Cold Air intake?
 

Does anyone have a recommendation as to the best flowing cold-air intake? I'm not interested in an attachment to the stock air box because I don't mind the extra noise and want the extra power that a the complete elimination of that system will provide. The Pettit Racing TKT system looked pretty good to me.

You may have read my earlier post on cat backs. If so, I've decided on the Apex'i N1 Single Tip cat back, the Pettit 3" downpipe, and the Pettit 3" resonated midpipe (i hate droning).
-john

good question!
The M2 is cool but havent really heard anything about it, any body with a single turbo and cold air intake box.

I'm not going to run a single turbo for quite a while. What is the Ram mod?? I've heard it mentioned a few times in other posts.

Most of the cold air boxes are designed the same. Fitment is different, but I don't think flow characteristics are very different between the lot of them. I recommend the M2. I had it. LOVED it. Recently sold it and I'm confident the new owner will love it as well.

I missed your other threads, but I'm curious.... Have you researched midpipes and boost creep and spikes? You will need a way to keep the creep down with a full exhaust. You'll need a ported wastegate. :)

I would imagine the ram mod is using some sort of dryer vent to "ram" air from the front of the car to the intake while moving. :)

I just bought a used RX-Fashion CAI.

The TKT system, is frankly a waste of money. I was looking at it at first as well, but it's cheap, and looks pretty shitty. Supposedly it flows a bit more air, but that is from Pettit themselves. Keep some sort of cold air system in place. That's my opinion. The best are the RE, RXFashion, and M2. They are all a little different.

I figured I might need a ported wastegate... How much work does that entail? Would I have to completely disassemble the engine?

Also, I've seen external wastegates available. Do they work on FDs? Are these better/worse than the stock one? Thanks
john

Beware ! Some hood / IC setups don't play nicely with the M2... from what I heard about cold air intakes it's not the filter or any of that crap... it'a about isolating the hot air from the engine compartment while in traffic... so heat soaking is a big deal...

-DC

Who makes the M2?? Thanks!
John

Mostly Mazda (M2) makes the M2 ;)

I have a hardpipe/ K&N filter setup for sale... 120 shipped.
Also I have Pettit high flow twin turbos for sale... want 1500 shipped for them.
Have some other stuff also... search for pettit high flow twins... that should list the FS page

Seldon, you need to slow down and do some research regarding modding your car, and I'm not talking about which brands to get.

A midpipe is a very serious mod, even though many people here don't treat it that way. You should never install a midpipe with the stock ecu. Personally, because of the possibility of boost creep and spiking from a midpipe, I wouldn't install one until I had a stand-alone ecu with an upgraded fuel system.

Porting the wastegate will involve the removal of the turbos. That will not be a big deal if it is done at the same time as the intake and downpipe install. Because the stock manifold incorporates an internal wastegate, you cannot use an external wastegate.

FWIW, a modded stock air box with a K&N filter will flow as good as any aftermarket intake available. Whether you believe that or not, it's been drag strip proven by a local FD owner (Zerobanger). The only advantage of going with an aftermarket intake is "engine bay bling" and to make room for a larger stock-mount intercooler.

BTW, the Pettit intake is not cold-air at all, despite their claims. Intake air temps (you can research this at www.scuderiaciriani.com) are high with the Pettit compared to the stock box or "cold-air box" style intakes. If you are set on getting a cold-air intake, get the rx7fashion one. It is smaller than the M2 so you will not have fitment problems and it is well made. The other route you can go is to get the PFS intercooler and intake setup (which is what I have). You can find these for sale at good prices.

Also, you will need a boost controller with all of these mods, unless you decide to replace the stock ecu with a Power FC.

i think you should consider what intercooler setup you want to run and if you will be getting a vented hood. there may be some fitment issues between certain intercoolers and the hoods.

well, I don't really think it should be called "cold-air" for turbo-charged cars, just intake. The only reason I say this is because we have intercoolers therefore removing any purpose for "cold-air" since it cools the air right there........this is just my opinion so no flaming me please. Really all the intake does is gets more air/better flow.

Agreed - I never understood a cold air intake on a turbo when you are feeding it into a red hot turbine, and compressing it to boot. I bet a 50 degree temp difference at the turbo inlet barely registers 5 degs at the throttle body.

Cold Air in - turbo hot air out
Hot air in - turbo hot air out

Upgrading the intercooler would do far more for lowering intake temps

Intercoolers can only remove so much heat. Starting out with colder intake temperatures is still going to hurt.

Please don't get back onto the "hot vs cold air intake" debate. We've been down that road so many times I can't even count. Search the forum! There are a lot of great threads pertaining to this kind of stuff.

With that said, a cold air intake will ALWAYS be benificial. Whether its NA, Supercharged, or Turbocharged. Colder air intake requires less work to compress the air to the desired level. This in-turn, allows the compressor to work at a higher efficiency level. In other words, the turbo compresses colder air much easier than hot air...... It's all a matter of efficiency. The more efficient range you can keep the turbo in, the cooler the compressed air will be, and the more power you'll create.

Amen!
 

I wish more people would take this advice seriously!

Ehh, not quite-- if you recall, once he installed a "ram-air" setup with the RX7fashion airbox, he picked up the most mph of any modification during his testing.

I had a modded stock airbox, but just installed an M2. I wanted to see if perhaps there was absolutely no advantage to the aftermarket airboxes/CAIs. I sealed off the intake areas to keep out hot radiator/engine bay airflow, as well as ensure that all air entering the intake nacelle in the front of the car is either going to the intake or the radiator/IC. Well, there was a difference; power definitely increased over the modded stock airbox (a very slight loss off the bottom, but no big deal), with a 1 psi increase in boost as well.

I think you better do some research man, because if you think the intake air is being fed to the "red hot turbine", you have absolutely no clue how turbos work.

I suggest you look at this picture:



http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/turbo-parts.gif

when you have cold air going into to your intake your turbos will spool faster than with hot air, I think. but then again I'm just a new-b.

Lol I know how turbos work - Just cause they color the flow blue doesnt mean it is "cold" rofl. I wasnt implying that the intake air went through the exhaust side lol. but did you notice how close to the "red hot turbine housing" the compressor housing is? You ever felt the compressor housing of a turbo after a boost run? The act of compression causes heat as well, disregard the proximity to the heat source if you will..

Seriously, what is 30 degrees difference going to make at the throttle body? anyone have any temp numbers from inlet temp to tb temp? Didn't make any difference worth noting on my other car, and I had temp sensors before and after ic to measure efficiency, as well as the IAT sensor (final word) and I played around with one at the inlet when I was building it. It has a full standalone with datalogging so I was able to test this.

I have built many turbo cars, and I stand by my statement, it doesn't really matter - we arent talking about a ram air setup.. On an N/A car I think a CAI is a must. But on a turbo car - money is better spent on a more efficient intercooler.

So bicuspid... lets say you have the most efficient intercooler setup you can buy. Would you then buy a CAI?

If I had money to burn I might, or If I wanted the looks, but as long as the intakes you have on the car flow enough to allow the turbo (s) to breathe, then benefits, of a cold air (NOT RAM AIR) system, if any, will be very minimal..

Imagine blowing an air conditioners output across a frying pan and measure the difference on the other side - then compare by using a fan.

What is a Ram air system? Based on the name, I'm assuming it's some sort of hood scoop that goes directly into the intake? Thanks for all the posts!
Seldon