cheap alternative to cold air intake

This has been discussed at greater lengths in another thread, but basically you won't get MORE air w/ a ram-air style setup unless it is true ram air. You won't be able to accomplish a true ram-air setup without the proper equipment and design.

If you are looking to minimize restriction with the stock system, your best bet would be, as others have reccomended, just take off everything after the airbox and run a tube to the wheelwell. I'd try to do it w/ PVC instead of the RV sewage hose to keep the airflow less turbulent, although the stock intake pipe between the throttle body and MAF sensor is rippled, which will reduce air velocity.

My point in short: It'll be a fun project and it'll be a little louder, but you won't get any substantial gains.
 
This has been discussed at greater lengths in another thread, but basically you won't get MORE air w/ a ram-air style setup unless it is true ram air. You won't be able to accomplish a true ram-air setup without the proper equipment and design.

If you are looking to minimize restriction with the stock system, your best bet would be, as others have reccomended, just take off everything after the airbox and run a tube to the wheelwell. I'd try to do it w/ PVC instead of the RV sewage hose to keep the airflow less turbulent, although the stock intake pipe between the throttle body and MAF sensor is rippled, which will reduce air velocity.

My point in short: It'll be a fun project and it'll be a little louder, but you won't get any substantial gains.
 
Honestly who gives a **** if you get any real gains out of it. Biggest part of the deal is you get to tinker with you car. Best part about modding is the feel of you did something yourself. Mess around and find what makes you happiest. DIY mods are far more entertaining IMO, any tool can go out and buy an intake and put it on, put some thought into it and be creative.
 
gregrego said:
This is what im thinking of creating, basically its a path for the air to go so you dont get any restrictions, or blockages on the way in... i dunno its an idea..

i did this using plate aluminum (around 20 guage) seems to work fine. any gains are pretty miniscule, but whatever, i think its cool 8)
 
Anyone have any idea how much more "power" you'd get from the grill mod? I read the other forum where this mod was discussed at length, but for some reason, the only figure I saw quoted was that one person got about 1.5 more mpg. Any figures on hp from the freebie grille mod? Thinking about doing it after this tank of gas...
 
probably not enough to notice, but its just like wetsuitxninja said, its about having something custom and original, do it if u want, but you will most likely get the same gains from just plugging in a filter after the maf. As for the mileage gains, thats SO dependant on how you drive your car that it shouldnt even be a factor on the benefits of this mod.

Uclap5, you put the aluminum behind the grill to scoop the air upward?
or down at the bottom of the driver fender to scoop it upward toward the cai filter?
 
At the risk of coming across as being stupid as hell... Would it be possible to substitute the metal tubing of a CAI for PVC plastic tubing, and then just attach a cone filter, etc. if you wanted? I imagine heat wouldn't be a concern, since the snorkel that came with the car is plastic. And if you didn't want it looking ghetto, you could rough up the plastic and/or use that plastic spray paint they have out now... I've never priced PVC pipe, but I imagine it is significantly less than 150 or whatever they charge for a K&N CAI...
 
Dark_Phantom said:
At the risk of coming across as being stupid as hell... Would it be possible to substitute the metal tubing of a CAI for PVC plastic tubing, and then just attach a cone filter, etc. if you wanted? I imagine heat wouldn't be a concern, since the snorkel that came with the car is plastic. And if you didn't want it looking ghetto, you could rough up the plastic and/or use that plastic spray paint they have out now... I've never priced PVC pipe, but I imagine it is significantly less than 150 or whatever they charge for a K&N CAI...
You can get an ebay CAI & a K&N filter for way less than that. Of course it won't be as "original or custom" as making one from scratch.
 
Dark_Phantom said:
I like the design, Gregrego. Honestly, I don't give that 2.0 engine enough credit to see it sucking what small volume of water droplets make its way close to the opening of the snorkel all the way through its twists and turns unless you submerge it. I might get laughed at for this, however I was personally considering plugging those drainage holes with some sort of poxy (something like modeling clay or something simple and temporary) to increase the suction power at the main entry area of the snorkel at the front of the car where the air is cooler. I also thought it might reduce air turbulance in the snorkel and therefore prove to be more efficient. Thoughts?

Excellent idea. The simplest thing to use to plug the holes is a double layer of industrial grade duct tape from Home Depot. Make sure you plug all the drainage holes: three in the bottom of the snorkel, one in the bottom of the Helmholtz resonator and one in the air box just below the inlet.

There are at least two benefits obtained from this mod. First, since the snorkel holes lie directly over the hot radiator, hot, underhood air will be ingested by the air intake reducing the engine's power output. Second, if you cut away the horizontal grill support under the snorkel's air inlet, you will expose the air inlet to high pressure air generated by the forward motion of the vehicle. Plugging the holes insures that any pressure buildup (or reduction in negative pressure) that will increase air density in the air box and consequently power output, compared with the stock setup, won't be dissipated into the engine bay.

I've run with the grill mod and a sealed intake up to the air box for over two years now and I've never experienced even a trace of water ingestion even in severe downpours. I believe this is due to the fact that, even with the grill mod, the snorkel air inlet is in a relatively protected position. You'd have to run through standing water almost as high as the hood to induce water ingestion and possible hydrolock. Not too likely a situation.
 
WetsuitxNinja said:
Ive done that, I made a little scoop out of fiberglass. I mean it was kinda cool because it could actually suck air from in front of the grille. but there was no real gain I felt.

Id suggest that if you want to be cheap do what John said and attach a cone filter to the MAF. At least you get the intake sound.

before i got my intake thats what i did i attatched a cone filter to the stock piping and i got that intake sound which sounds mean as FU*K on our cars
 
goldstar said:
Excellent idea. The simplest thing to use to plug the holes is a double layer of industrial grade duct tape from Home Depot. Make sure you plug all the drainage holes: three in the bottom of the snorkel, one in the bottom of the Helmholtz resonator and one in the air box just below the inlet.

There are at least two benefits obtained from this mod. First, since the snorkel holes lie directly over the hot radiator, hot, underhood air will be ingested by the air intake reducing the engine's power output. Second, if you cut away the horizontal grill support under the snorkel's air inlet, you will expose the air inlet to high pressure air generated by the forward motion of the vehicle. Plugging the holes insures that any pressure buildup (or reduction in negative pressure) that will increase air density in the air box and consequently power output, compared with the stock setup, won't be dissipated into the engine bay.

I've run with the grill mod and a sealed intake up to the air box for over two years now and I've never experienced even a trace of water ingestion even in severe downpours. I believe this is due to the fact that, even with the grill mod, the snorkel air inlet is in a relatively protected position. You'd have to run through standing water almost as high as the hood to induce water ingestion and possible hydrolock. Not too likely a situation.

The infamous Goldstar, from the other mazda forum/thread that is so often quoted here! :) Thanks for all that info Goldstar. I've read your other thread several times, and I'll be doing the grille mod this week (as soon as it quits raining here in NW Ohio.) I'll attempt to plug the drain holes probably at a later time.
 
Based on the obvious fact that ram air effect increases with vehicle speed, before taping the drain holes I took my car out on the Interstate and made several full throttle runs in fifth gear from 60 to 100 MPH in both directions. Then, I went home, sealed the holes, returned to the Interstate and repeated the runs. The second time around, acceleration felt more rapid between the starting and end points and, in addition to the car pulling more strongly, throttle response was definitely improved when going to full throttle from 60 MPH cruise. Both of these characteristics would be expected if a decrease in negative pressure was occurring because of a ram air effect. Throughout the testing period, the temperature remained in the fifties (F) so I ruled that factor out as a possible cause.

Initially, I focused on higher speed performance where I naturally thought most of the change would occur. However, in time I came to notice that acceleration and throttle response in the lower speed ranges also seemed improved which I attributed to the cooler intake air resulting from the blocking off of the drain holes.

As my car is essentially a daily driver, one practical effect of the change is that it's now easier (and more fun) to pass slower cars on two-lane country highways. You get up to passing speed more rapidly and spend less time out in the opposing lane.
 
I would imagine the downside to this alteration, or any cold air intake device/modification for that matter, would be a drop in fuel economy, since you're pushing colder and therefore denser air into the cylinders. Has your economy went down at all, Gold?
 
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