Why do I need a cold air intake?
For every 11 degrees (F) drop in temperature, expect a 1 horsepower gain.
Expect performance to be worse if you're sucking in hot underhood
temperatures. Colder air makes the motor run cooler as well as being more
dense (remember Chemistry? PV = nRT?)
For every 10 F drop in temperature, expect a 1% (PERCENT, not
horsepower) increase in power.
For every 10 C drop in temp, expect a 3% gain."
What's ram air?
A "ram air" setup is an intake method where the force of the car travelling
through the air is used to literally ram air into the intake (a hood scoop
is usually a good indication)
"A "ram air" setup is an intake setup where the input end of the intake
system is placed facing towards the front of the car such that it can
take in air that is at a higher pressure than that in the engine bay
when the car is at speed. At 60 mph, a ram air setup can provide up to
1 psi of boost, and at 100 mph, 2 psi of boost. Thus, a properly setup
ram air acts like a small turbo system at high speeds (and is "free").
Keep in mind that extending the intake hose to make the ram air setup
introduces pressure losses (albeit minor) as the air now has to flow
through more pipe. Thus, keep the extension as short as possible."
What air filter is the best? Will more dirt be let in?
There are many concerns about aftermarket performance filters working, and
which yields the biggest horsepower.
Some people swear by foam intakes (while dissenters say yes they yield more
power, but let a lot of dirt in)
Others are simply satisified by K&N or S&B filters. An oiled cotton
filter. The idea being the porous cotton allows the air in, the oil traps
the dirt. The K&N uses electrostatic charge to attract and capture dirt
and dust. The oil is positively) charged, and therefore attracts dust
and dirt, which carries a (negative) charge.
Bottom line, a performance filter is better than the restrictive air box
found on stock cars.
IMHO, if tuner cars (Saleen, etc) come from the dealerships with exposed
K&N filters, that means something about it's performance and filtering
effect.
What intake system is the best?
Other intakes to check out are AEM's Cold Air intake as well as the Racing
Sports Akimoto Funnel Ram2 (filter made by K&N now, not S&B)
"The Iceman is made out of some plastic polymer and has a joint (connected
by rubber) near where the OEM airbox goes. It has a gradual increasing
diameter away from the TB so there is no need for a velocity stack. The
pipe continues from the OEM location and goes down into the passenger side
fender well, near where the stock resonator was located. A tight turn and
the filter is angled almost parallel to the ground. Dont know what size
filter but it is constructed by K&N. You can get flashy colors, and
convert the kit to a non cold air setup by connecting the filter where the
rubber joint is instead of at the extreme end of the pipe.
The AEM is made of coated aluminum to resist heat and is a 2.5-3" pipe I
believe. There are no joints on this system. It simply curves down to the
fender well, near where the stock resonator was located. A "turbo air
horn" velocity stack connects the filter to the pipe.
Both systems should give similar dyno results. I would expect no more than
6-8 hp from either. Some people swear by ICEMAN, but I prefer AEM's design
myself. Both cost around $210...but can probably be had for cheaper.
ICEMAN is nice because of its versatility (dry land setup or wet land
setup). The AEM system is a full time dry land setup."
You may also want to DIY and make your own effective intake kit with dryer
hose for your cold air.
Be careful with cold air systems as they may allow the engine to suck in water
(in wetter areas) Excessive water in the engine will damage the engine
seriously.
What's a bored out throttle body?
The throttle body is the device which regulates air into the engine via the
gas pedal. By enlarging it's size you can allow more air to flow through
(hence more power) Be careful removing too much material.
Expect a gas mileage decrease too. A bigger throttle body helps
aggressive cams idle better. In fact some cams require a bored throttle body.
Throttle bodies allow more air flow across the board, so you should
see an increase in power across the RPM board of about 3-5hp.
Throttle bodies should lean out air/fuel ratio so you shouldn't
have a smog problem.
What's the coolant bypass modification?(NOT on OUR CARS)
Radiator fluid is passed through the throttle body to keep it from freezing
shut. This also heats the air going into the motor. By removing the lines
from the throttle body and connecting them together, you avoid the air
heating up. So expect more power. Don't do this if it snows in your town.
Another easy modification to cool things off is locating the coolant pipes
that lead to the throttle body, and using a "Straight T" attach them.
This will bypass the throttle body and keep it cool. After all these
modifications, I used an air temperature meter to compare this system and
my AEM cold air system. The AEM system runs 72-152 degrees, while my system
runs a cool 58-110 degrees.
WARNING! You may not want to do this trick since it may cause your
car's warming up idle to fluctuate! Somehow you need to warm up
the fast idle thermo valve (which mounts on the underside of the TB and the
hoses connect to). Once someone figures out how to keep this happy,
it should be a streetable modification.
Why does my car idle bad after a t-body swap?
When I installed the throttle body, I disconnected the battery
as to reset the ECU. For some reason it didn't reset I guess.
I don't know why the first ECU reset didn't do it, but the
second time around solved it."
"I had the same problem when I did my TB. I couldn't figure it
out for months. It was fluctuating, and surging. Finally, DPR suggested
this and it worked. The throttle position sensor is behind the TB and
secured by two allen head screws. Simply loosen them, and rotate the
sensor up or down until idle is smooth. Tighten the screws and you're
done. My idle is now perfect and it only took 3 months to figure out and 5
minutes to do."
Why do I need to port match my intake manifold?
The throttle body mounts to the intake manifold. Dodge also places a gasket
to seal these two parts together. By enlarging the throttle body opening,
the intake manifold and the gasket no longer match the throttle body's
opening. Imagine trying to flow air through a 5 inch opening then suddenly
run into a 4 inch section. This situation may hamper air velocity more
than the added value of allowing more air through the throttle body itself.
Be sure to get your intake manifold match ported.
What is extrude hone?
This is a process of pushing an abrasive mud-like compound through engine
parts where air, fuel, or exhaust flow through. The parts become very
smoothed out and to some extent enlargened. Speedline's DRAG turbo-equipped
Integra showed a ~5++hp gain across the RPM board after an extrude honed
intake manifold was added on. Probably doesn't make much of a difference on
cars that aren't supercharged or turbocharged.
What's a resonator? Why should I remove it?
The resonator is a plastic box that is mounted below and joining to the
stock air intake box. It's purpose is to silence the air entering
your engine. By removing the resonator box you open up the engine
to more cooler air. For all manufactured cold air intakes, you must
remove the resonator. A good trick to do is to remove the resonator
and put some dryer hose in it's place to further channel cooler
air into the engine.
Why should I adjust my throttle cable?
As your new car breaks in, so does the throttle cable. It may develop
slack over time that actually may prohibit you throttle body
from ever seeing WOT. This is bad for power. If you have a friend
press all the way down on the gas pedal, you can then verify
the throttle cable is indeed opening the throttle body all the way.
What is the Tornado and how does it work?
"To those who don't know, The "Tornado" is some aluminum or tin
circular doo dad wth angled fins that is placed in the air intake
tube. It's supposed to make the passing air swirl to better mix with
the fuel for more power and efficiency. They cost something
ridiculous like $70+, and here is my experience.
First of all, it was given to me, I wouldn't pay that for
something claiming 10%+ or something in power (too good to be true).
I put it in my '90 integra, just behind the K&N filter. All it did was
made a really neat sound. Next time I checked on it, it had slid all
the way to the throttle body and was sideways, so I got some tin and
extended it, plus added a fin (yep, you can make your own). I put it
back in, I think in front of the TB, and went on a long trip. I
matched my previously best milage, 600Kms by the time the gas light
comes on.
Coincidence??? I had even wasted some gas on that trip
racing a VR6. Since then, there were no noticable gains, so I took
it out
How do I clean a HKS filter?
"Most foam or gauze filters are washable. First step is to check for
damage - holes, rips.. Hold'em up to the light to find rips. If they're
ok, then move on to cleaning. I think the best way to clean them is to
shake them up at first to get the bigger chunks off and then proceed to
use a hose to spray the filter from the inside out. Spraying it from
the exterior would push dirt into the interior side of the filter, an
undesirable result. Also, set up your hose to not spray water at full
blast but at a flow that will clean without breaking apart the
material. If the filter's a foam one, don't use the K&N cleaning kits
as those will dissolve foam. The cleaning kits are good for
gauze/cotton reusable filters, which usually require re-oiling after
cleaning. Foamies just need to be air dried before being reinstalled on
the intake..
For the anally retentive, cleaning out the intake pipes might not be a
bad idea since they sometimes get a thin coat of dirt. Just make sure
you dry the thing out before reinstalling. It's not so hard to do so
why not do it when you clean the filter too...
After spray"
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