rice style hood scoop on a Kia Sportage with Transformers stickers. Had to take my eyes out, wash them with bleach, and put them back in the socket hole again and say “What did i just see?”

A real one is great. A fake one is just weird.

Like the WRX/STI. I’ve seen and heard people saying it’s fake, even though it is functional for the intercooler.

Love functional scoops, hate fake ones. One of my biggest issues with the car world is when wrx owners move the intercooler to a front mount and leave the scoop as a useless piece on the hood