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Power gains from CAI & air filter

AGRO_38

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i have a cai and besides hear a little sucking noise wen the stereo is off and i rev the engine it does nothing else. im sure it is better for the car but power wise and fuel economy there is no difference

il think youl find down low there will be no power increase, maybe a little bit when going 60km+
 

GSRace

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For $48 (+16) on ebay for CAI and $99 for K&N, it's gotta be worth it yeah?
- if doing exhaust (inc pacey's) as well?!
 

AGRO_38

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For $48 (+16) on ebay for CAI and $99 for K&N, it's gotta be worth it yeah?
- if doing exhaust (inc pacey's) as well?!

well the cai lets cooler air, which is performs better and the k&n filter lets it flow through it better, i cant see why you shouldnt get it?
 

Patrio7

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well after doing my cat-back i feel like bulma wants to go that bit harder when gunned but shes just lackign that certain something. i think im ready for a CAI, im happy with stock filter though i wonder how i would go rolling the bonnets Badge area up a little to open that gap up a notch ^_^
 

digisol

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Simple test, similar to how you would test filters for the pc, even a 1/8" slice of foam is highly restrictive, personally I use scouring pads sliced in half, while no good for a car the basic principle for testing them exists, IE ya blow through it, the filter that is, and even the slightest resistance felt, means the PC fan is wasting more than 1/3+ of it's cfm rating, OK I hear it's not a pc, sure but the same theory remains.

Better put, try to breathe through it and any restriction is easy found, if you can breathe through it much as you can normally the filter may be considered as causing virtually no restriction, the paper filters are pretty good, it's difficult to test properly but test your own then try your K&N redline filter and I guarantee there will be slight resistance.

That slight restance relates to a sizeable amount of wasted fuel and HP as the engine is essentially being choked, likely making the ECU change to adjust, those figures are not felt at idle in the garage, but on the open road doing 100+ up a hill the engine is sucking pretty hard, the basics of the stock setup is to make the engine breathe easier by a simple and somewhat innefective ram air.

With any oiled filter there is the tendancy to over oil the element, now to test the airflow of each filter properly requires some rather high tech gear that no arerage petrol head will ever have in the garage, carby manufacturers would have them, used for testing carby CFM ratings IE a 850 Holley means the max air it allows in is 850 cubic feet per min

As the subjest is for the VS your all missing the unused brake ducts sitting there doing nothing in the front bumper, use it and ram air becomes a real entity at anything over 60k the air pushed in will be like holding a cupped hand into the wind, that said, the only benefit is the small ram air "may" act as is the filter was not there balancing the air pressure.

All that aside, the inlet system is still far too hot being just above the headers to allow any incoming air to not be superheated above ambient before it reaches the t/b, to be serious you need several inches of mercury in positive ram air + the entire inlet plumbing needs to be insulated, all that gear is readily available, all ya need is motivation to do it.

Ever noticed that all cars have more HP when it rains ? air density and temp, similar deal with good ram air but the best you can get is ambient air.

While impractical having the a/c plumbed to the inlet at max fan would give a definite result in HP, a bit like filling the base of the air box with dry ice it would work for a short time but it's also not practical.

Enjoy.
 

kopper69

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Dry ice in the air intake box just doesnt make sense to me. Dry ice is CO2. If any of the CO2 is sucked into the engine, it is basically displacing oxygen. And the oxygen is what the engine is needing. The tiny amount of time that the air actually passes over the dry ice would make almost zero difference to temp, and you would have to make sure that, as the dry ice changed into a gas, it didnt enter the intake.
 

digisol

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If I told ya to jump off a bridge at low tide but is was not a good idea would ya still jump ? I have to guess so.

Just trying to emphasize the point that cold air adds HP, if ya can't read that your probably still looking for that can of striped paint, I would say a L/H shifter but they really do exist, I have a L/H 15" gedore shifter (the adjuster closes when turned back towards you, opposite from the 99% of all others), unfortunately the best anyone can ask for is ambient air temp at the t/b, that alone is near impossible unless some good CAI setup is made which actually allows ambient air at the t/b.

Why do many exotic V8 cars like corvettes and the likes suck air from bonnet vents ? geez I would assume that any Australian has seen the A9X torana which had a huge bonnet scoop that actually opened up to the carby, it's was not there for looks, perhaps the point is obvious, that very tiny slot of the stock forward facing CAI between the bonnet and front apron is really doing stuff all, I mean taka a look, the gap there is under 10mm, not a huge scoop by any means.

Most have seen the underhood of any V8 supercar and must figure that ya can't see the engine for the huge air box (without a filter) which draws outside air from in front of the windscreen, a high pressure area, where does your stock vent draw air from ?? you figure, it ain't from the front of the car, only thing cooled at the front is radiator, engine, gearbox, brakes, the engine would shat itself rather quickly after any gutfull of sand trap gravel.

The old red motors were simple to do, Black motor commos do the same, merely cut off the forward facing snorkel from the air filter housing, turn it around so the opening is pointing to the firewall and pipe it through the firewall and into the air duct section, bingo CAI that costs stuff all, and works a treat, where do ya think my old kingswood /500 holley used to suck from ? that is guaranteed to work.

This fetish for chasing tiny amounts of "maybe" HP is realy a waste of time and money, unless your prepared to do it properly leave the inlet alone and bung on some good headers and a decent exhaust and change the chip, at least then you will feel a difference in HP.

Been there done this many times, and it remains the same, either do it seriously or don't bother, go fishing instaed, at least a heat sheild must be installed between the headers and inlet, at best insulate the entire inlet system with a forward facing duct in front of the radiator, if done properly it will look and work properly, copy off some race cars ?
 
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Immortality

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it's a proven fact that cold air = hp. can someone with some sort of ADLD data login capability please settle this argument once and for all. all you would need to do is drive a stock standard car and monitor the inlet air temp and then do the same on a car fitted with the filter/cai mods and see if the air inlet temp is lower. it certainly won't hurt to fit a CAI and high flow K&N filter. it would be better still if you can insulate the entire intake track as well. this would be as simple as wrapping the entire length in header wrap, if it can keeps heat in the headers, it also keeps heat out as well. if your going to fit headers i'd suggest getting them wrapped with header wrap although this does cause the headers to rust out faster or better yet get them HPC coated. stuff works a treat and really drops the under bonnet temps. these basic mods won't turn your daily driver into a supercar but surely every little thing helps.:thumbsup:
 

digisol

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It's not really an arguement from me the cold air thing is a proven fact, sure knowing what the actual temp is would be a huge help in making an effective CAI and then improving on it.

The one I made on the VS used the bumper duct plumbed up under the guard and into the base of the air box, I never bothered with insulating it but as there are places that sell the proper stuff for doing it there has to be a reason, I put a link in one post but have no idea what thread it is, someone may know or remember it.

If there is anyone with a Digi-doc 5 a multi sensor temp sensing device that fits in a CD slot, the process of temp readings is then made very simple, runs off 12v and has around 8 sensors capable of doing the job perfectly, I have one but the unit is dead, I kept the sensors, great for checking the hot spots inside the PC box, probably why every PC I have is fitted with a blowhole, been there and know what fan CFM is needed in each hole but that's another subject.

Unless someone good with electronics can make such a device from a Dick Smith project kit or similar deal, I would be interested and I'm sure everyone else would also.
 

petezor

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Well a few of you guys are apparently not schooled in dyno tuning, You can put an exhaust on and get some gains, but until you get your computer remapped( chip rewritten ) you will not get the full gains. Do you think that you can just put in a cam, do some head work and it is going to go like the clappers, chances are it won't run, if it does it will run like a pig.
You don't have change your chip, wat do you think chipping it is, it is a generic programme written onto a chip allowing for certain mods, every motor is different so you will not get the best result from this method. You can have your chip rewritten when on a dyno, do you think the efi cars that are putting out big numbers just got a chip of the shelf, NO..
Unless you have done it and know how it works, don't knock it, i'm giving him advice on previous experiance.
His might only be a v6, but the rules still apply for all motors.
You can take a brand spankers new car off the showroom floor and take it to a good tuner and they will get a power increase out of it.
With the mods you have done SLOW VR, your computer cannot adjust to the mods and that is why your car goes as slow as my 72 year old grandmother..

i agree, chip is the way to go with a remapped ecu, also it would just be common sense and go all out with the exhaust, head porting, and ported tb. and then get it all tuned. mmm this thread rox!:whistling
 
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