CAI I made for my RX7
10-05-09, 11:07 AM
#26
Rotorhead
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An optimal intake is pretty big and generally not very practical on a street car. Example:
http://www.mazdatrix.com/faqpics/roadrace/ep01123bb.jpg
The inlet only needs to be sealed if it is designed for ram air compression. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it. Even a non-turbo engine will suck in over 200 cubic feet per minute, and at that rate a small leak of slightly hotter air would not matter a hill of beans. The rule of thumb is 1% horsepower per 10degF, which is about 1.5 horsepower for a non-turbo engine.
10-05-09, 01:54 PM
#30
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The photo probably does look ridiculous to those who have seen nothing but the overpriced rice vendor CAI kits and the home-built knock-offs of them.
10-05-09, 05:08 PM
#33
Just Touge It!
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very nice job, schucks, or whatever auto parts store you have sells a flex pipe, 3'' i think, I got one to put on the passenger side inlet in the bumper were s5 fog lights go, then cut out a big hole to lead it straight to the air intake, just in idea!
10-05-09, 07:22 PM
#35
Driving RX7's since 1979
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Sorry for jumping to conclusions. Its hard to judge a persons attitude on this site. Thank you for the comment on craftsmanship. My stock box was drilled out and i suspected some heat soaking through there. And yes you do have a fair assessment of my progress so far. And i do agree that the MAF and the elbow at the throttle body are by far the most restrictive components in the system. I just figured Throwing a cone on the car and for the most part sealing it off the rest of the engine bay, might increase net power. Who knows I might be wrong.
10-06-09, 12:42 AM
#39
HKSpoweredFC3S, thanks man. I know it doesn't look like it took much effort but infact it took a good amount of time to trim and fit everything just right.
10-06-09, 08:26 AM
#40
You are right that my CAI doesn't make the ambient air any cooler from the outside of the vehicle, but from inside the engine bay yes. That was my biggest goal. I may take a temp reading from the air box and somewhere in the engine bay and see the difference after i do some hard driving.
A far better test would be to get temps from your intake manifold with and without the new airbox and see if there's a difference.
I'm guessing there won't be since you have essentially duplicated the stock setup, just using different materials.
Now, before you think I'm just randomly crapping on your parade or being a total hypocrite ( since I've done a similar mod to my car), let me explain myself.
I think it's important to have specific goals in mind when you begin a project like this.
It's also important to be rigorously honest about how fully those goals are realized when you're done.
If you started out thinking the intake temps were going to change or the airflow would increase enough to make a noticeable power difference, then I think you'll have to admit that the project failed.
If you're going to claim success in these areas, be prepared to provide some hard evidence.
On the other hand, if, like me, you started out saying that the whole point was to clean up the engine bay (like yours, my stock airbox had been beaten on by morons) then, as long as the performance isn't degraded, you can claim total success.
People can sneer at ricer intake setups because they make unrealistic and unsupported claims for performance improvement.
If they just said "Hey, it looks nicer than stock and doesn't hurt anything!", then it'd be down to aesthetics and that's hard to argue.
This may all seem like an exercise in semantics but I don't think it is.
10-06-09, 09:04 AM
#41
And what do think that will tell you?
A far better test would be to get temps from your intake manifold with and without the new airbox and see if there's a difference.
I'm guessing there won't be since you have essentially duplicated the stock setup, just using different materials.
Now, before you think I'm just randomly crapping on your parade or being a total hypocrite ( since I've done a similar mod to my car), let me explain myself.
I think it's important to have specific goals in mind when you begin a project like this.
It's also important to be rigorously honest about how fully those goals are realized when you're done.
If you started out thinking the intake temps were going to change or the airflow would increase enough to make a noticeable power difference, then I think you'll have to admit that the project failed.
If you're going to claim success in these areas, be prepared to provide some hard evidence.
On the other hand, if, like me, you started out saying that the whole point was to clean up the engine bay (like yours, my stock airbox had been beaten on by morons) then, as long as the performance isn't degraded, you can claim total success.
People can sneer at ricer intake setups because they make unrealistic and unsupported claims for performance improvement.
If they just said "Hey, it looks nicer than stock and doesn't hurt anything!", then it'd be down to aesthetics and that's hard to argue.
This may all seem like an exercise in semantics but I don't think it is.
A far better test would be to get temps from your intake manifold with and without the new airbox and see if there's a difference.
I'm guessing there won't be since you have essentially duplicated the stock setup, just using different materials.
Now, before you think I'm just randomly crapping on your parade or being a total hypocrite ( since I've done a similar mod to my car), let me explain myself.
I think it's important to have specific goals in mind when you begin a project like this.
It's also important to be rigorously honest about how fully those goals are realized when you're done.
If you started out thinking the intake temps were going to change or the airflow would increase enough to make a noticeable power difference, then I think you'll have to admit that the project failed.
If you're going to claim success in these areas, be prepared to provide some hard evidence.
On the other hand, if, like me, you started out saying that the whole point was to clean up the engine bay (like yours, my stock airbox had been beaten on by morons) then, as long as the performance isn't degraded, you can claim total success.
People can sneer at ricer intake setups because they make unrealistic and unsupported claims for performance improvement.
If they just said "Hey, it looks nicer than stock and doesn't hurt anything!", then it'd be down to aesthetics and that's hard to argue.
This may all seem like an exercise in semantics but I don't think it is.
10-06-09, 09:13 AM
#42
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I think it looks great man. Kinda hard to make a true cold air intake on the 2nd gens though see how the space is kinda limited as to were you can put the cone. I am trying to find a way to make a nylon box were my windsheild washer container use to be and guide a monster hose in from a scoop underneath the car into the box were the cone will be hidden.
10-06-09, 09:18 AM
#43
I think it looks great man. Kinda hard to make a true cold air intake on the 2nd gens though see how the space is kinda limited as to were you can put the cone. I am trying to find a way to make a nylon box were my windsheild washer container use to be and guide a monster hose in from a scoop underneath the car into the box were the cone will be hidden.
10-06-09, 09:18 AM
#44
What you did accomplish was deleting an ill-conceived prior mod (drilled airbox) with something that looks good, is easily seviceable (no small feat) and didn't adversely impact performance...you should be thrilled.
See?
It's all in how you look at it.
10-06-09, 09:22 AM
#45
I am thrilled, it looks better, changed my exhaust note and gave me a more throaty deeper sound, and it might just be in my head but in this cold weather that we've had it seams to pull a little better in the lower rpm's. But like i said it could be just in my head.
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