bcrow

Just wanted to post up a few mods I did to the factory intake over the weekend. The factory intake piping to the airbox is extremely convoluted with twists and turns as well as extra chambers and baffling. All this extra piping and chambers appears to curtail smooth airflow to the stock box. Although it does almost eliminate turbo sound I love the sound of turbo spool so it was a no brainer for me.

1. I removed the perpendicular plastic bars in the lower airbox housing. These appear to have no function other than slowing down/restricting airflow.



2. After removing all the piping and chambers that feed the stock airbox I utilized a 3" rubber elbow and a 3" port. In this configuration it draws air from the wheel well area.





3. As an afterthought I decided to clean up the intercooler shroud. I removed the plastic mesh and added weather stripping to the underside of the shroud for a better seal. Coated it with some plasti-dip...

bluecarbonfiber

nice job you cut the grill out on your IC cover?

bcrow

Yeah- there is already a plastic grill on the outlet of the underhood air scoop so I felt it was redundant and only served to reduced surface cooling area of the intercooler. Hack saw and some sand paper was all it took......the plasti-dip is nice because it is pretty forgiving when it come to prep.

bluecarbonfiber

either way looks good

SinCity

Can you hear the turbo now? I had a K&N Typhoon CAI and hated it. Especially the wife since it sounded terrible in our opinion.

bcrow

Yeah- you definitely hear the turbo spool up. I personally enjoy the sound which I consider part of owning a turbo car. If you don't want to hear any intake sounds you will probably be stuck with all the stock chambers and baffling etc.

BTW- I see you own a 190E. I used to have an 85 with factory AMG body kit, lowered etc. I kinda miss that car!

SinCity

Mine was my dad's that he bought new in '86. I currently have 137k mi on it. It took me a while to find a complete Gen 1 AMG body kit. I'm running it with 17 x 8 Aero I (Hammers). The wheels need to be restored and still haven't put the kit on yet. I love my 190e but it is just a bit slow......

Lanesky_OH8RDX

do I need a dremel for this or will a box cutter blade do if I keep my patience? I would like to hear the itake more myself and am not willing to pay for an aftermarket one.

bcrow

I assume you are talking about cutting out the plastic bars located in the bottom section of the airbox housing? I used a hacksaw blade and cleaned it up with a dremel sanding bit but that is not imperative so a box cutter may work if you want to whittle away at it. For reference I used a left over 3" inside port from a home theater subwoofer project for the inlet port- they can be had for cheap at partsexpress.com or you could use any 3" velocity stack etc.

SinCity

Are you able to notice anything on the butt-dyno?

bcrow

It feels like the turbo spools a bit quicker and comes on harder but as with any intake i'm sure my perception is easily skewed by the fact I can now hear the turbo. I have been keeping an eye on air intake temps measured at the maf and they look good. I also have the peace of mind that I have removed most of the restrictions on the intake side. Next up I need to replace the 90 degree corrugated elbow- definitely not the smoothest design....

Vividsi

I think I will also cut the IC cover and the two pieces in the middle of the airbox too. I love the swooshing sound of the turbo so hopefully this will make it more apparent.

nightdown fox

Any noticeable A/F ratio changes after doing this?

bcrow

I don't have the capability of data logging afr's.... all I have is an old school scan gauge.

SinCity

IIRC, there was someone that posted many years ago replacing the elbow with some intercooler tubing and silicone connectors. I think he used a silicone elbow and some tubing.

Lanesky_OH8RDX

I did this today with a box cutter and sandpaper. I didn't bother making an elbow or anything cause well I didn't have anything lol. This is just a tide me over till I can get a K&N intake kit. I notice not really any difference until you hit hard boost and even then the girlfriend cant tell so its worthwhile in my books and the throttle response has improved as well as spool up. I am sure an actual intake will be louder.

bcrow

Good to hear- I would be curious to hear a comparison of an improved stock setup vs the K&N intake...... I can't justify the $300 for ~8 hp tops.........which you probably will never feel

Vividsi

I just did the airbox mod and its the easiest thing ever, took 5 min. I just took a box cutter and cut down the middle through both "bars" and broke off each side with my hand very easily. It was a pretty clean break and I didn't see a need to do any sanding.

Now that I actually looked at it I do see how it can prevent airflow to the motor which makes me wonder why they would design a blockage. Maybe they wanted it to be as quiet as possible.

Slow98teg

I took all the piping off after the airbox, removed the factory filter and popped a 3.5" filter I had from my car onto the airbox end. I only did this til I make an intake for it, which is soon. Can hear the spool a lot better.

AR07RDX

bcrow you're the man!

I haven't been on here since July and had a similar vision as yours. Yesterday I removed the unneeded parts and went to home depot. With turbo noticeably louder in a good way. I measured 3 3/8" (Kenw 3" would fit was concerned 4" wouldnt seal good) on the pipe out the bottom of the airbox and was deciding on trying to put a short tube into the opening of the wheel well or do like you did. Well this morning something told me to search this topic again. Thanks for the post I'm going to be using the 3" port ("velocity stack") idea thats great thinking!

Lanesky_OH8RDX

Does the velocity stack actually help? I left the intake port on the box just open. Maybe make too much turbulence?

ivan_baez

I modified mine similarly, but just added a straight hose that ends up behind the rear bumper (with enough space of course). you can hear the bov, but mildly, not anoying at all. its a good mod.

MrBlue

Nice work on the intake guys...
I decided to take me a bit further and make my own cold air intake. I bought 3in flexible aluminum ducting from Home Depot, purchased a MAF adapter from Auto Zone (had to modify it for the MAF to fit and seal properly), mounted the air filter under the headlight, cut out the plastic piece attached to the front of the radiator so air could flow in from the bumper (but not water if it rained), wrapped the duct with 2" exhaust wrap and painted it with the exhaust wrap coating (made it hard and sealed the exhaust wrap). I need to find black hose clamps now to clean it up.
U can definitely hear the air coming into the intake now and also when the blow off valve opens to release the pressure back into the system... Sounds great and if the stereo is on it is barely noticeable... here are a few pics.
As far as the air flow increase and lower temp... the cpu will adjust for those.

TheWrench116

iTrader: (1)

be interesting to see what your AFR is like on this setup. with corrugated soft pipe that moves around and can shift...

MrBlue

This setup will allow more Air Flow into the intake, the ECU calibrates how much fuel to provide each injector based on the readings from the MAF; it reads the flow rate of the incoming air and tells the ECU how much fuel to provide to each cylinder based on predetermined values programmed into the ECU. The IAT will also adjust fuel based on air temp as well; the more dense and cold the air is the more fuel can be added to increase the combustion process if desired... Hence why we all want a Cold Air Intake ;-)

If this system uses the MAF in conjunction with the O2 sensor during "Open Loop" then it will affect the A/F ratio however the ECU should adjust accordingly from the O2 readings.

The aluminum is semi ridged and since i wrapped it with the exhaust cloth and spray coated it the setup is rigid and doesn't flex at all; very solid however can be removed easily to clean the filter.

rdx158

I've got the Hondata reflash and removed the baffles and incoming duct into the air box with a K&N filter in the stock box (can really hear the spool and bov but not really that loud). Goes 0-60 in about 7.5s in S mode and 9.5s in drive without using the brakes for a launch. Pulls about 0.7g off the line. Did some aggressive driving on a hilly, windy road, and pulled about 0.8g in the corners, pretty sweet. I used an accelerometer on my tablet that outputs a txt file that is easily graphed in excel. Fun stuff!

MrBlue

Do you know what UR HP is now with the reflash? Did U dyno after? I was just curios if you had any additional info like IAT after you removed the baffles and installed the K & N filter. Interesting about the accelerometer ;i would like that when i start Ice Racing at Georgetown lake this winter... is it just an app? or is additional hardware required?
7.5 is not bad for a CUV... The roads have been snow packed the last few days here so i have been practicing Boosted Launches and feeling how the SH-AWD is responding (VSA off of course); its awesome to feel the SH system work and the traction and control it gives you. I have been impressed with the stock performance of this setup and looking forward to upgrading and increasing the HP...

rdx158

hey mr. blue, sorry no dyno tune after the mods, not in the budget! the accelerometer is a free app on my samsung tablet, kuel i think. hondata has a good chart of the before and after dyno. have fun on the ice, cheers, kp

rdx158

thanks for that, looks pretty simple to me, was that dryer vent that you used?

MrBlue

It was actually a very simple inexpensive mod and it is a 3" Aluminum Flex Pipe as the core. I still enjoy hearing the air rushing in and BOV releasing pressure as i drive.

Bimmer4me

Any issues with heat soak?

MrBlue

I dont think so due to its design and the materials i used in its construction... The core is aluminum ducting and its wrapped tight with several layers of duct tape to keep the core shape bent properly and also provide first layer of insulation and rigidity to the duct. I applied only one layer of exhaust wrapping however its two layers by the way I over lapped the material. I then used an entire can of the exhaust wrap spray adhesive so it has a layer of the sealant as well. It most likely does get some heat inside however it is thicker than any of the preformed ducts u buy in a cold air intake kit and mine actually gets the majority of its air from outside the engine bay where its cooler.

Bimmer4me

Nice work door...

7y123d

I did the stock airbox mod and added an AEM dryflow filter that I had laying around. It sounds great - probably nearly as loud as an aftermarket intake. Didn't notice any change in lag/performance.

CSmoney28

Bmd187

This is genius. Still working well?

Bmd187

Did you have to take off the bumper to remove the piping?What year is your car?