Hi guys,

So I have done several searches and have been reading a lot of post on intakes, exhaust, and various performance mods. I am very confused about what an intake vs. an exhaust does or why we need them(aside from that awesome noise it produces)...

I am wondering if people can either point me in the right direction for information or give me a quick crash course.....Basically I want something that will boost the power of the TSX and get the nice smooth growling noise(nothing too loud though)....I am not sure if an intake or exhaust helps with acceleration..but if it does...that is what I want.

Thanks in advance guys.

 

Essentially, think of the intake and exhaust in terms of inhale and exhale.

If the human body can take in more oxygen and remove more carbon dioxide, it is more efficient and can attain higher levels of performance.

The same concept applies to the engine of a car. The more air it can breathe in (through the intake) and the more air it can breathe out (through the exhaust), the more power it can produce.

The air temperature is also important. The human body works more efficiently with colder, denser air, just as a car engine does. The colder and thus denser the air is that is entering the engine through the intake, the more efficient the engine will be at producing power.

What you want to look into is an Injen or an AEM CAI or SRI (that's Cold Air Intake and Short Ram Intake). It will provide a boost in power (roughly 10 hp at the wheels) and give you a much louder growl at wide open throttle.

 

The function of an intake and an exhaust is to free up the air/gas flow in and out of the engine.

An intake is much less restrictive than the stock intake, and hence more air will enter the engine, producing more power. There are different kinds of intakes available, Short Ram and Cold Air. I believe that the ColdAir Intake produces more power simply because it sucks in cold denser air into the engine. I think max gains are around 10whp(?) so yes an intake will make your car faster and give you much better throttle response.

Exhausts help relieve back pressure and allow hot exhaust gases to exit the engine area much quicker. I don't think there have been huge gains so far with aftermarket exhausts. Together an intake and exhaust will give you somewhere around 15whp and will give you a much meaner sounding car. Also I believe that aftermarket exhausts are lighter than the stock system.

Please correct my information if it is wrong.

 

Your analogy really helps! So it seems that both intake and exhaust goes hand-in-hand (ie. Can't buy one without the other) ...is this true? I was under the impression that getting only an intake would fit my need of just wanting a little bit more power/acceleration and growl

Also, when it provides boost in power at the wheels does that mean at the time of acceleration?

 

You beat me to reply first!
I thought that the body doesn't work well with colder air because it required more energy to heat it up.

Intake/Exhaust dont necessarily go hand in hand. Most people go with intake then if they want more gains they go with an exhaust and then headers. You could probably shave .3 or .4 seconds of the 1/4.

 

I see, so then in that case if my only wants are just more accerleration and power with a nice growl...and intake would be fine... OR an exhaust would be fine, but you mentioned that the aftermarket are lighter than the stock...

 

Ok so they don't go hand-in-hand...I was thinking about an intake not so much for 1/4s and racing...just to help gain more power through acceleration since the TSX has a weak acceleration (correct me if I am wrong)..and plus that growl...hahaha.

Another question that comes to mind with this: does intake or exhaust affect gas being used up quicker?

 

Injen Intake(seems to be the best right now) gave a gain of 12whp and 10tq.
An exhaust would only add a few whp and tq to those numbers, so your intake is your best bet for increasing power without spending a whole lot of money either.

I believe that the mileage isnt affected greatly if you drive like you are now, and maybe even goes up for highway driving. However, adding an intake will make you want to hear that awesome growl so you will find yourself stepping on the gas more than usual.

 

Does an intake increase chances of water getting in your engine though? Are there more reliable ones than others?

 

hahaha

 

This is also a concern of mine....

Anyone?

 

Typically, those intakes are fitted with a bypass valve to prevent water from entering the combustion chamber.

As far as recommendations, I would say a well recognized brand, such as Comptech, Injen, or AEM would be your best bet.

And as for my analogy, you with the car, the intake and exhaust can be done separately, though for a serious tuning, both would be required. However, it sounds like you're just looking for a little more power so the intake should be sufficient.

 

There is a chance of hydrolocking by sucking water into your engine with a CAI. AEM, Ingen and K&N intakes all draw under from the wheel well so as long as you aren't driving in a 2 foot deep puddle you shouldn't have any problems. I think theres a much lower chance of hydrolocking with a comptech CAI. Also you can get a SRI intake which is completely under your hood. The only problem with SRI is heat soak which will lose you some hp as compared to a CAI.

 

Thanks.

Before I leaning 100% towards your suggestion on intakes....when everyone says: "more power" can I assume more power in acceleration off the line?

 

Don't expect huge gains in power. 10-12 hp will translate into a few tenths of a second difference, at most. The best mod you can do is to reduce the rotational mass (wheels and tires) which will translate into fairly significant gains, since the stock wheel and tire combo is quite heavy.

 

coming from having headers, intake, and exhaust on my integra...the only thing that i noticed that gave more power was the intake even though i know the gains were there.

 

 

...do you guys advice then not to get the intake if my purpose is to have a faster accleration feel? ...I am not looking for an M3 take off or feel, but something that will pick up the TSX faster than stock

 

Just want to correct you on this. AEM does not draw air from the wheel well. It is a SRI, so it draws air from under the hood.

 

Sorry, i thought AEM made a cold air. Thanks for correcting me and educating me. They do make CAI for other cars though.

 

The illusion of speed through sound.

 

Minor bolt-on mods will never give you a huge gain in pick up. The only way to achieve that would be to do extensive, heavy duty modification, possibly involving forced induction. Expect to see a slight gain, but nothing significant.

 

Headers? Isn't that the same as the exhaust......Also correct me if I am wrong please....but if I am going for sound and growl isn't exhaust the way to go...i was reading over some post..and most people associate growl with an exhaust and not so much intake.....??

before anyone else does it...I will do it myself: A-TL---------------->

 

No this is good cause I don't know much about mods either.

 

Ahhh..this gets more confusing...seeing how the TSX has good high RPM power I wanted to focus on getting an upgrade for the low RPM power....from the posts I have been reading ...it looks like the solution is to get the Short Ram Intake......do you guy agree??? any SRI owners that can confirm?

 

Anybody ?

 

I'm running the Injen intake in SRI mode and I feel the biggest gains at >4000rpm but it does feel stronger across the whole band.

 

you might get more lower end power, but your high end power is goin to drop b/c you'll be sucking in hot air as opposed to cool air. even the stock intake draws air from the your fenderwell, which is alot cooler than the air in your engine bay.

the comptech ice box, replaces the stock intake box w/ a less restrictive box increaesing cool airflow.

headers will increase bottom end power as well. currently, comptech and dc sports makes one, but almost everyone on the board who has dc headers has had it break.

and no, headers are the not the same as the exhaust. the header comes out of your motor and connects to the catalytic converter, the exhuast is from the cat back.

 

CAI > SRI but you don't lose power at high rpm's, you just make less than you would with a CAI. It's still a 7-9hp gain over stock.

 

Dan and Dzuy...thanks.

Since I am just starting out, I was going to take it one by one...would you and anyone else reading this recommend me start with an intake (for the hp) and header (for more hp + the noise..unless header doesn't contribute to the growl)...I will wait on the exhaust.....

oooh, and one important thing I wanted to ask...with an intake and header will it create reallly loud noise...I do not want come up late at night with a loud lawn-mower noise and wake up the whole town......any advice as to what header and intake to get so that is not reallllllyyy loud?

I was thinking comptech header, SRI or CAI intake to get started.....agree?

 

The intake sounds just like stock under normal driving conditions but once the throttle is open more than half way you'll hear a big difference.

I would just go for an injen or k&n intake that lets you convert to either SRI or CAI and wait for a better header to come out. I'm not happy with the gains of the headers that are currently available but someone will get it right eventually.

 

thats exactly what I want..something that sounds conservatively loud under normal driving conditions..then rips up once throttle is open

Do headers contribute to the growl at all..or is just mainly for more hps?

 

It does change the sound somewhat but it's not as noticeable as an exhaust system.

 

ahha, well I guess seeing how I don't want way too much noise..just enough to hear it growl at start up and downshifting..I think I can live with the combo of the intake + header noise (for now )

Thanks again Dan!

 

NP

 

well .... a N/A inline 4 will never has strong low rpm power .. ~ and there is no fun in low end performance ~plus the engine doesn't deisgn for low end power .. it's all abt high end ... u can see form the high rpm high comepressor ratio ... wut u askin is like asking for a NSX to pull a cargo like F-150 if u want low end just go get a truck ... they can kick many asses in pick up ~ or SRT-4
and for the performance gain is like this CAI>Header> SR > exhaust where u get more growl from a CAI/SR > exhaust > header ~ yes TSX is not that fast .. but it's denfinitely fast enough to kick some rice boys' asses ~ i bought the TSX for its styling and handling .. if i want power ... i will just take my mom's G for a run .. ~

 

Cheapest performance mods that will help you the most HP, injen CAI (or an aftermarket intake), headers, and hondata heat gasket.

Off the line, the car still has shitty low end torque. But once getting to 3000-4000, you can really feel the difference with the intake. And hell, the car sounds awesome

I woudlent really worry about hydrolocking, i think people blow up the issue. (dont quote me on that )

And in terms of faster acceleration, reducing as much weight without ripping out your car seats is probably the way to go , or just be patient and wait for the ECU.

 

You're the man! Thanks...So I will get the injen CAI, header, and hondata gasket..that should give me the boost and the growl!

I'll pass on ripping the seats out out.. ..that 6-disc CD changer is pretty heavy and its is slowing down me; I will get rid of that

 

that being said, i might have some surprises coming my way

 

i have the Injen CAI and a custom header. Absent a new exhaust, the growl appears comes mostly from the removal of the resonator during the intake install process. I don't notice a substantial amount of noise difference b/w the intake solo and the intake + header. I hesitate to say anything more because we are still waiting to do a baseline dyno (and I haven't been able to surrender my car for over a week and our guy has been busy).