another mazdaspeed CAI thread

[Bakrauf]

Not for me, no way in hell am I gonna take off the front bumper.

 

[Adammazda06]

Yeah I agree. A good yank is the best way.

 

[maestro]

Not for me, no way in hell am I gonna take off the front bumper.

Honestly easier than you think.

 

[Karma_hunden]

Why buy a CAI? It only makes a big difference on N/A cars...my friend had one on his other MS6, and we ran and we were even...we ran while it was cold and he pulled a bumper...or if you want to exagerate, half a car...i still wouldnt pay 290bucks for half a car of improvement...now, for the catless dp...he put that one and he pulled 3 cars on me and was still pulling.

 

[SwampAss]

are the dyno reports bunk?

 

[Speedy3]

are the dyno reports bunk?

Dyno coming tomorrow. Actually, I can tell you the % gain in 3rd and 4th gear. 1st and 2nd will have to wait for the rain to stop here; too much slippage and 5th and 6th are too fast for me to test. If you all are wondering, I use Auterra Dyno-Scan SW for the Dyno test.

I ran 6 runs today before installing the CAI. Mean values are:

3rd Gear: 224 HP @ 5300 RPM, 238.8 ft lbs @ 4233 RPM
4th Gear: 253 HP @ 5500 RPM, 255.8 ft lbs @ 4333 RPM

These numbers represent the power and torque at the wheels. The value to focus on will be the % difference from the stock numbers to the numbers I get tomorrow with the CAI installed.

Numbers with MS CAI to come tomorrow, Saturday, 3-2-2007.

I installed my MazdaSpeed CAI today and man, it makes a very noticable difference. The car pulls harder in lower RPMs now and third gear now loses traction on wet pavement whereas it didn't before. I didn't have time today to test the poer/torque with the CAI caus I already got crap from the wife for taking 2 hours to get the baseline numbers above (I had to drive out towards Mt. Rainier to do the test runs. No traffic out there) and 2 hours to install the CAI.

I will also try and post intake manifold temperature differences from stock to upgraded with MS CAI.

 

[Speedy3]

Ok, damn it, I'm going on a test run! BRB.

 

[MadOzodi]

Haha, late night test run ftw! Been 15min. already

/taps foot

 

[Speedy3]

Haha, late night test run ftw! Been 15min. already

/taps foot

Ok, got it! I ran 3 runs in 3rd gear WITH the MazdaSpeed CAI. Here are my results (Mean values of 3 runs each):

Stock
3rd Gear: 224.0 HP @ 5300 RPM, 238.8 ft-lbs @ 4233 RPM

With MS CAI
3rd Gear: 247.5 HP @ 5200 RPM, 273.0 ft-lbs @ 4267 RPM

The gains

HP: 10%
Torque: 14.3%

Based on Mazda's baseline figures of 263 HP @ 280 ft-lbs Torque, the new numbers should reflect my measured gains and would be 290.5 HP @ 320.1 ft-lbs of Torque!!! That is a gain of 27.5 HP and 20.1 ft-lbs of Torque!

I will do more tests when it dries out here and try doing it in all gears. BTW, I only took measurements without wheel spin. In some cases, I had to feather the throttle to prevent it.

 

[flyrevs]

Ok, got it! I ran 3 runs in 3rd gear WITH the MazdaSpeed CAI. Here are my results (Mean values of 3 runs each):

Stock
3rd Gear: 224.0 HP @ 5300 RPM, 238.8 ft-lbs @ 4233 RPM

With MS CAI
3rd Gear: 247.5 HP @ 5200 RPM, 273.0 ft-lbs @ 4267 RPM

The gains

HP: 10%
Torque: 14.3%

Based on Mazda's baseline figures of 263 HP @ 280 ft-lbs Torque, the new numbers should reflect my measured gains and would be 290.5 HP @ 320.1 ft-lbs of Torque!!! That is a gain of 27.5 HP and 20.1 ft-lbs of Torque!

I will do more tests when it dries out here and try doing it in all gears. BTW, I only took measurements without wheel spin. In some cases, I had to feather the throttle to prevent it.

Sweet! A guy at the dealer who knows a lot about the Speed said the MS CAI adds 35 crank hp, I tried to correct him that that was with CAI and CBE and he corrected me: "35 crank HP". Your measurement of 27.5 wheel hp is on par with his number. Man this is awsome(nana)

 

[Airmack]

so this is better than cpe... interesting

 

[Speedy3]

Sweet! A guy at the dealer who knows a lot about the Speed said the MS CAI adds 35 crank hp, I tried to correct him that that was with CAI and CBE and he corrected me: "35 crank HP". Your measurement of 27.5 wheel hp is on par with his number. Man this is awsome(nana)

Had a much better, more consistent run today with dry pavement. Check my most recent post on the third to last entry here:

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123662057&page=5

Turns out my better run today produced 34.5 HP difference which lines right up with what they told you!

 

[flyrevs]

Hey I hope this 35 HP number is real. I'm a bit surprised that there aren't people jumping in on this one, telling us that 35 HP is full of crap. Where is everyone on this topic? This is the first post that I have seen stating the MS3 CAI measured gains.

 

[SwampAss]

Hey I hope this 35 HP number is real. I'm a bit surprised that there aren't people jumping in on this one, telling us that 35 HP is full of crap. Where is everyone on this topic? This is the first post that I have seen stating the MS3 CAI measured gains.

I've seen lots of threads pertaining to CAI and the perception of increased gains. I've even seen a few threads about modded airboxes adding perceived power. Wasn't there an article in Sport Compact in regard to a measurable gain from opening the stock airbox on the MS3?

I don't know the accuracy of the software or method this gentleman is using to show his gains, but it's clearly showing something. The reports thus far show the car feeling totally different after the CAI install. Independant people who do not represent a company selling the item. I will withhold any and all judgement of the product until mine is fitted and I get some seat time.
All cars are different. In the motorcycle field, I've rejetted bikes and added full exhausts, velocity stacks, and advancers to only gain 3-4 peak HP on the dyno yet change the slip on pipe and main jets on another to gain 18hp.

 

[Rotus8]

I just got back from an "after" dyno run with the MazdaSpeed CAI. I am using the same measurement equipment as Speedy, with very similar but not identical setup files. Also my conditions are quite different although the software is supposed to correct for it. The one variable I am not able to input with any accruacy is the humidity so I had to estimate that; I hope it doesn't make much difference. My runs were all taken using 3rd gear to keep the speeds within reason.

My results are not as sparkling as Speedy's. I got a 20 ftlb torque increase (8.5%) and an 11 hp power increase (5%). My numbers were quite repeatable over 4 runs. While not incredible, I am happy the numbers at least are positive! I was certainly reaching the shut-down point earlier than my baseline runs.

I did not reset my ECU after the CAI installation and drove it about 20 miles from my shop to my "private" testing strip. I may reset the ECU and try again after some miles, or I may call my dealer about the ECU reflash rumor which will effectively reset the ECU anyway.

Interesting noises too!

 

[Speedy3]

I just got back from an "after" dyno run with the MazdaSpeed CAI. I am using the same measurement equipment as Speedy, with very similar but not identical setup files. Also my conditions are quite different although the software is supposed to correct for it. The one variable I am not able to input with any accruacy is the humidity so I had to estimate that; I hope it doesn't make much difference. My runs were all taken using 3rd gear to keep the speeds within reason.

My results are not as sparkling as Speedy's. I got a 20 ftlb torque increase (8.5%) and an 11 hp power increase (5%). My numbers were quite repeatable over 4 runs. While not incredible, I am happy the numbers at least are positive! I was certainly reaching the shut-down point earlier than my baseline runs.

I did not reset my ECU after the CAI installation and drove it about 20 miles from my shop to my "private" testing strip. I may reset the ECU and try again after some miles, or I may call my dealer about the ECU reflash rumor which will effectively reset the ECU anyway.

Interesting noises too!

What are the measured HP/Torque numbers you got? Are you going WOT on all your runs? Also^2, are you starting consistently at the same RPM and as low of an RPM as possible? You also need to take it as high as possible to make sure you hit the peak power; at least 6k RPM. I start at 1k RPM, accellerate at WOT then upshift / cut the gas at 6k RPM. The later is important to let the Dyno SW determine the end of the data collection. Simply clicking "done" won't give the best results. You either upshift then let off the gas and click "done" or let off the gas, push in the clutch and brake to a stop, then click "done".

 

[Speedy3]

Hey I hope this 35 HP number is real. I'm a bit surprised that there aren't people jumping in on this one, telling us that 35 HP is full of crap. Where is everyone on this topic? This is the first post that I have seen stating the MS3 CAI measured gains.

Remember, i'm not claiming gains of 35 HP. I measured average gains in HP from 27.5 to 34.2 HP. If you want to really analyze the difference I would have to do at least 30 runs in each configuration and do a complete statistcal analysis. You could take the worse-case and best-case numbers and say that the gains potentially were 23.8 HP to 36 HP. I did notice that my stock air filter had some debris in it, so the other factor here could be somewhat restricted airflow in the stock configuration. What I will do, is do some runs on a brand new MS3 (given the dealer will let me) and compare those results to my results on the CAI.

 

[Rotus8]

What are the measured HP/Torque numbers you got? Are you going WOT on all your runs? Also^2, are you starting consistently at the same RPM and as low of an RPM as possible? You also need to take it as high as possible to make sure you hit the peak power; at least 6k RPM. I start at 1k RPM, accellerate at WOT then upshift / cut the gas at 6k RPM. The later is important to let the Dyno SW determine the end of the data collection. Simply clicking "done" won't give the best results. You either upshift then let off the gas and click "done" or let off the gas, push in the clutch and brake to a stop, then click "done".

Baseline, 3 runs, Torque 231 +/- 7, Power 211 +/- 3
CAI, 4 runs, Torque 251 +/- 4, Power 222 +/- 2

I started each run at 2000 in 3rd, WOT, held until 6500 . Clicking done at 6k in 3rd is not an option - too busy driving! (I was doing this solo)

I am going to export the data to a spread-sheet and do some averages of the full graphs and display both versions on one graph to see what the gains are across the band, rather than just peak. I suspect due to the shape of the curves the peaks may be misleading.

 

[Bakrauf]

(mj)

 

[Speedy3]

Baseline, 3 runs, Torque 231 +/- 7, Power 211 +/- 3
CAI, 4 runs, Torque 251 +/- 4, Power 222 +/- 2

I started each run at 2000 in 3rd, WOT, held until 6500 . Clicking done at 6k in 3rd is not an option - too busy driving! (I was doing this solo)

I am going to export the data to a spread-sheet and do some averages of the full graphs and display both versions on one graph to see what the gains are across the band, rather than just peak. I suspect due to the shape of the curves the peaks may be misleading.

Ok, I see one problem. Start at lower RPMS. I did previous runs at around 2k RPMs and got lower power results. Try and start at 1k-1500 RPMS.

Thanks for posting the data! Very low variance.