Big Flow Cool Air Intake Setup
03-11-09, 02:33 PM
#1
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
Big Flow Cool Air Intake Setup
Hello all.
This is something I worked up yesterday after liking the performance increase I found while driving at night, before I placed the piping and heat shielding.
Parts are cheap and easy to find. When working up stuff like this, go to your local hardware store, not performance shops.
Piping used was I believe 2" diametre. Or close to it. I got 20m of it (totally flexible plastic) at $12 US. For a heat shield you can use any flexible metal/ alleminuem product, but I'd suggest using a thicker sheet, around 0.5-0.8mm in thickness, just because it will hold its shape better in the long run. I got 10m of alleminuem roll at 30cm width for $18 US.
Total cost $30 US. (And that was for way too much product)
After cutting out the front bottom part of the original intake box (the bottom half) you will be left with a large area of intake. You can leave the box like this and drive along, and you will feel increase in performance in cool weather.
Once you have the hole, you will need to move the battery over as far as possible to allow the intake pipes to fit past to the air box. The pipes need to go on top of each-other as there is no room for two pipes side by side. 2" pipes are about as large as you can go, as they just fit between the gaps that lead between the headlight to the bottom of the front bar.
Once you have the pipes heading down at the front bar, it is up to you which way you lead them and where you lead them to. I sent mine to the centre lower grill to grab as much cool air as possible. Keep in mind, the easiest way to do this is to keep the setup very tight, which means shaping the pipes so they tension themselves against the body. This way you only need to zip tie one end of the pipes to the body for extra security. The pipes hold themselves into the air box if you fit them in properly. You need to take the front headlight out to do this.
For heat shielding, take the metal product and shape it to whatever you like. I cut out a hole in correspondence to the original intake past the MAF sensor and slid the metal onto that pipe which is a perfect place to have the centre of the heat shield held. Make sure you cut a piece long enough to reach around both sides of the box (as I cut mine a bit short and is letting a bit of warm engine air to the intake box, but it's not bothering me that much. Plus I have another 9m of alleminuem left to fix it haha).
I think the best thing to do now, is to tape up the gap I have in the air box just next to the pipe leading into it, which would keep any extra warm air out.
Pictures aren't very good, but anyway, in the end it's a very neat upgrade, looks factory and does the job. Either way, you have increased cold air inflow.
Thanks.
This is something I worked up yesterday after liking the performance increase I found while driving at night, before I placed the piping and heat shielding.
Parts are cheap and easy to find. When working up stuff like this, go to your local hardware store, not performance shops.
Piping used was I believe 2" diametre. Or close to it. I got 20m of it (totally flexible plastic) at $12 US. For a heat shield you can use any flexible metal/ alleminuem product, but I'd suggest using a thicker sheet, around 0.5-0.8mm in thickness, just because it will hold its shape better in the long run. I got 10m of alleminuem roll at 30cm width for $18 US.
Total cost $30 US. (And that was for way too much product)
After cutting out the front bottom part of the original intake box (the bottom half) you will be left with a large area of intake. You can leave the box like this and drive along, and you will feel increase in performance in cool weather.
Once you have the hole, you will need to move the battery over as far as possible to allow the intake pipes to fit past to the air box. The pipes need to go on top of each-other as there is no room for two pipes side by side. 2" pipes are about as large as you can go, as they just fit between the gaps that lead between the headlight to the bottom of the front bar.
Once you have the pipes heading down at the front bar, it is up to you which way you lead them and where you lead them to. I sent mine to the centre lower grill to grab as much cool air as possible. Keep in mind, the easiest way to do this is to keep the setup very tight, which means shaping the pipes so they tension themselves against the body. This way you only need to zip tie one end of the pipes to the body for extra security. The pipes hold themselves into the air box if you fit them in properly. You need to take the front headlight out to do this.
For heat shielding, take the metal product and shape it to whatever you like. I cut out a hole in correspondence to the original intake past the MAF sensor and slid the metal onto that pipe which is a perfect place to have the centre of the heat shield held. Make sure you cut a piece long enough to reach around both sides of the box (as I cut mine a bit short and is letting a bit of warm engine air to the intake box, but it's not bothering me that much. Plus I have another 9m of alleminuem left to fix it haha).
I think the best thing to do now, is to tape up the gap I have in the air box just next to the pipe leading into it, which would keep any extra warm air out.
Pictures aren't very good, but anyway, in the end it's a very neat upgrade, looks factory and does the job. Either way, you have increased cold air inflow.
Thanks.
Last edited by Parker Gen; 03-11-09 at 02:43 PM.
03-11-09, 08:58 PM
#3
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
The metal was a pain in the ***, and that's why I recommend thickness overall. The metal, I could cut with scissors. But it is the hardest part. It would be easier with a bench set up, but I couldn't be bothered walking downstairs hehe.
BTW, this was GTR inspired
BTW, this was GTR inspired
03-13-09, 10:37 PM
#4
Lexus Champion
I'm sorry that you didn't know this already, and regret having to be the one to break it to you but it's known that modifying the intake on this engine is fruitless.
BTW, that's a pretty clean looking and like-new engine bay you got there
BTW, that's a pretty clean looking and like-new engine bay you got there
03-14-09, 04:59 AM
#5
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
And yeah, the bay is almost all new.
03-14-09, 09:01 AM
#6
Lexus Champion
How much harder is it to atomize that air... and if the air intake temp sensor is so fooled by your mod, that the transmission shifts different, then something is wrong my friend...
the bay is all new... meaning its not original?
the bay is all new... meaning its not original?
03-14-09, 03:29 PM
#7
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
It's not original no, the transmission changes easier because it's brand new and custom built, and I've set it up the way I like it. But I'm not here to prove to anyone whether it works or not, my car is not stock, it works for me. And the theory and practice is simple really. Cool air = more power. More air = less restriction.
And this type of set up has been used on the Lexus SC series a lot with large improvement. And the air intake temperature sensor what you are thinking of is wrong. That only comes into play if the sensor is picking up multiple differences in readings. There is no reason to fool a temperature sensor to thinking air it's receiving is cooler if the air it's receiving is actually cooler. Didn't make sense... there is no fooling the air intake sensor here.
I'm sorry llcoolpass, but you are waaay off base here. There is more pressure going into the manifold because there is less restriction. What I have done here is increased the air flow into the manifold. The transmission shifts easier because of the lessened restriction in the engine. When the engine is running with more pressure and dense air, it tells the transmission to shift quicker because it can afford to. The engine does not need to rev higher to reach the same target... call it point B. If you drive a turbo you would know what I am talking about. To make this easier for you to imagine, think of a bottle of coke. Coke bottle A is 1/2 full. Coke bottle C is 3/4 full. When you squeeze bottle A it is easier to distort its shape than it is when you squeeze bottle C. Why? Because there is more area for the liquids to travel within the bottle. Bottle A flows easier. Now if bottle A has all the room to move, than imagine if bottle A was the engine and the transmission was connected to it. The transmission is reading information from bottle A and is told that it needs more pressure to shift the transmission into the next gear up. Why. Because there is all this space the liquid needs to cover. Bottle C is the model where point B comes in. This bottle is filled higher. Which means the engine is saying, I have this pressure to allow transmission to change gear now. E.g. the rpm is lower because there is less area to fill.
And this type of set up has been used on the Lexus SC series a lot with large improvement. And the air intake temperature sensor what you are thinking of is wrong. That only comes into play if the sensor is picking up multiple differences in readings. There is no reason to fool a temperature sensor to thinking air it's receiving is cooler if the air it's receiving is actually cooler. Didn't make sense... there is no fooling the air intake sensor here.
I'm sorry llcoolpass, but you are waaay off base here. There is more pressure going into the manifold because there is less restriction. What I have done here is increased the air flow into the manifold. The transmission shifts easier because of the lessened restriction in the engine. When the engine is running with more pressure and dense air, it tells the transmission to shift quicker because it can afford to. The engine does not need to rev higher to reach the same target... call it point B. If you drive a turbo you would know what I am talking about. To make this easier for you to imagine, think of a bottle of coke. Coke bottle A is 1/2 full. Coke bottle C is 3/4 full. When you squeeze bottle A it is easier to distort its shape than it is when you squeeze bottle C. Why? Because there is more area for the liquids to travel within the bottle. Bottle A flows easier. Now if bottle A has all the room to move, than imagine if bottle A was the engine and the transmission was connected to it. The transmission is reading information from bottle A and is told that it needs more pressure to shift the transmission into the next gear up. Why. Because there is all this space the liquid needs to cover. Bottle C is the model where point B comes in. This bottle is filled higher. Which means the engine is saying, I have this pressure to allow transmission to change gear now. E.g. the rpm is lower because there is less area to fill.
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