I have been researching this subject for a while now. Someone recently said something that makes me wonder. They said that the 7, unlike Hon-duh's, comes with a cold-air intake stock. I guess it does in a sense, but Would you be better off using the path of the original airbox setup instead of cutting through the steel in front of the filter? I have a Bonez intake, and have left the stock air duct (above the fan shroud. I plan on buying the mariah block off setup to isolate the filter, thus creating postive flow intead of random turbulence. But would I be better off dong a straight thru- to in front of the radiator, or open up the ducting of the stock duct-work to allow for more fresh air? (which seems to be the perfect spot to draw it from, also since the filter wouldnt be directly in the line of fire, I think rain and bugs will have a much harder time getting to the actual filter. let me know what you guys think.

 

c'mon, someone has to have some thoughts about this

 

i went with mariahs cold box and kn and head light

just need to get it painted in

the maint on the cold box with filter there will be less cause of less direct envriroment exposure

 

Airboxes from the factory are designed for max airflow, AFTER noise and potential problems (i.e. rain, bugs, etc) have been taken into account.

Can you gain power from ducting coild air into the airbox? Sure. Are you prepared to cut sheet metal? If so, go for it, there's some gains there. Not enough that i'd go out of my way to scar up a nice car, but if you're building your car up, go for it..

Paulc

 

the airboxes are designed well yes, but mazda in its wisdom decided to totally block any good airflow to the box.

take a look where the air gets routed from. its totally blocked off with that plastic crap and miscellaneous garbage they put there(solenoids i believe).

what i did was rip out the plastic and move the solenoids over. wow its actually got access to cold air now..... but i went one better.

check the pic. i made a scoop that routes air directly up into the the opening. its curved at both ends so air flow is smooth. i noticed a better throttle responce after doing this. when im in motion air is FORCED into the system, not dragged in using the stock setup.

you see it in the pick on the drivers side.

im considering making a kit for sale. a benefit considering it uses the stock airbox. just get a K&N and u got all the intake you need without spending hundreds of dollars. also we are working on using the same air routing with a sealed cone setup where the air is routed into a cylindrical chamber. the air then circles around in the chamber and is drawn into the cone as needed. the circular airflow around the cylinder makes the cone able to draw air in fron every entry point.

what do you guys think?

 

huggy bear- i cant really see your setup, but I guess you guys are saying that yes it would be better to use the stouck routing and open up the path for better flow than to cut through the sheet metal right in front of the filter.

 

ya i know its hard to see in that pic. its the grey metal on the drivers side in the grill. its the only pic i have of it right now though.

ya opening up the stock intake setup for better flow is exactly what iv done there.

 

No, the airbox is not a good design, it was designed to fit into the space available. The size and shape of the entry and exit cause quite a lot of restriction, same with the stock intake duct. There are some very good factory airboxes out there, but the FC one is not one of them. They’re relays, not solenoids. And that plastic crap is very important; it ducts air into the radiator. And now air can flow over the radiator instead of through it.

Sorry, but this is an example of poor modifying. A modification should not reduce the effectiveness of other important parts of your car. You should find out why something was put in your car before you go ripping it out.

 

ya there relays i forgot.

sorry you dont think this is not a good modification, but mazdas cooling method for the rad isnt the be all end all. iv had ZERO negative effect. the rad quite obviously gets adaquate airflow over it without that plastic junk in there. by your logic a front mount intercooler will kill your turbo car.

but anyway. you dont like it thats cool. iv done this and i know it works. from experience. a few guys besides me around here use this setup and theres been no negative effects, and get the positive effects of better airflow.

everyone got there own opinion though.

 

I bet sustained high speed or time on a track would see higher temps. Mazda didn't put them there just for the hell of it... With the plastic shields in place, the air would still flow through the IC and then the radiator, instead of over the top. But yes, FMIC's do cause overheating problems sometimes. There've been numerous threads on it.

 

well iv driven this car pretty hard for extended periods in our summer heat. never had the temp rise over normal. as i say, it works awesome.

ya im sure they had thier wisdom in putting those plastic bits there, but it works fine without them. they dont redirect any air at all, its just blocking air from going up. whats the point of that??? without them you just get more air in that extra space..... meaning that during motion theres more air mixing in the area allowing more turbulance over the rad, allowing more cooling..... im afraid all those panels do is look cute and make things neat....

as i say, i use this setup and it works great. iv had it on since last fall. you may say logically it shouldnt work but my experience proves to me otherwise. if you cant take my word on it its cool...

 

I don't have it, and i've never had any cooling problems. Seen Auto-X and Drag. Never a problem. It's also way hot here in West TX. I just make sure my Rad is clean and use good coolant....etc

 

here some pics of my setup. the car has seen cleaner days....

the next generation is gonna a bit more refined. this was kind of the prototype.

 

pic2

 

3

 

4

 

5

 

6

 

hey HB, pretty slick but did the old butt dyno notice a change after adding that?

and doesn't that thing deflect a lot of air away from the oil cooler and rad.?

 

speaking of cold air intake anyone seen this setup before.
http://www.electricsupercharger.com/

 

Ive never seen that before or even anything like it.
Its really interesting and cool but the increases seem kinda disapointing. For a electric forced induction system it seems a max gain of 10hp is kinda low i mean consider the gains from a regular aftermarket filter like a Bonez intake or somthing, it just seems too close i mean you get like 5-7 out of a regular AM system, at half the price. Corse this is just my opinion

 

actually cooling has not suffered at all since installing this setup. without all that plastic garbage alot more air gets in there, despite the intake scoop. i took it out to get some more made and ill take a few pics of the area without the the scoop so you can see all the open area air gets access to now.

when the car is in motion crazy air flow gets in there all over.

 

How? The nosecone inlet is still the same and the plastic shrouds direct air into the radiator, they don't block it.
I'm glad removing them didn't cause you any probs, but what you just said makes no sense.

 

I think mr. convertible has hard-top envy. Only prob I have with this kind of setup is that I'll have to do something else when I go to Al radiator and e-fan. I am trying to get a website for the cold-air kit that Checkpoint Engineering makes- anyone have info?
(I have the ph#, want the website.

 

Jason.. Don't worry, those of us who know our cars know you're right. No point in continuing to argue this with Wil, he's not listening.

PaulC