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Air Intake Mods - Anyone Dyno Tested?

2K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  T5atl 
#1 ·
I bought the hose to do the modification where you run it from behind the fog light cover area into the intake box. I never got around to doing it, that $40 piece of hose is a garage wall ornament. I remember that the hose get's partially crushed if you try to use the safety inlet to route the hose through in the bottom of the air box by popping it out. I didn't think that was a very clean installation. So then you need to cut a hole in the airbox. I have the hole saw for it and everything. What I don't have are ramps or a lift to make it easy for me to do it. Kind of hard to work under the car with a sport kit and a lowered suspension.

Then I started thinking more about it. Is it REALLY worth the effort to go to the trouble of cutting up my R?? Seems the only way to find out would be for someone to take there's to a dyno. Do a run or two with the extra inlet, then plug it up and do a couple dyno runs.

Anyone done this?

Would the HP difference be so small it would be within the normal variance of the dyno results anyway so you really couldn't draw any conclusions?

I know JRL I think used some sort of air pressure meter or something to verify it did increase the flow but how much more power does that actually translate to? Plus the inlet is much lower on the front of the car than the stock inlet so there is a higher chance of sucking in spray from a wet road (like driving behind a large truck that is throwing a lot of spray at your front end.) which would get the filter wet and reduce flow.
 
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#2 ·
Re: Air Intake Mods - Anyone Dyno Tested? (jazee)

so much misleading information in this post... thought we had cleared this up in the posts on this subject previously.

Quote, originally posted by jazee »
I remember that the hose get's partially crushed if you try to use the safety inlet to route the hose through in the bottom of the air box by popping it out.

Not true. No crushing if you use 2" hose. I had no crushing even with a 2.5" hose, just a bend right before airbox.

Quote, originally posted by jazee »
I didn't think that was a very clean installation.

I know at least 20 people that have the kit I sold that would disagree with you. Plus the 30 others that have viewed mine...

Quote, originally posted by jazee »
What I don't have are ramps or a lift to make it easy for me to do it. Kind of hard to work under the car with a sport kit and a lowered suspension.

No need to get under the car to do install... don't even have to remove air box.

Quote, originally posted by jazee »
Then I started thinking more about it. Is it REALLY worth the effort to go to the trouble of cutting up my R??

Only takes 1-2 hours depending on how anal you are, and the only thing you have to cut is a 2.25"-2.5" hole in the inner bumper shroud, and possibly the vents on the fog light grills if you don't have Euro spec. They look much better open anyways.

Quote, originally posted by jazee »
Seems the only way to find out would be for someone to take there's to a dyno. Do a run or two with the extra inlet, then plug it up and do a couple dyno runs.

Anyone done this?

No way a dyno run can simulate the amount of air that gets forced into air intake at speed on the highway. I noticed a difference, especially at high RPMs/full boost. In fact, my car was faster than a Powerchips 93/BMC/Evolve exhaust with just stock ECU/BMC/DP/SvR exhaust. And that was without current "ram air" 20 sq in intake, using just supplemental round 4 sq in intake. Not saying CAI was the difference, but something was.

Here is what some others recently posted.

Quote, originally posted by nikhsub1 »
Well I installed Kelly's CAI kit on Saturday, didnt really drive much til today. I have to say either I'm crazy or the car feels more responsive. Remember I have the GT trans, I hit the gas and normally wait what feels like an eternity for the boost to kick in. With the CAI, the turbo spools MUCH faster, like right now. Mid range is awesome too. This is the ONLY mod on the car at this point. Anyway, I'm digging the mod.

Quote, originally posted by JMn »
Thanks to R Kelly! Put this kit in mine about 2 weeks ago and reset my ecu and I have to say my car has never ran better, BSR PPC seems to like this a lot - before intake I got some hesitation under WOT but now just smooth as glass...

Quote, originally posted by bcantana »
Ditto here .... reset the ECU last weekend after installing and my car is FLYING. Hopefully it is not the typical "my car feels great after the ECU reset and then calms down after a few days" syndrome.

If you have ever suffered from inhalent allergies or asthma ...
- Before the CAI, imagine respiratory issues with restriced breathing
- After the CAI imagine 15 minutes after the inhaler kicks in ... free breathing

Quote, originally posted by jazee »
II know JRL I think used some sort of air pressure meter or something to verify it did increase the flow but how much more power does that actually translate to?

Jim Lill... does it really matter exactly how much more power when it is less than $100? You turbo CAN NOT get enough air through the tiny 12 sq in intake currently on the car.

Quote, originally posted by jazee »
Plus the inlet is much lower on the front of the car than the stock inlet so there is a higher chance of sucking in spray from a wet road (like driving behind a large truck that is throwing a lot of spray at your front end.) which would get the filter wet and reduce flow.

This is just completely wrong... spray comes in through the stock intake, since there is no variation in elevation. The stock air box is built with drainage holes because Volvo knows water gets in (although they designed it with foam sock covering a paper filter).

Did a whole thread trying to clear up this misconception - with pictures even...

True source of water in air box discovered!
 
#4 ·
R Kelly, did you ever hook up a gauge to determine the "pre-boost" pressure just coming in from the intake? I think some of that data would shut the naysayers up
 
#7 ·
Re: (jazee)

sure....

just get a 9,000-10,000 cfm fan with a rectangular transition to place right in front of the intake scoop, and you can simulate ~70mph
 
#8 ·
Re: (phuz)

You guys are gonna think I'm crazy, but I wanted to see if the CAI made a difference in just airflow into the box, so with the airbox cover off and filter out I used my leaf blower to blast air at the existing grill and then at the new inlet for the CAI.

You could barely feel a breeze from the stock inlet and from the new CAI inlet it blew dust out of the airbox and you could feel a strong breeze out of the bottom of the airbox.

I know this is not imperical evidence, but I just have to think that is a good thing.

-Ben
 
#9 ·
Re: (bcantana)

Quote, originally posted by bcantana »
You guys are gonna think I'm crazy, but I wanted to see if the CAI made a difference in just airflow into the box, so with the airbox cover off and filter out I used my leaf blower to blast air at the existing grill and then at the new inlet for the CAI.

You could barely feel a breeze from the stock inlet and from the new CAI inlet it blew dust out of the airbox and you could feel a strong breeze out of the bottom of the airbox.

I know this is not imperical evidence, but I just have to think that is a good thing.

-Ben

The scary part is, most of this won't think this is crazy. It doesn't prove much, but we still don't think you're crazy.
 
#10 ·
congratulations, you proved that relocation to the CAI location will provide more of a "ramming" effect of the air at highway speeds. http://********************/smile/emthup.gif
 
#11 ·
Re: (phuz)

More non-empirical here, but...

If you look at the front of the car, the fog light grill is probably the highest pressure point. The lower air dam funnels air up, while the bumper funnels air down, the only place for air to go is into the intake. So while the outer edges of the intake are 3x7" (21 sq in) versus stock 8x1.5" (12 sq in) already a huge improvement, you also get the benefit of the lower air dam and the bumper working for you.

Quote, originally posted by phuz »
R Kelly, did you ever hook up a gauge to determine the "pre-boost" pressure just coming in from the intake? I think some of that data would shut the naysayers up

Jim Lill (and I think blot as well) discovered that there is a vacuum in the air box pre-filter as you approach full boost. That mean the turbo can not get the air it need from stock intake, and has to work harder than it should. And that is at stock boost levels, if you mod your ECU, you REALLY need more air.

Jim also discovered with a well placed secondary intake (he used a round 4 sq in) in the fog lamp grill area feeding into the air box, it eliminated the pre-filter vacuum, meaning the turbo is now getting the air it needs.

What I did was discover a offset intake that fits perfectly into that space, and outlet that can be cut to fit perfectly into existing snow valve hole, and dual lined neoprene hose with clamps to connect the two and sold it as a kit.

So far, everyone has been happy. (I just received the parts for the last three kits, and should mailing them out on Monday).

Quote, originally posted by needsdecaf »
I am contemplating the CAI...will you be doing any more?

Don't know if I can get the store in Germany to ship them to the US. I guess if there was at least two people interested, I would investigate once I got to Florida... But we should probably take this discussion to my CAI thread before Johann gives me crap.
 
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