2010 Mazda5 CAI
- Thread starter jmj85
- Start date
Not worth it in my opinion. You loose torque at low end. I had a K&N CAI and it only lasted 1 month before I took it off and sold it on eBay. My 5 felt good at high RPM but very sluggish at start from dead stop, especially with A/C on. I went back to stock set up but with a K&N drop in filter and I love the way it feels now. It is the perfect balance for both low end torque and high RPM power. JMO!
I have plans to remove the fenderwell intake and resonator before the airbox & create a dedicated 2 1/2" feed straight from the main radiator intake to the airbox, but leaving everything after the filter in place. Think that will cut down on torque at all? While I don't imagine it will add anything like 10 hp, at highway speeds it has to help the engine breathe easier, esp in the upper rpms.
Its up to you and you can do your own test and come up with your conclusion. However this is what I tried and I concluded that on my Mazda5 the last set up was the best.
1. K&N short ram set up (resonator removed)
2. K&N cold air set up (resonator removed and required to remove)
3. Stock air box with stock filter without resonator
4. Stock air box with drop-in K&N without resonator
5. Stock air box with drop-in K&N with resonator
OK, so when you removed the resonator, did you direct air into the airbox from a specific source, or just leave the bottom of the air box open to pull air in from wherever? It seems to me that the resonator and snorkle are all 1 piece, so removing the resonator also removes the snorkle going into the fenderwell. Am I wrong?
Correct! Removing the resonator also removed the built in air duct. I just left the bottom of the air box open to the air that comes in from behind the bumper.
Getsmurfed
Member
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- 2009 MZ5 SP P
I just installed HIDs in my wife's 5 last night, and couldn't figure out where the airbox got it's air from, or why the battery seems to have it's own intake... For the last 11 years, I have modded turbo'd VWs, so the engine bay looks weird to me...
So there is a resonator before the airbox? is that the tube that I saw leading to the fenderwell?
So there is a resonator before the airbox? is that the tube that I saw leading to the fenderwell?
The air intake goes into the air box at the bottom, as I am sure you have seen. From there, it goes down & the joins the resonator to be one piece. The resonator appears to go all over the place to act as an intake sound muffler while the intake air is drawn from inside the fender right above/before the wheel well.
One day, I will remove the intake/resonator and run a 2 1/2" ABS plastic plumbing line straight down out of the air box, add a small tee pipe right there so that if I ever drive through deep water, the engine will still have a good intake, then run as directly as I can around the radiator to the lower air intake and the line will terminate with a shop vac wide mouth attachment to collect more air than just an open 2 1/2" pipe (perhaps 2X more air for a bit of a ram effect)
But there is no point in trying this until I have my suspension/tires/brakes/alignment issues settled because I won't be ready to really notice any improvements or reduced performance. And before I can tackle the unsprung parts of the car, I need to replace our bed, but can't do that until the cat dies, naturally or by intervention.
Getsmurfed
Member
- :
- 2009 MZ5 SP P
I am used to Turbocharged VW engines, the Cold and Direct air really makes a difference. I had a 2001 Jetta 1.8T and gutted the baffles from the airbox, then ran 3" PVC to the Fenderwell. I ran it that way for a few years, then went to a full Cold Air, with the filter in the grille (and then hydrolocked it). My last car, a 2003 Passat 1.8T, I took the stock snorkle out, and cut off 1/3 of the bottom of the airbox.
I will be taking off the bumper of the 5 to add an additional horn that I have lying around, and will see what can be done for the intake. From the Schematics, it looks like the bottom hole of the airbox is quite small. And what the hell is the "resonance chamber" on the rubber intake boot?
I will be taking off the bumper of the 5 to add an additional horn that I have lying around, and will see what can be done for the intake. From the Schematics, it looks like the bottom hole of the airbox is quite small. And what the hell is the "resonance chamber" on the rubber intake boot?
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- 2008 Mazda5 GT
LOL. I guess the only link here is cash money? I thought I was bad when it comes to one thing holding up another. You sir, take the prize.
Back to topic, every board has a OAI mod (oogly air intake, bc it usually ain't nice to look at). Summary, it hacks the under side of the stock air filter box and running some piping for ram air. It's proven on dynos to provide gains too without the lost of low end. Sounds like you'll be the first to do an OAI!
phunky.buddha
Booga Booga?
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- DFW TX
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- No mo MZ5 want MX5
Sounds like I might need to take the 5 to the shop and do a before/after OAI mod dyno...
As for the cat, gopher poison rolled into a ball of ground meat works well. Don't ask how I know...
As for the cat, gopher poison rolled into a ball of ground meat works well. Don't ask how I know...
14+ YO cat. This could go on for years. Can't replace the bed b/c although the cat likes to lay on it, she's done other things on it & afraid she'd do it on the new bed too. So everything is planned for early spring (unless the cat kicks it, then the bed may come sooner.) Either way, I have all the supplies for both cars. I expect to see bigger gains with the turbo Volvo. It will be a rigid version of a CAI that was developed for the S60R and V70R, but w/a different uptake location.
