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A lot of times we get asked if a particular Subaru Forester hood we sell (Ram Air hood or Cowl hood, for example) is a "functional hood". By functional, the customer is asking whether the hood is going to add horsepower to their vehicle by directing the incoming airflow to the vehicle's airbox.

The answer is this: Most of the vented hoods on the market are not functional. They have the scoop built into the hood, and it's normally an open scoop that indeed lets air into the engine bay, but most of these hoods do not come with the ducting that is needed to control that incoming airflow and get it to the most "functional" place to generate more horsepower. That being said, there might be a small positive effect by simply letting more cool air into the engine bay, even if it isn't directed...

There are a few companies who do in fact make functional hoods. Suncoast Creations, for example, is a company who makes functional ram air hoods that come complete with the intake ducting to integrate with the hood.

We also sometimes get asked by a customer if he or she can put on a functional ram air hood and work that in conjunction with an air intake. The answer is no, because the ducting/filter that will be integrated with the hood will be clamped directly to the location of the airbox, thereby eliminating the possibility of running another intake. Basically, the ducting and filter that integrate with the hood is an intake system itself.

One thing to be aware of as you shop for any Subaru Forester hood is that aftermarket Subaru Forester hoods are generally either sold as bolt-on hoods or pin-on hoods (aka lift-off hoods). The bolt-on Subaru Forester hoods have a skin and a skeleton (a top and a bottom), and opened and closed using the factory latch. Pin-on Subaru Forester hoods are generally only comprised of a hood skin (just the top), are held down using pins, and have to be lifted off to be opened since they don't utilitze the factory latch mechanism. The reason a person might want to buy a pin-on hood is that it is substantially lighter than a bolt-on hood.