The problem with the stock 2024+ Tacoma intake is simple: it was built around cost, not airflow. Small duct area, a restrictive filter housing, and a tube shape that disturbs the airstream all add pressure loss ahead of the turbo. That means the turbo has to work harder just to get the air mass the engine wants. Our Banks Ram-Air Intake System fixes those choke points as a system. The inlet opening is dramatically larger, the filter and housing keep the full cross-sectional area working, and the intake tube uses gentler shape and direction changes to keep airflow attached and stable. Even the flexible section is handled differently so the incoming air is not crashing into bellows ridges. As vehicle speed builds, the denser air in the Ram-Air duct helps take some load off the turbo. That is why this intake is worth real power on the dyno: plus 18.3 wheel horsepower and 17.7 lb-ft of torque. Better airflow in, less work for the turbo, and a stronger induction note as a bonus.
The video begins with a new TRD Off-Road Toyota Tacoma equipped with the 2.4-liter four-cylinder turbo engine. The objective is straightforward: increase real power, starting with intake airflow. Banks presents its engineered Ram-Air intake system as the first step in that process, with measured gains of 18.3 rear-wheel horsepower and 17.7 lb-ft of torque.
Banks argues that the factory intake was designed primarily around cost rather than performance, and that limitation shows up on the dyno. According to the recap, the stock system starves the turbocharger for air through a combination of small-diameter tubing and a restrictive air-filter housing. In other words, the engine and turbo are not being supplied with airflow efficiently enough to support stronger output.
A major part of the redesign is the inlet duct itself. The stock intake system ultimately narrows to only 8.3 square inches of cross-sectional area. By comparison, the Banks Ram-Air duct uses a 22.5 square-inch primary opening plus an 8 square-inch side port, for a total of 30.5 square inches. That represents a 267% increase in cross-sectional area over stock. The comparison used in the video is that the difference in flow capability between the stock system and the Banks design is like the difference between a drinking straw and a fire hose.
Banks also explains the Ram-Air effect in practical terms. As vehicle speed increases, air density inside the Ram-Air intake rises, which helps reduce some of the workload placed on the turbocharger. The system is intended not only to remove restrictions but also to improve the conditions under which the turbo receives incoming air. The result is a cleaner, denser, less restricted air supply feeding the engine.
The air filter and housing are another focus of the engineering discussion. Banks contrasts its design with competing systems that may use a similarly shaped conical filter but then reduce the outlet back down to something close to the stock intake-tube size. In that configuration, the larger filter does not deliver its full potential because the downstream passage becomes the next restriction.
The Banks design instead retains the full cross-sectional area of the filter at the outlet. The filter slides into the housing in a way that promotes more uniform airflow distribution around the entire filter surface, while also simplifying installation. The emphasis here is not just on using a larger filter, but on making sure the surrounding housing and outlet geometry allow that filter to work effectively.
Once air leaves the filter, it must travel efficiently to the turbo inlet, and Banks identifies the intake tube as critical to that job. The Ram-Air intake increases the tube size from the stock 2.75 inches to 5 inches at the filter outlet. Just as important as the size increase, the tube uses gentler transitions in both shape and direction.
Those softer transitions are intended to reduce boundary-layer thickness and help keep airflow attached to the interior surface of the tube. By minimizing separation from the wall, the design reduces the turbulence and disruption that can hurt flow quality. The video frames this as a key difference between simply making a tube larger and actually engineering it for better aerodynamic behavior.
The discussion then turns to bellows sections in intake plumbing. Banks explains that a bellows exposed directly to the airstream is inherently poor for flow because the ridges disturb the boundary layer as incoming air crashes into them. Toyota's factory approach is described as less than ideal for that reason.
Banks still incorporates a bellows to allow for engine movement, but changes how it is integrated. The intake tube continues past the beginning of the flexible joint, so the incoming air does not directly impact the bellows ridges. This preserves the needed flexibility while reducing the airflow disruption associated with a conventional exposed bellows section.
Taken together, the larger inlet area, less restrictive filter housing, preserved outlet area, larger intake tube, smoother geometry, and improved bellows treatment are presented as the reasons for the measured performance increase. The stated result is 18.3 wheel horsepower and 17.7 lb-ft of torque over the stock intake system. The video also notes a secondary effect: the system improves intake sound in addition to the airflow and power gains.
Banks closes by noting that the intake is only the beginning of its development work for the new Tacoma platform. The company says it is also engineering an upgraded intercooler and a Monster Exhaust for this application. Those products are positioned as the next steps for owners who want additional performance beyond the Ram-Air intake alone.
