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I've read a ton of threads about the arguments of if an intake makes a difference on these cars. Some say cut the lid, others say the slp claw, others say they're all hot air intakes and don't work.
I started looking at my intake and noticed there's a few pretty critical restrictions. Firstbei g the lid, the only air that gets into the I take comes from the 4 openings on the sides of the top. It then has to make a 90 degree turn to get in. OK, pop the rivets out, open the center up, restriction removed. The. After passing through the filter, the open g to the intake bellow is maybe an inch tall, though it's the whole span, MI us some reinforcements. That's a pretty clear restriction. Then you have the bellows themselves, theyre corrugated and definitely cause sir turbulence, whether or not that matters, I can't say, but doubt it makes a meaningful impact. So the design of the slp claw or similar is superior there.
The argument against the claw is it is made of metal and heat soaks. There's been a lot of work do e sayi g metal pipes don't transfer a meaningful amount of heat to air rushing by, but we can ignore that. The other thing is that it pulls hot air from around the radiator, but there's truly nowhere else to pull air from there, the stock I take does too. You could argue that lacking any sort of heat shield, air from the engine area that is hotter will get pulled in, but a simple heat shield could fix that.
So, all that to say, has anyone tried making their own intake? I was thining about trying it, with some silicone couples and abs pipe. Then an open air filter could be run, and a heat shield fabbed up. Parts would likely run about a hundred bucks with a washable filter. That's in the same price range as a cleanable drop in filter.
I had the SLP in my 95' (came with the car) and it looks impressive but i don't see how it's "more effective" than a box that can actually "corral and/or funnel" air. people that I know that race C4's modify the box and use K&N (fun fact, the SLP Claw uses K&N filters as well).
I'm curious about your experiment. i do know there was a guy that made his C4 ram-air functional by poking a hole in the hood and fabbing an under hood scoop...but i never followed up on that to see what his results were.
Well, I decided to try it out. I have a parts list I think will work, but right now it all hi ges on being able to hook to the TB. That piece comes I. Thursday, so we will see how it goes. From there, it's a matter of tubing and a filter. I will keep this updated as I go.
In retrospect, since later cars have a MAF and not a map, the OEM part for the TB might be sourced cheaper than what I bought.
That's a good link. The power doesn't start to show any difference until ~360 RWHP...and then the diff is pretty small. I wonder what would have happened if he'd removed the air bridge and tested.
curious if the front plate intake system is worth doing on a lt1? (Not even sure if it’s available for a lt1, maybe just ZR1?). Learning about c4s as I go guys. Thanks for your input
In theory, yes. That system would allow air from the front of the car in to the engine bay, which should allow for cooler air to be seen at the intake. That said, due to the side breathing design of he airbox, I doubt it does a lot on a stock intake, was that air would hit the airbox and split over it and to the sides. It has to go to the sides and up a bit for the stock airbox to bring it in.
In theory, yes. That system would allow air from the front of the car in to the engine bay, which should allow for cooler air to be seen at the intake. That said, due to the side breathing design of he airbox, I doubt it does a lot on a stock intake, was that air would hit the airbox and split over it and to the sides. It has to go to the sides and up a bit for the stock airbox to bring it in.
Makes sense, thanks. My car came with a brand new K&N filter that I installed a few weeks back. I'm thinking l might just mod the stock airbox like so many have done and call it good. Considering also a couple vents on the hood to help with underhood temps in general, since I don't own some holy grail limited edition model.
In theory, yes. That system would allow air from the front of the car in to the engine bay, which should allow for cooler air to be seen at the intake. That said, due to the side breathing design of he airbox, I doubt it does a lot on a stock intake, was that air would hit the airbox and split over it and to the sides. It has to go to the sides and up a bit for the stock airbox to bring it in.
Thats not how that intake works. It comes with a replacement lid that has inlet that is a direct a feed into the filter. It does not breathe any other air from the engine bay.
That and the "Vortex Rammer" intake are the only C4 intakes that makes an attempt at being a cold air intake -one that physically separates air from outside the car (aka "cold" air), from air that is under the hood of the car (aka "hot" air) from it's mouth to the TB.
Thats not how that intake works. It comes with a replacement lid that has inlet that is a direct a feed into the filter. It does not breathe any other air from the engine bay.
Ah, didn't know that. That'd work a lot better then.
That and the "Vortex Rammer" intake are the only C4 intakes that makes an attempt at being a cold air intake -one that physically separates air from outside the car (aka "cold" air), from air that is under the hood of the car (aka "hot" air) from it's mouth to the TB.
I’m first to admit I know nothing about this but my car came with the Vortex and had a big mouth air dam, which was bent and since taken off. I’m trying to figure out if the big mouth tilting would help or go with the factory air dam. I mention this because I didn’t know if this set up would be an option for you.
That and the "Vortex Rammer" intake are the only C4 intakes that makes an attempt at being a cold air intake -one that physically separates air from outside the car (aka "cold" air), from air that is under the hood of the car (aka "hot" air) from it's mouth to the TB.
Looking at the vortex rammer design, I disagree. It just pulls in air from the front, not the sides like the OEM. Box. That's not going to be appreciably cooler coming in the front vs side. It's certainly not getting any cold outside air unless you have a cut front plate.
That said, I question how much cooler air that's been through the radiator VS outside. It might be a couple degrees cooler, but I'd consider that in the noise. At any speed, the air is rushing past all that without time to get heat soaked really. At least, that's what the big name intake companies said about using aluminum intake tubes...
Looking at the vortex rammer design, I disagree. It just pulls in air from the front, not the sides like the OEM. Box. That's not going to be appreciably cooler coming in the front vs side. It's certainly not getting any cold outside air unless you have a cut front plate.
That said, I question how much cooler air that's been through the radiator VS outside. It might be a couple degrees cooler, but I'd consider that in the noise. At any speed, the air is rushing past all that without time to get heat soaked really. At least, that's what the big name intake companies said about using aluminum intake tubes...
The Vortex gets the air pre radiator. You cut a hole in the top shroud and that is where the air is drawn from. The box is sealed against the shroud and no air comes in from the side. But the box is so poorly made it doesn’t seal properly to begin with.
The Vortex gets the air pre radiator. You cut a hole in the top shroud and that is where the air is drawn from. The box is sealed against the shroud and no air comes in from the side. But the box is so poorly made it doesn’t seal properly to begin with.
Ah, I see.
To be honest, someone could probably 3d print an improved version of the factor airbox to allow for the same thing. There'd be a good excuse for poor quality then!
To be honest, someone could probably 3d print an improved version of the factor airbox to allow for the same thing. There'd be a good excuse for poor quality then!
The other version of a CAI was from API. It was a complete new housing that was flipped as well and had an opening that grabbed the air as it came in.
Last edited by ChumpVette; Jun 4, 2020 at 12:36 AM.
I’m first to admit I know nothing about this but my car came with the Vortex and had a big mouth air dam, which was bent and since taken off. I’m trying to figure out if the big mouth tilting would help or go with the factory air dam. I mention this because I didn’t know if this set up would be an option for you.
I'm not exactly sure what your question is, here....
Originally Posted by FAUEE
Looking at the vortex rammer design, I disagree. It just pulls in air from the front, not the sides like the OEM. Box. That's not going to be appreciably cooler coming in the front vs side. It's certainly not getting any cold outside air unless you have a cut front plate.
That said, I question how much cooler air that's been through the radiator VS outside. It might be a couple degrees cooler, but I'd consider that in the noise. At any speed, the air is rushing past all that without time to get heat soaked really. At least, that's what the big name intake companies said about using aluminum intake tubes...
What Chumpvette said. With the Vortex Rammer, you cut a hole in the radiator shroud, ahead of the radiator. The VR draws air in through that hole. The intake air never passes through the radiator with that design.
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Lt1 intakes
