I own this hood and have for 6 years. But something has always bothered me. There are 2 spoilers on the inside between the opening and the airfilter. I know that most stock ws6 and ss have the same thing. I assume they are for large debree and water, but the initial opening for air to enter is i'm going to call it 1 inch by 10 inches where it snakes down then up then into the airbox. is this enough airflow? Is it even worth dealing with? Do the engineers know what there doing ...

 

The ram air is a marketing ploy. Don't get me wrong it does work but cai works just as well. Better if you ask me. The ram air hood on a LT1 car is not a restriction though. Do a little test. Take a piece of paper and hold it in front of the the hood opening, have a buddy step on the gas. Watch the paper get sucked to the hood.

 

I agree.
A CAI works just as well.
Although, the pieces I think you are talking about are there to deflect water from getting into the air intake.

 

I read about a test done on the 96-97 SS hood during development, they ran the car on a dyno and fed the inlet with a firehose and it didnt take any water into the engine. Thats what the deflectors are for inside the inlet apparently.