RACE Flow - Cold Air Intake - VY II S/C

[jameswh]

Hi guys,

After having a look around my engine bay, more specifically around the air box, I noticed that the previous owner of the car had cut a massive hole in the right hand side of the box and attempted to run some aluminium piping (a bit of which is slightly crushed and still partly there) down to where the fog light holes are. Theres no way that I could properly patch up the hole to increase the efficiency of the box. So, I started to browse around for a new CAI setup. I came across this:

RACE Flow Cold Air Intake for VT-VY Series Commodores

Besides the disgustingly cheesy name, it seems pretty okay. I do have a couple of questions though.

- Would there be any increase in power/throttle response over the Type S, or even standard setup?
- If so, is it worth the coin?
- Would be there be any point in setting it up in conjunction with a CAI?

Feedback would be appreciated.

Cheers.

[richierich]

I had the same set up as the race flow but i also had a Raptor s/c.The set up looks good and also keeping the hot radiator and engine air away should make a difference.How much , i don't know.Better than the standard and worth the extra $35 than the Type s.

[Junny]

300 bux for a pod filter and barrier thingy o.O

[taztassio]

thats FIT.

[jameswh]

Yeah, the price was a bit concerning to me. Thus why I thought I'd ask first.

I assumed that it was a F.I.T product considering that I found the v6supercharged website through F.I.T's site. *shrug*.

I found a similar, if not identical item on eBay. This one is $270 excluding postage, somewhat cheaper than the one found v6supercharged.com.au.

What do you guys think? Worth the effort, or not?

COLD AIR INTAKE TO SUIT HOLDEN VT-VY V6 - eBay Air Filters, Induction Kits, Performance Parts, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 04-Mar-09 19:23:30 AEDST)

[chargedvx6]

That's a bit fairer price. Looks like the same thing as those v6performace dudes had but much less

[alien]

I wouldn't waste my money on ones like that. And you arn't going to notice that much of a difference without a proper exhaust anyways! I did mine cheap, but it works a treat! Got a bit more power. Still yet to change the air filter (to K&N one for the stock box) and yet to change my exhaust!

Those ones posted there are ok, they rely on the bumper to do the work of pushing the cold air up, which it does do a good job i must admit, however you only have that one sorce of air. With say my modified 2 hold mod version you get the standard one which takes air from over the radiator, as well as a nice thick pipe to suck up that air on the side. When testing it at a few JC meets (by putting my fingers in each of the holes to feel for suction), you still get both drawing in cold air! Two intakes is better than one. Thenwhen you have money you can look at the K&N filters for the stock air box that also generate spirals and are better for your engine!

Check out the design of mine in my car's thread (link in my signature below).

[jameswh]

Thanks for the opinions/info guys.
Does anyone else have anything to share?

[Skooby]

Yeah I do, just get an OTR and you will make more power effortlessly.

[ABSLT IDOC]

for starters F.I.T and v6supercharged are pretty much the same company except v6supercharged have lower prices but less of a range.

I have one of these race flow CAI on my vy exec and it made a small difference in power and made the engine run a lot stronger (less effort to suck in the air). feels like it has a heap more torque throught the rev range and even better when u get over the 2k rpm mark. Not to mention the induction noise....... drool, it is loud but not to loud.

when i first put it in and drove down the street (slowly) past a group of contstruction workers and they all turned around a looked.

worth the money i say, also spend the 450 odd bucks to get a nice cat back to help the flow even more. i suggest a lukey.

[jameswh]

Well, I went against a few peoples suggestions and ended up buying the pod enclosure/CAI kit from Mace. I'm now just curious more than anything to see if it does actually have any benefit.

Anyway, once I get around to installing it, I'll post up some results and pictures.

[alien]

LOL, fair enough! As long as your happy with the end result it's all good. If you've got a boost guage you'll probably notice the change and more power.

[jameswh]

So I got around to installing the pod enclosure yesterday, and I must say, there is a significantly noticeable improvement. I now have a lot more low end power and the throttle response has improved.
Oh - and my supercharger now actually has a bit of a whine to it, hehe.

YouTube - VY II S - Supercharger Whine

[alien]

Thats cool, i did notice the bit of whine you get. Any pics of the installation in your car?

Are you goign to get your exhaust done now too?

[jameswh]

Sure. I've uploaded pictures of the installation here:

ImageShack® - Gallery

I've actually already got my exhaust done. It's a twin 2.5" system - can you not hear it? Hehe.

[chargedvx6]

Should do the jod nicely. Time to get a GM strut brace on there since you have the lugs already. They only cost $40 from Holden.

[alien]

The only reason i asked about your exhaust is because it doesn't sound as prominant as what the supercharger whine should be. Even mine's louder and i havn't done my exhaust yet! Have you checked how much boost you get out of your Supercharger lately? Or had it tuned lately?

But either way the air box mod looks cool. Is the air tempreature guage at the back of that box?

[jameswh]

Ah. Well then, that's quite odd. What have you done to your intake, if anything? According to my boost gauge, I'm running a maximum of about 7 - 9 psi with a 10 psi pulley attached. Should I be hearing more of a whine, then? I've never had a tune. Anything I could possibly check?

And yes, the air temp gauge is at the back of the box. I can take some pictures of that if you like?

[jameswh]

A negative, but potentially supporting fact of this pod setup, is the fuel economy. I'm burning through fuel more than I was with the Type S setup. I've gone through a little over a 1/4 tank in less than three days - about 100km all up. I'll go through a couple of more tanks, but I may have to remove the setup if all I'm doing is forking out heaps of coin for fuel.
But, as I said above, this could support the products claims - that it actually does increase performance? I assume that more fuel being used equates to colder, higher amounts of air being burned?

[alien]

jameswh, you CAN get better fuel economy with a CAI, you just dont floor it! Trust me, it've been in my car for almost 2 months and i'm still testing out what my CAI can do!

My whole vehicle is stock except for my "Alien By Design" CAI which is designed to get a better air intake than other CAI's. As for the whine, i can't tell for sure because cameras do vary! I just recorded mine on my phone today and it sounds NOTHING like what it does in real life, so thta could have something to do with it!

But i'm also running a stock exhaust, when i upgrade that it should sound better!

And yea, if your pushing more fuel into the engine your going to need more fuel. Basically if you put your foot down you'll get better acceleration but it will chew through more fuel. If you relax and drive "normally" your fuel usage should drop from what it was with that normal driving if it's a good one.

[jameswh]

Hehe, yeah - I thought I may get a bit paranoid as I am giving it a bit more than usual, I must have not added those two factors together, I'd say that I subconsciously refused to.

This 'Alien by Design' concept sounds interesting. Could you shed anymore light on it? I'm quite interested to know what you've come up with. It's extraordinary that you managed to receive a decent whine on an otherwise stock car.

[alien]

Linky: CAI: Alien By Design

And as for my term of stock. I havn't modified it besides that, neither did the previous owner. But the owner before that was Holden, and i've got no idea what they did, speaking from a few techs it was a test vehicle to see what Holden could get out of the L67. But i havn't seen any mechanical mods yet, so i assume the engine was run in properly on a dyno and the rest of the stuff was just tuning and electronics. That provides a reason why i can beat some SS's (including Ve's that then try to run you off the road :@) and keep up with the slightly modified ones.

[chargedvx6]

Linky: CAI: Alien By Design

But the owner before that was Holden, and i've got no idea what they did, speaking from a few techs it was a test vehicle to see what Holden could get out of the L67. But i havn't seen any mechanical mods yet, so i assume the engine was run in properly on a dyno and the rest of the stuff was just tuning and electronics. That provides a reason why i can beat some SS's (including Ve's that then try to run you off the road :@) and keep up with the slightly modified ones.

All test program vehicles stay just that. They don't get sold to the public. The VY L67s do have a better feel then the earlier models, that is true but trust me Alien, they are all just another one until you do some modding. A standard SS is easy to get off the line with a super 6 but after 50km'h or so the V8s do have their merits. What has it run on the 1/4? I'd be tipping 14.7, about the same as a stock VT2 SS.