Air intake mods

[d1 mule]

was bored one day and rigged this up lol

[rx7guy]

Interesting:

http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles ... ntake.aspx

[Makaveli]

Reading that Lexus IS-F article made me a bit skeptical. Not sure how could they have gained 30whp just from replacing an intake pipe and air filter.

First of all it looks like they are running the car on the dyno with an open bonnet, this distorts the accuracy of the results. This can make the car run rich in the real world according to the nzhondas article posted.

Second: How good is that air filter in actually "filtering" the dirt etc compared to a stock unit.

Third: Stock intake has a flap which probably is designed to improve low down torque etc. and then it opens up at high revs. Aftermarket intake pipe is solely designed for top end gains. This flap possibly improves fuel economy?

I am sure if Toyota could gain 30hp extra in this car with a simple intake system modification, then they would have done it. If they haven't, then there is a probably good reason of why they haven't. My guess would be fuel economy and low down response.

[jaypines]

I am sure if Toyota could gain 30hp extra in this car with a simple intake system modification, then they would have done it. If they haven't, then there is a probably good reason of why they haven't. My guess would be fuel economy and low down response.

dont forget NVH.. its a lexus afterall

[MAGN1T]

There's always salesmen out there trying to sell all sorts of crap that doesn't work.
It's not helped by car magazines who get their revenue through advertising. So you get all these ricer parts advertised in car magazines, the sellers make bullshit claims as to how they actually increase performance with no facts to back it up.
Then the "kiddies" out there with the usual "no clues" go buy them, and can't figure out that they've been sucked in by scammers.

As already said, the car manufacturers employ engineers who know what they're doing, stock parts are top quality and last for years. The majority of aftermarket parts for sale are total rubbish.

Steve

[Grrrrrrr!]

But engineers that work at car companies are also very much resctricted in what they can do, they have to met cost objectives, the various noise limits and emissions limits and the other constraints placed on them by the marketing department and legal departments. Aftermarket parts are usually not constrained by those limits.

If you think there are no easy power gains to be made, why do Nismo, TRD etc do so many bolt on parts and state in their advertising that they do produce power gains. (They wouldn't say they do make power gains if they can't back it up with evidence)

eg:

Since cold air is denser than hot air, it makes sense that cold air translates into more power. Feed your engine colder air by adding a TRD Cold Air Intake System. They’re dyno tested and deliver an increase in both horsepower and torque for superior acceleration
and more pulling power

I'd bet they can back up those power gains with dyno testing. (how big the gain is of course a different matter).

compared with:

Air in. Dirt out. The free-fowing design of TRD High-Performance Air Filters allows the maximum amount of air into the engine with minimal resistance, providing unrivaled engine protection and potentially increased engine output.

Not the use of "potentially".. Probably no power gain in most cases so marketing/legal use the word potentially as an escape.

You are right that if the aftermarket parts producers were trying to work within the same limits (including costs) as the engineers at the car companies they would generally have 3/5ths of SFA chance of getting more power.

This is statement gives an insight to how different laws apply to OEM and aftermarket parts:

Except where noted, all TRD intakes are covered by the TRD warranty. Please see warranty page for details. Also except where noted, TRD
air intakes are emission legal in all 50 states for after-sale installation. TRD intakes cannot be sold on or fnanced with a new vehicle.

[Bling]

I think it was more so aimed at the cheap shit people buy. Not TRD products as such. I'm sure they have gains, but people buy pod filters that have chrome on them because chrome is cool

I'd also take a guess at the majority of things on the market are not an improvement. The likes of TRD, ARC intakes etc will be good. But people don't tend to buy that, they buy plastic fans that go in the intake to give them 5psi and more power.

[Grrrrrrr!]

Yep, ignorant people are easy to make money off. Just look at instant finance and cash converters..

[MAGN1T]

Like the photo Dellorto posted on the first page.

Spot the catch can, spot the lack of PCV, doing that you'll get the oil contaminated with fuel and water, need to change the oil a lot more regulaarly otherwise you'll get bearing damage.

Ahhh, but catch cans look cool, cooler if polished?
Performance gain?...it's a loss of performance.

Steve

[Lloyd]

Like Alex said, down in the guard with the filter can have issues with picking up water. If you think about a 2L engine running 10:1 compression then really you need less than 1 cup of water to hydraulic every cylinder. And the pic on NZ Hondas of the dude in Christchurch who did exactly that and bent/broke every rod


Cold air box? Keep it up high, seal it off from the heat of the engine bay and give it a cold air feed from somewhere

Cheap one:

[sergei]

Turbo intakes don't matter. With turbo get as bigger pipe as possible, and as short as possible, as long as it is sucking cold air. Although after the compressor it becomes important.

Same applies for the exhaust on turbo. Extractors before turbine can make good difference in spool up time, but everything after the turbo should be as large as possible and as short as possible (as much as law allows).

Turbo is a pulse "rectifier", once turbo is spinning it removes all the pulses out of the following parts of the gas flow:
before compressor
after the turbine

So in other words acoustics matter between compressor and turbine (ie.: intercooler and its piping, throttle body(ies) and inlet manifold, head, exhaust manifold and turbine housing).

[MAGN1T]

It reduces the amplitude of the pulses, it doesn't eliminate them.
If it did , you'd have a silent exhaust rather than just a quieter one.

Steve

[Makaveli]

Please bear in mind that TRD also makes Engine Oil Caps, Petrol Caps and Floor Mats, that does not in any way suggest they offer any "performance" advantage over a stock TGP item. On the TRD website, it doesn't mention that their air filters add any performance gains over stock. There is a graph which doesn't have a scale or any numerical data which somehow suggests that TRD air filter has slightly less intake resistance over a stock item, but at the expense of something called "dust complement", which probably just means it doesn't filter as well as a factory item.



http://www.trdparts.jp/english/parts_airfilter.html

Also considering they retail for approximately 11,000 Yen or $NZ170, I can't see a reason of them offering 5 times the performance of a stock TGP item which you can get for probably around $20-$40 depending the model of the filter.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

While we're on the topic of air filters, check this article out:

http://www.australianauto.com.au/HTML/I ... %20Out.pdf

They tested some of the most well known/expensive brands, as well as some of the less known/cheapest brands and compared the results between flow and filtration. Surprisingly, one of the cheapest filters came out on top, trumping brands such as HKS, K&N and Apexi.

[Flannelman]

From dyno comparison between 2 different 4age 20v silvertops, the pod added 1 extra kW in th top end. However, because both were of different age and tune (one was 14:1 lean) I would put it down to a draw. Induction noise is higher with the pod tho.

I managed to double my intake temperature by adding an aftermarket radiator. This increased onroad temp from low 20s to mid to high 30s.

The intake systems found on most cars today are good. Not great. They work with the standard system. One component change to increase power will result in an increase in demand for air. Something the stock intake wont be designed for.
On the note of design, if a car company can design an intake for half the price for the sake of 5kW, they will choose price over power. They are there to make money. Thats where factory performance arms of the car company sell the said design for the inflated price.

The intake needs only one rule - Provide the engine unrestricted, cold, filtered air for best preformance. Be prepared for very loud induction thump tho.

[RomanV]

Was your aftermarket radiator running the fan the whole time?

[Flannelman]

It still runs the standard single fan, so no.

[Lurkin]

Any idea of where to buy 3A racing filters in NZ?

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Any idea of where to buy 3A racing filters in NZ?

I tried to find one a while ago but had no luck. I emailed 3A Racing to find out if there were any NZ distributors but never received a response. Actually managed to find a brand new one on TradeMe but the guy who was selling it never bothered to email me with his account details etc

The alternative is to get one shipped over from Australia. DrDrift.com.au used to sell them by they're no longer on the site. They used to be on eBay Australia but I can't see them on there anymore either.

If you do happen to find a NZ distributor please let me know as I wouldn't mind getting one for myself

[RomanV]

I'm still skeptical of the scientific merit / repeatability of their results though.

Two or three of the filters there look to be made from the exact same generic filter material, same cone design and construction method, with the 3A racing one having a different coloured plastic top on it. Likely that they all come out of the exact same factory in China somewhere... Yet the filtration results vary.

I'm not convinced that you wouldnt get 10 different results with 10 different tests with their methodology. Especially since they only tested each one once, rather than a few times to eliminate possible margin of error.

I'd say that blowing dust into an enclosed environment surrounding the filter over a period of time would likely be a more accurate way to measure filtration, than just pouring black stuff on the filter.

None of the above cone filters have comparable cross sectional area to a panel filter anyway, so would get clogged earlier and easier.