Cold weather and intakes....sigh...

DSMConvert

AWD...say Bye Bye
:
Titanium MS6
Ok the following was a response I posted up on the other forum to questions about power loss, cold weather, and CAIs...I can't figure out a way to put the link in here without getting in trouble/displaying correctly so I'm just going to paste my response and if you want background you'll have to go over there and find the original post thread, but none the less I think its very important info for everyone to know about:

I figure I'd chime in here a little since I've actually done the testing...The CAI does indeed make the car run leaner...when we were designing our afc for the ms6(mods let me know if I need to edit this statement I was just attempting to give background not pitch a sale), we ran dyno air/fuel values and the cai(if memory serves me right it was a fujita) leaned out the ratios by between 1-2 points over the stock intake setup @ 65 degree temps. At normal temps(50+F) this isn't that big of a deal, but at much colder temps this raises issues with the ecu. Hehe ok the next part is a little long but explains why people in colder temps you may feel a power loss:

Ok from the factory the mazda ecu has some severe issues, namely a big problem with a/f ratios...however if you dig into it you'll notice a very aggressive timing map...if you attempt to adjust a/f values to a "pretty" curve you'll get pinging, which is why mazda made these things run so rich(this isn't to say there can't be an improvement from adjusting the a/f curve, just that if you want it perfect you must address the timing issue). To prevent pinging from the crappy timing map they dump in a ton of fuel to cover. So with a CAI and very cold temps you're ecu is seeing a TON of air coming through, and dumps a TON of fuel in response, which is partially the reason some of you feel a loss of power in really cold temps with the cai.

My professional advice would be that if your seeing temps below 40ish on a daily basis I'd swap back to the stock box and do the airhorn/resonator removal mod with a drop in K&N filter. This is of course if you have the stock ecu...if you're running the cpe/xede/ect piggy back setups you should have no issue running the cai.


CPE team: you guys have shown very thorough and honest research so if you'd like to chim in feel free to do so. I wasn't sure if you all have done cold weather testing....
 
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Cold weather does not cause power loss. It INCREASES power. Cold air is more dense. I have a CAI on my Acura and have modded the airbox on the wifes 6i...always runs faster in the cold. Is this something just with the Speed6?

In the case of my Acura...14.8 in the quarter on an 80 degree day...14.1 in the quarter on a 55 degree night.
 
1killercls said:
Cold weather does not cause power loss. It INCREASES power. Cold air is more dense. I have a CAI on my Acura and have modded the airbox on the wifes 6i...always runs faster in the cold. Is this something just with the Speed6?

In the case of my Acura...14.8 in the quarter on an 80 degree day...14.1 in the quarter on a 55 degree night.


You didn't read what he posted.... An intake on the MS3/MS6 causes powerloss in extremely cold weather. It has nothing to do with other cars, he is simply talking about the ms3/m6
 
That is true in most cases however in the case of the MS6 the car in stock form runs a MAF and 2 wide band O2's so the ecu has an extremely dynamic table range based on those sensor's reading along with a knock sensor etc...it will adjust to maintain a certain A/F based on those readings and the dense air will indeed affect the way the car runs.

So the Acura will pull harder because the Air is more dense and it does not pull timing and add fuel like the MS6 will.

I have another toy Turbo car, A b20 around 400hp and that bad boy pulls like a ***** date in the cold; but my MS6 on the other hand does not, it gets slower.
 
DSMConvert said:
Ok the following was a response I posted up on the other forum to questions about power loss, cold weather, and CAIs...I can't figure out a way to put the link in here without getting in trouble/displaying correctly so I'm just going to paste my response and if you want background you'll have to go over there and find the original post thread, but none the less I think its very important info for everyone to know about:

I figure I'd chime in here a little since I've actually done the testing...The CAI does indeed make the car run leaner...when we were designing our afc for the ms6(mods let me know if I need to edit this statement I was just attempting to give background not pitch a sale), we ran dyno air/fuel values and the cai(if memory serves me right it was a fujita) leaned out the ratios by between 1-2 points over the stock intake setup @ 65 degree temps. At normal temps(50+F) this isn't that big of a deal, but at much colder temps this raises issues with the ecu. Hehe ok the next part is a little long but explains why people in colder temps you may feel a power loss:

Ok from the factory the mazda ecu has some severe issues, namely a big problem with a/f ratios...however if you dig into it you'll notice a very aggressive timing map...if you attempt to adjust a/f values to a "pretty" curve you'll get pinging, which is why mazda made these things run so rich(this isn't to say there can't be an improvement from adjusting the a/f curve, just that if you want it perfect you must address the timing issue). To prevent pinging from the crappy timing map they dump in a ton of fuel to cover. So with a CAI and very cold temps you're ecu is seeing a TON of air coming through, and dumps a TON of fuel in response, which is partially the reason some of you feel a loss of power in really cold temps with the cai.

My professional advice would be that if your seeing temps below 40ish on a daily basis I'd swap back to the stock box and do the airhorn/resonator removal mod with a drop in K&N filter. This is of course if you have the stock ecu...if you're running the cpe/xede/ect piggy back setups you should have no issue running the cai.


CPE team: you guys have shown very thorough and honest research so if you'd like to chim in feel free to do so. I wasn't sure if you all have done cold weather testing....

You know, I have notived since getting my Mazdaspeed CAI installed there isn't as much carbon build up in my tailpipes. The extra air must be making the car run "cleaner". Anyone else notice this?
As far as power loss is concerned in cold weather, let the car warm up for a good 3-5 minutes before driving it. In the morning I back it out of the garage and have a smoke before getting in and going. (3 months and I still haven't smoked in the car!!) Anyway, I noticed if I don't let it warm up it has a VERY bad hesitation and vibration for the first mile or so. Don't ask me what the vibration is, I figure tires are still cold and they need to warm up a little to become pliable?? It's a good idea to let the turbo warm up anyway so my two cents...
 
i posted in that thread also. we have dyno proof that the cia lowers power in cold weather. it was 19-22 degrees when we dynod. people lost 25 hp w/ the cia over when dynod in november and being stock.
 
yep in nh its about 10-20* consistently. i have a cold air and took it off because i was getting pissed. i started hitting random fuel cuts whenever flooring it. i DID however notice the same thing with the carbon deposits tho, they dwindled by alot and i got better gas mileage lol. didn't feel slower, i just wasn't really ever able to floor. the colder denser air must overrun the maf. went back to stock and it runs perfect.
 
hehe i feel ya on that killer...if it ever freezes here I'm getting my ass to church...I'm gonna need atleast a few hrs to repent of all the sinning I did before the world ends! Glad to see other members come out and show their own results regarding this. Hehe most people know that I have a reputation for being honest and not talking out my ass, but having others with the same results never hurts to support my claims.
 

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