QLex300

Hi everyone.


I'm looking to get a few questions answered based off experience from using a Cold Intake system.

Not racing the car at all just was looking at how these Cold Air intakes are supposed to be a:
1. A cheap source of HP and Torque, but is this on Top End only?
2. How is the drivability in city cruises and daily driving?
3. Should i get the car tuned if I'm adding this Cold Air Take?
4. On rainy days, how or did that effect rain getting into the system?

Any input or advice be Truly Appreciated.
Thank you
01 GS 300 145K
Stock Motor

Scigheras

1. Depends on the specific intake and engine model, if you want to know this you should find out if there are any before/after dyno plots.
2. Same as above also depends, sometimes it can be a little bit worse due to bad air mixing/velocity design at lower engine speeds, or sometimes it can be a bit better against heat soak when waiting at a traffic light on a hot day for example
3. If you want to max out the possible gains yes, but you don't have to
4. As long as you don't submerge the filter in standing water, or drive through massive puddles that could directly aim a big volume of water at the filter, you will be fine

All that being said, it is good you are taking all these things into consideration, but honestly all the changes related to your questions are insignificant and you will barely notice them, if at all.
Most people just get one for the cool sound or looks, you will notice that.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

If the GS300 is completely stock, you will gain very little horsepower from an intake unless you did a custom one. The ones with the cone filters get heat soaked and end up sucking in a lot of hot air after a while. It does make a cool sound when it’s sucking in air though.

The SC300 and 400 guys used to the BFI (Big Freaking Intake) mod to the factory air box. I believe it gives an extra 10 hp, while keeping the factory look. The factory air box is better than many of the intakes sold online. I’ll see if I can find a link to one of the old threads but it should also pop up on google too.

I have an aftermarket intake on my LS430 and SC300. It’s mainly for the look and sound, as well as I got them at a decent price. No real performance gains like a custom cold air intake would have.

QLex300

Hi
Thanks for sharing much NEEDED info!!

JaySco

Been there done that, hydrolocked the engine in my Civic when I was a teen and I’ve learned a lot since then. The way I see it, if a plain tube attached to a big cone filter was better in any way then engineers wouldn’t spend any time at all engineering these elaborate intake systems.
On a race car, sure. On a DD street car, nope.

NotFSport

This is such a silly take, and would completely negate ANY performance mods on any car if it was right.

It's true that intake mods don't really have much impact on a car, but it's not because "the engineers made it perfect as-is and would have done it differently if that was better." Engineers make design decisions all of the time for vehicles for myriad reasons, and those may not align with the owner of said car. Weight, sound, look, performance, and cost are all factors. Heck, even the amount of space/layout of the engine bay is a factor. Engineers design terrible exhaust systems which effectively stymie a car's performance all of the time for the sake of sound deadening. If an owner feels that they'd rather trade sound for performance, then "the engineers designed it this way" means nothing.

Some cars don't even need a different-shape intake filter to make a big difference. The GS F, for example, benefits greatly from a carbon fiber heat shield over the top of the airbox to get cooler air into the intake when the secondary flap opens, as opposed to hotter air from the engine bay.

JaySco

You’re using quotation marks incorrectly. Just because you put some random words in quotes does not mean that’s what anyone said. I’ll use this opportunity to give an example; when I said “The way I see it…” implies that this is my opinion and not a certified fact.
Anyway, I just tossed the mufflers on my LS because I like the sound. It will gain me zero performance but I did it anyway. The point is that I understand your point. My point on intakes is that many (most) just suck up engine bay air, which is hot and less dense and is worse for power. There have been literally hundreds of dyno tests done, depending on the car/engine some have actually gained a couple HP, some have lost HP. I doubt it would have much positive effect, if any, on an otherwise stock 2GS. Since the first point of the OP was about power I see it as relevant. Since you like vroom vroom noise you saw it as an attack on your personal views. Hope this aids in understanding of my desired conveyance.

NotFSport

Fair enough, it sounds like we do agree on the core of it. I just think saying something similar to "the engineers designed it this way for a reason" is misleading as many people involved in designing a car make lots of stupid decisions all of the time, and i don't think intakes are immune to their shenanigans. Although i do agree that for the most part intake mods are for the induction noise, not actual gains (at least not without myriad other mods, including a tune, to go with it).

JaySco

Oh we’re on the same page but now you’ve got my attention and your argumentative reasoning is flawed, so allow me to play devils advocate. In your last two posts you’ve listed noise or sound (specifically lack there of) multiple times in both intake and exhaust, and you’ve framed them as engineering flaws. You’ve also stated that intake mods don’t usually gain power (especially if not done in conjunction with a tune, etc) either.
So, an OEM intake that makes the same power as an aftermarket one and does it quietly, on a luxury car that was specifically engineered to be quiet? Sounds like great engineering to me.
It’s not what you personally want but it’s what made Lexus so great in its early days, I’d consider that a win.

Moving on. I really get it, I’ve used your same logic to explain why I’ve trashed my ML sound system. To some people this system was sent by the gods in heaven. No, it was made to be the best it could be within certain parameters, but it’s easily bested by modern equipment installed properly.

Work on your reasoning, and you’re still using quotations wrong.

NotFSport

Oh I love the pedantic stuff! First of all, I haven't used quotations wrong more than once. The first time was just lazy composition, you're right, but the second time I said "saying something similar to"; you can certainly disagree with my interpretation of your words but that isn't incorrect quotation mark use (they're called "scare quotes") linguistically speaking.

I also haven't really framed the noise/sound (or lack thereof) as engineering flaws, but I can see why you'd think that. There are a lot of mods that can be done which don't impact sound but can increase the performance, such as a different material for an intake elbow (a mod which doesn't change the fundamental structure of the intake system). It certainly isn't a "flaw" that the elbow on some cars is made of cheap plastic, or of any plastic at all, but the fact that an intake elbow made of CF or silicone would lead to better airflow through the system still stands. All of this is, of course, assuming that better airflow = better performance, but that has nothing to do with sound. Could the engineers have designed the same part but with silicone instead of plastic? Absolutely, and it would have been better, but what's to stop them from making the entire exhaust system out of titanium? Costs and production restraints, most likely. I don't think you need to want the car to sound better to make changes to the intake or exhaust systems, or any other systems for that matter. Increasing power, increasing (or simply changing) the sound, improving gas mileage, or decreasing weight are all valid reasons for someone to make a change, and if they do so that doesn't mean that the engineering was flawed. The engineering decisions were made for a reason, and the vehicle is a culmination of many many decisions. They could have made the exact same airbox and intake system but out of carbon fiber and titanium, and the car would have been better for it, but at no point do I think it was a "flaw" that they were only made of plastic.

I think an opportunity to modify a part is not an indictment of the engineering process. I just think that not every part is the best it could be from the factory (regardless of how one defines "best") and not every engineering decision was made in a vacuum. I'm sure that plenty of engineers languish over the decisions to cheapen certain materials or sacrifice some geometry in the name of cost savings or practicality. Either way this has come a long way from your initial statement about cone filters on a long tube, but i still stand that an argument about things being better the way the engineers designed them is short-sighted and misleading.

JaySco

I still agree with you overall but still stand that in this specific instance (daily driven, stock everything) the OEM part is objectively better, and by your replies I don’t think you are arguing that point.

Most mods make subjective improvements, and that’s fine. I make changes all the time that basically undo what some poor sap spent months figuring out. Does it make the car better? Depends on who you ask. Does it make me happy? Heck yeah. And it’s my car so that’s what matters, same as your car.

This was fun! Thanks for the opportunity to have a civil conversation on opposing views. A truly rare treat these days.

edit: not even really opposing views since we were actually in agreement most of the time

QLex300

Aw sorry to hear that happened but I appreciate you sharing that experience.

NotFSport

Likewise! Cheers mate!