|
I'm going to try and thread a pipe from the front grille to the back of the engine bay this weekend in an attempt to force some clean fresh air into the right places. If this doesn't work then RS Turbo vents may be on the christmas list! 1. Does it matter what size pipe I use? e.g 1 or 2 inch dia?
|
|
Autospeed, aussie online tuning mag, says use as big a piece of tubing you can get/fit. I ran around for about a month with the "Creda CAI" kit (err, 100 mm Cooker ducting, and lots of gaffer tape) piped from the mouth to the side of the K&N cone filter I have. Can't really say it made any difference, and in the end, I got too embarassed about the junk under my bonnet. http://www.autospeed.com/
Its kind of a Mad max solution, using bits of ducting and plastic drain pipe, but it is supposed to work (on a big Holden anyhow....) (11/99) |
| http://www.robpickering.co.uk I've just got to refer you to details of the Cookson CAI sytem - see for an independent view! (and some v clear pics) To answer your questions - it depends on what you want to do. If you want a significant amount of cold air for the engine to burn, you need a scoop, a decent size duct (63mm) and attach it to the air cleaner box. Otherwise, a small tube will give a small amount of air and a small (if any) benefit. (11/99) |
| The K&N 56i kit comes with 2" flexi pipe, but the bottom line is, the more fresh air you can get in, the better! Perhaps try 3" at the grille, reducing to 2" as it enters the engine bay, the smaller pipe being easier to thread. Depending on the type of filter you have fitted, I would have the pipe held pointing at the actual filter element, but with the minimum of bends. (11/99) |
| Also try: First Line (parts suppliers; kind of like Blueprint. Basically repackage OEM stuff as their own).. 01869 248484 and they could probably put you in touch with a stockist. Us lucky Northern Irelanders have a local motor factors which now stocks MX5 parts at discount prices..... (11/99) |
| I don't have any deep insight but here's what I know. You can get turn signal intakes. Whether you like the look of these or not is entirely personal. I'm undecided. I'm not sure they are 100% road legal. But they do get cold air in at the front. You can get headlight cover intakes. I'm told these actually extract air due to their low pressure position. I'm told that the bulkhead near the windscreen wipers is a high pressure area. Loch Stewart in Australia do an intake and filter that fits here. I have never seen anyone doing an intake with tube of less than three inches in diameter. (11/99) |
| Could you not take the air from the wheel arch, rather than having to go through to the front grille? This would save cutting and a long length of pipe and I can't imagine the air being much hotter/dirtier than that coming from the front. Duct would need a mesh to prevent big bits getting thrown in, but thats an easy solution. (11/99) |
|
In a word, yes. But there are two elements, cold air and a ram-air effect. I did at one time consider cutting a hole in the inner wing, to take a short pipe from the underwing area to the air filter for cold air. But then I reckoned I didn't want to cut metal, then it seemed pretty much as easy to take the route you know, with the advantage that you have a nice big scoop facing the air flow. Just drive along with with the hood down and stick your hand in the shape of a scoop up into the breeze! Not quite supercharging, but significant pressure! I know adverse comments are made about the length of pipe in my system, vs Jackson Racing CAI. Fair enough, but the point is that it's not actually the length of the pipe that matters, but getting a good supply of air at the throttle body. With a "passive" induction system, the problem with a long intake tract is that the engine has got to suck a large mass of air into motion before anything happens. With mine, the "ram effect" at all but the slowest speeds ensures a good supply of air and provides the means of kicking the air into movement. (11/99) |
| I'd say don't bother messing about with tubing and old air intake assembly and buy a JR CAI kit instead. Seriously shortens the intake length as well. 10-15hp from colder air/shortened intake/panel air filter/advanced timing/slight ramair effect at speed. 320 quid though...:-( (Says the man who cut his thermostat coolant hose in half whilst following the JR CAI installation instructions that inform "Even though it looks like it won't fit, it fill - just use a bit of force to push it past the thermostat). (11/99) |
| I have the standard air filter on at the moment. How much would it be for a replacement K&N - I take it this replaces the entire filter box arrangement? and also how much for the 56i induction kit? Talking club discounts of course!! (11/99) |
|
Threading a pipe from the grille to the intake is damn hard I found. I use the aluminium ducting (2" diam) solution as someone else tried ,but finding a decent route is hard since the rad blocks the direct route. My ducting passes over the rad but is squashed somewhat when the bonnet closes over it. I did find it reduced air temp at the filter (sebring filter is behind headlamp motor) by about 6C at speed (perhaps 1-2hp with luck) with good positioning but I'm not sure how much actually gets in the filter itself. I must fit my thermocouple in my s/c pipe to find real charge temps sometime....Si Knapton & Clive Southern reckon they're too hot but I can't afford a chargecooler right now :-( nyway, if you find a decent unobstructed route please let me know. I'm not willing to cut holes in my undertray or inner wing liners! Its a bit tricky doing a CAI for a supercharger.. especially out of cooker parts... :-) However, when I had a stock engine setup, I did try taking the snorkel off the airbox, and fixing flexible ducting to the airbox stub (ally stuff would be good for this- hopefully the air passes so quickly up the pipe it can't pick much heat off the manifold), passing this down past the exh. manifold (careful!!!! It gets 'kin hot!) and back forwards to the passenger front suspension. Fix the end below the lower A arm so its nice 'n low (and moves with the suspension hence won't go krunch on the ground). Surprisingly I did find this worked well, much better than passing a tube from the mouth to the stock snorkel thingy, revved a lot better. Didn't keep it for long as I had to ditch the entire intake for my sebring :-) (11/99) |
| We do a K&N panel filter(a replacement for the original that keeps the housing) for £28.00 inc vat and a K&N 57i Kit (cone filter kit, including all adaptor plates, fixing brackets for the flow meter and cold air pipe) for £64.95 inc vat Either one will improve air flow, but the 56i kit will do the most! (11/99) |
| I've seen the TSIs at a quick glance (being for a Mk1, and owning a Mk2, I never took too much interest in them) but can't see what would be illegal about having them fitted? (11/99) |
| Make sure you buy TSIs ready painted. To paint them yourself you need to bake them in an oven first. You cannot skip this step, or the paint will bubble straight off - and a domestic oven WILL NOT do. I am fortunate that I have a paint bake oven at work, so this was ideal, but I would seriously not recommend it otherwise. (11/99) |
| I have both the JR CAI and a set of stainless steel TSI's (look very aggressive :0). Personaly, the TSI's only added aesthetic improvments to the car, no real performance improvements. The CAI on the other made a large difference but do no know if it is worth 320 though. (11/99) |
|
How much is the 56i kit then please? Is this the 57 kit with a longer air pipe? I have a 1.8iS fitted with a Scorpion Cat back exhaust, K&N 'high performance' replacement filter silicon leads etc. As standard a 1.8iS should kick out 131BHP and 155 n/m torque. With the above mods this had gone upto 144BHP and 163n/m torque, Dyno'd before the fitting of the really neat Piper Cross system. After fitting and another Dyno run these had increased to 148BHP and a wapping 177n/m torque, interestingly peak torque has dropped 500rpm. The induction noise has increased (nicely) a little but the exhaust note has got much deeper! Overall, very pleased with it. (11/99) |
|
The K&N 57i kit is over 200 !!! with no club discounts AFAIK, I've got a PiperCross induction kit on my SE and am very happy with it. It replaces everything from the AFM back. They should be about 70 - 80 when they come on the market and include a huge cone filter, all brackets etc, and a highly polished heat shield. Steve Lowe had his dyno'd and it gave him an increase of about 4 bhp, but more importantly about 15 lbft of torque. (11/99)
|
| That's fifteen, not one point five? Seems an incredible figure? Are the dynos on-line for this? Presumably he did something else at the same time - replaced exhaust etc?? (11/99) |
| Sure, ask him at steve.lowe@pipemedia.co.uk for the full spec (11/99) |
| Me thinks there is some mix up here ! The K&N 57i induction kit for the 90-93 1.6 costs 221.50 from XS auto, and pretty much the same from all other suppliers, thats why I opted for the PiperX system. (11/99) |
| Now, I'm confused. I knew the 57i kit was pricey, but I always thought this consited of big cone filter, airflow meter adaptor, brackets and bit of tin to double up as a pathetic heat shield (some had a bit of bacofoil over it). Now Scimitar International is doing what looks to be the same thing for £65 or so. Or is it? I was going to go for the Pipercross after I found out the garage had been doing me a "favour" and cleaning it with compressed air. However, K&N now reckon its probably come to no major harm. (11/99) |
| Nope, double checked: http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/pages/kn2.htm "Breath power into your MX5. Fitting a K&N Filters 57i kit will mean extra power, extra torque and improved throttle response. These kits are quality engineered and designed to last the life of your car. All 57i kits include comprehensive easy to follow instructions. All brackets, nuts and screws are plated for extra long life, and of course the filter comes with the famous K&N Filters one million mile warranty. The MX5 Kit includes a cold air pick up system to guarantee maximum power at all times. £64.95 inc VAT" Caught me by surprise. Its not worth 200 quid though (I had a Japanese version of the K&N with my Roadster, labelled "Mm's K&N"). (11/99) |
| No mix up on the prices. The K&N 57i kit is £64.95 inc vat from us. Just for info, this kit was introduced some months ago, and is made in the UK, unlike the old kit that was imported from the states, hence the price difference. Performance is identical to the US version. Just to make sure, the one on your web site is for a 94 on, model (hot wire AFM) with round flange, do you supply a new AFM for those of us with pre 94 models, (Bosch type AFM) with a square flange, or is there an adaptor included. When doing the prototype for PiperX we found that we had to cut back the inlet elbow in order to get the filter inbetween that and the ABS unit. The installation for post 94 cars is very simple, thus the cheaper price. Also from the picture the actual filter cone appears very small in comparison to the AFM, the PiperX cone is at least double the surface area. (11/99) |
| I spent some time this weekend looking at alternative routes for a homemade CAI, something that involved not running 23ft of tumble dryer hose around the front wheel! I think I can spot a route straight down the back of the engine bay with the funnel located along the bottom of the engine. Couple of questions though. The existing inlet stops about 4 inches from the wing, is it possible to get a hose onto the end of this, and do I want to? Any ideas for suitable collecting funnels? probably need to be metal rather than plastic. Would this invalidate the mazda warranty? (11/99) |
|
No point, really. If you add a hose to the existing snorkel, you've already buggered up Mazdas design so far as resonators or any tuned length is concerned. If it was convenient to use the snorkel, fine, but I think it'll be easier to get whatever hose you use connected directly to the airbox. Also the airbox is just Mazdas way of holding the flow meter and the air filter. Now you've got to have the flow meter and the air filter (practically speaking) but you could design alternatives - at the end of the day you have just got to get air in, through an air filter of adequate flow and the flow meter and ending up at the throttle body. It would certainly be possible to improve on Mazdas design - whether your design would is subject to test! But they had to compromise (eg noise, frequency of filter cleaning, looks) - you don't need to. Any ideas for suitable collecting funnels? probably need to be metal rather than plastic. Some sort of stainless catering funnel (from a catering suppliers shop)? The bigger the better - but it's got to fit in the car! Would this invalidate the mazda warranty? Bit like insurance - give them an excuse....... Good luck! Randy Stocker has lots of discussion and pictures of CAI mods on his site - can't just recall the URL at the moment. Keep us informed! (11/99) |
| ..and would it scoop up Cowsh*t from country lanes? ;-) was thinking of something like this myself, but I wouldn't want to leave the existing intake where it is.....that would result in a sharp 90 degree bend (not good at all for airflow). Might get hold of another standard intake tube to chop about as an experiment. (11/99) |
| I was thinking of putting a bit of mesh into the scoop to avoid filling the filter full of cow poop, still no closer to finding anything to use, and then comes the problem of where to attach it! (11/99) |
| "kit currently only fits 1.6 cars with 'square' intake on air flow meter (89-94?) kits for all later models due soon." - taken from http://www.mx5parts.co.uk I quite fancy one of these 57i kits for my 96 1.8i but guess that I have to wait for the new kits to be developed, is this true ? Sorry if this has already been asked... (11/99) |