Forward facing scoop vs cowl

February 09, 2026, 02:49 PM

inferno camaro

Is there any performance advantage to a forward facing scoop with pan vs a cowl or Sunoco style hood? My thoughts are it may make a little more power pushing air down its neck but also has some wind drag that the other styles wouldn't have. Anyone have a real back to back comparison of the two styles?
Thanks

February 09, 2026, 03:29 PM

Big Steve

I ran that exact test last summer during the rebuild after I had a close encounter with the wall with my PST.
I think the horse power level and whether is 1/8 or 1/4 mile track would play a huge roll so your results may vary.
On my alky injected 565 it made very little difference on 1/8 passes, not enough to want to cut a hole in my new hood.
I made 2 runs with the scoop and 2 runs with the cowl hood back to back with my homemade air pan that pulls air from in front of the radiator. ET was within less than 2 hun and no change to MPH and that's where I thought for sure there would be an improvement.
This is the scoop attached to a dragster style air pan

Cowl hood

Air pan used with the cowl hood, from radiator to the firewall and foam that seals in to the cowl hood

February 09, 2026, 03:52 PM

B KING

That cowl hood air pan looks very familiar. They work very well; ask me how I know?

2BKING

February 09, 2026, 03:55 PM

Big Steve

quote:
Originally posted by B KING:
That cowl hood air pan looks very familiar. They work very well; ask me how I know?

2BKING

It should I copied it from you!!

February 09, 2026, 05:11 PM

B KING

LOL!

I think I copied it from when NHRA was running Pro Stock Truck.

2BKING

February 09, 2026, 05:32 PM

inferno camaro

I didn't realize a pan was used with a cowl hood. Good info. Surprised there was ET difference and no mph change.

quote:
Originally posted by Big Steve:
I ran that exact test last summer during the rebuild after I had a close encounter with the wall with my PST.
I think the horse power level and whether is 1/8 or 1/4 mile track would play a huge roll so your results may vary.
On my alky injected 565 it made very little difference on 1/8 passes, not enough to want to cut a hole in my new hood.
I made 2 runs with the scoop and 2 runs with the cowl hood back to back with my homemade air pan that pulls air from in front of the radiator. ET was within less than 2 hun and no change to MPH and that's where I thought for sure there would be an improvement.
This is the scoop attached to a dragster style air pan

Cowl hood

Air pan used with the cowl hood, from radiator to the firewall and foam that seals in to the cowl hood

February 09, 2026, 05:50 PM

B KING

quote:
Originally posted by inferno camaro:
I didn't realize a pan was used with a cowl hood.

I used a pan to the back of the hood; it didn't work well for me. That's why I changed it to the front of the car, works much better for consistency!

2BKING

February 10, 2026, 06:41 AM

CURTIS REED

Steve, the cowl hood looks 100 times better to me than the scoop. JMO

February 10, 2026, 08:19 AM

Big Steve

quote:
Originally posted by CURTIS REED:
Steve, the cowl hood looks 100 times better to me than the scoop. JMO

Curtis, the thing I liked about the scoop as I could see it and use it to judge where the nose is. The hood on these PST sloops down and sitting all the way in the back driving one is like driving a bus, you don't see anything past the fire wall so it makes it harder to know where your at.
I invested about $500 in this test so I will save the scoop and air pan for the future. I repaired the damaged hood so I could always choose to cut a hole in that hood if I want to or just run without a hood like in the picture above