I removed the intake silencer...

[benskatin]

I removed the intake silencer (big black plastic piece that leads from nowhere to the air filter) yesterday just to experiment. I'm not really sure, but after a drive, I think it actually hinders the performance. I feel like the hot air being sucked in from under the hood provides less benifit than the limited flow of cooler air when the intake silencer is on. I read something a while back that said the extra bit of power felt around 4000 RPM is really just the engine getting back to where it should be?

The tone is definitely lower and slightly louder.

Does anyone else think it is better to leave the intake silencer on?

Would like to see a dyno with and without.

 

[AustinG]

Just buy an intake, even with a hot air intake you'll get better performance than that box

 

[benskatin]

if i had $190 I would "just buy an intake", but i have a car payment and insurance to pay for right now so i thought i would experiment with this inexpensive alternative.

I was thinking of getting the K&N drop in filter and using the dryer hose to draw incooler air before i toatally write off this idea...

 

[AustinG]

Taking the box and a dryer hose, you have the think of everything that could go wrong with that. One: it will be like a vacuum and suck up everything, dirt, water, small rodents. Two: you still have the air box; its not like an intake with a straight tube going from a filter to your intake. Check out eBay, hot air intake 50 buck about the price of a K&N.

 

[AustinG]

OOOOHH yeah it's been tried before, even one guy drilled holes into his air box to try to get more power. do a search, it's on here some where w/ pictures

 

[benskatin]

Taking the box and a dryer hose, you have the think of everything that could go wrong with that. One: it will be like a vacuum and suck up everything, dirt, water, small rodents.

Yeah, you're right about that. I'm just gong to wait until i get some $$$ for a real intake.

Those intakes on ebay, are they decent? I can't figure out what would be different from any other name brand hot air intake, other than the filter, which I imagine is replaceable anyhow.

As for a CAI, is there one that is made to fit down that hole to the right of the original airbox? It seems that if the filter was in that area behind the bumber there would be less chance of water induction, which is what scares me about CAI.

 

[PA_MP3_Man]

Yes, the injen fits down there quite nicely. I have it. Only thing you have to worry about it hydrolock if you live in a very rain inclined location. Don't got bustin through puddles hard. Or you can buy the AEM bypass thing, but I don't have that.

 

[jared]

go to Autozone, ,and buy a $20 cone filter, then find a nice sturdy "L" bracket, and you're all set. No more airbox. and it's cheap.

just put the "L" bracket on the bolt closest to the firewall on the airflow meter, and put the other side on the corner of the battery box.

if i had a digicam i would post pics of mine, but i think there are others with this setup.

 

[fastdrvr23]

OOOOHH yeah it's been tried before, even one guy drilled holes into his air box to try to get more power. do a search, it's on here some where w/ pictures

Yeah, I remember that one too. With the K&N drop in, and the air holes in the bottom it lost a little torque off the line, and smoothed out a little at higer RPM's... Here's the post... http://www.protege5.com/vbb225/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5887&highlight=airbox

I've long since lost that free hosting, so I will try and post the pics when I get home tonight...

 

[perfworks]

your car has VICS setup that hinders performance no matter what you do untill 4500rpm when the secondaries open up and let the extra flow pass thru
thats what your feeling after 4000
i had the same problem with the hot air from the radiator fan pushing hot air into the intake track
that all went away when i put the turbo in and used an induction scoupe on the hood for fresh air

 

[KYREDP5]

Yeah, you're right about that. I'm just gong to wait until i get some $$$ for a real intake.

Those intakes on ebay, are they decent? I can't figure out what would be different from any other name brand hot air intake, other than the filter, which I imagine is replaceable anyhow.

The e-bay intakes are very decent. Look great, sound great.....

 

[benskatin]

The e-bay intakes are very decent. Look great, sound great.....

thanks for the response. i'm still waiting to hear back from the sellers as to what size the tubing is. I'm hoping it's smaller than 3". I hear that the 2" tubing gives a little better performance in the low RPM's vs. the 3" tubing that helps out in the higher RPM's.

 

[KYREDP5]

I can just go out and measure mine if you want me to. It's 3" diameter.

 

[AustinG]

(thought)Im thinking about going out and making my own intake, theres a tubing supply shop here in Austin that sales 3 stainless steel tubing for about 25 dollars a foot. Taking the tubing to a muffler shop I can get it mandrel bent into the form that I want. The rest of the material would be pretty easy to get. Ill let yall know how it turns out.(thought)

 

[DooMer_MP3]

your car has VICS setup that hinders performance no matter what you do untill 4500rpm when the secondaries open up and let the extra flow pass thru
thats what your feeling after 4000
i had the same problem with the hot air from the radiator fan pushing hot air into the intake track
that all went away when i put the turbo in and used an induction scoupe on the hood for fresh air

The VICS is there to improve torque down low, and help with power up high. It is there for a reason. People have tried to zip-tie the secondaries open here only to see no results or reduced performance down low.

Chris

 

[perfworks]

the VICS your right is there for a reason
for its that reason that i dont like it
most performance 4 cylinders will not use a two stage intake manifold
it has been proven to be inferior
at higher rpms it opens the throttle plates and helps to a certain degree
but there is still a restriction to flow causing uneeded turbulance in the runners
now back to my point about hindering performance down low in the rpm band
the VICS set up WILL NOT open at wide open throttle!
it will open at 4550 rpm as indicated in the mazda manual.
so it hinders performance. so my point was even with a less restrictive air box dont expect the same gains from it that you would expect from another model car

 

[benskatin]

The e-bay intakes are very decent. Look great, sound great.....

well i ordered the intake from ebay and installed it the other night. It sounds great, more growl, especially around 4000 RPM. It also seems to have increased performance between 3000 and 5500 RPM. Overall i'm stoked, for 40 bucks and an hour of work, why not? I'll post some pics after I paint the blue gaskets red, since I'm going for all black with red highlites and the blue looks out of place.

next small purchase-short shifter
next biggie-lowered suspension and rear sway bar