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Reviewing RR Racing Intake Heat Shield in a 2020 GSF
Hey folks,
Just wanted to share my experience with installing an intake heat shield that I purchased from RR Racing:
- looks like they're still including the wrong size vacuum line. I ended up going to Autozone and removed the short vacuum line from my solenoid in the parking lot to get right one quickly. ($20 for 10 feet of vacuum line)
- the carbon fiber around the hole where the screw goes in is cracked. My guess is either poor storage of inventory or I received someone's return, but given that this is the second time I've noticed something like this from them, I'm inclined to believe that it's the latter (the first one was their oil separator, link to the review here if you're interested)
- mounting the horn as advised by RR did not seem to be the best solution for relocation so I did like what a couple of other users on the forum did and used the horn's bracket instead (picture below for reference)
- the solenoid was tricky to relocate as well because the AVS cable was in the way, but after some test fitting, I was able to relocate it by bending the bracket that it was attached to
- cutting the trim was sketchy as there were no specific instructions on how much to cut, so I ended up cutting more than what was needed, by accident
- took about an hour to install and was pretty easy except relocating the horn, solenoid, and vacuum hose which may require a little creativity if you do not prefer RR's relocation instructions
Overall, this product is well designed but fell short on quality control and R&D that left me spending more to get this part installed. Yeah, it's just $20 bucks but I feel like this shouldn't have been necessary, especially since it's been mentioned a few times from others that purchased this kit (maybe they don't read the forums). Another issue that needs to be highlighted is the small crack around the hole where the screw goes in. The heat shield itself was tightly packed in cellophane so I don't think the damage was due to shipping. There's also a scuff on the corner of the heat shield that goes into the cut trim area, which looks like it may have been caused by a prior installation attempt. Overlooking these issues exhibits a lack of respect for the customers time and money which I'm sure is not the case. The concept of the product is there, but fell short due to warehouse quality control and logistics. With that said, this heat shield is a great addition to the stock intake system and was fairly easy to install.
I know at some level it does make a difference, but I can't feel it. I believe mods like this require a dyno to see it. Maybe with a less restrictive air filter, the difference will be more noticeable but overall, the stock intake system feels complete with this addition.
There's really nothing you can do on the intake side to get a noticeable difference on these engines. The real difference is in the exhaust, specifically installing headers. Even that isn't nearly as big a deal with the GS F/RC F engines as it is with the IS F's engine.
I am curious? the headers on the gcf/rcf do not make much difference? compared to ISF?
Originally Posted by lobuxracer
There's really nothing you can do on the intake side to get a noticeable difference on these engines. The real difference is in the exhaust, specifically installing headers. Even that isn't nearly as big a deal with the GS F/RC F engines as it is with the IS F's engine.
Because in the ISF the headers were more restricted?
That's part of it. The other part is the port design is different and the cam timing is different, so headers have a bigger impact on the IS F 2UR which is rated significantly less powerful than the RC F/GS F engines.
If I understood correctly because the topic deviated from your experience with the shield to the effectiveness of it.
You should contact RR and ask them to send you another one along with the queries you have.
There's really nothing you can do on the intake side to get a noticeable difference on these engines. The real difference is in the exhaust, specifically installing headers. Even that isn't nearly as big a deal with the GS F/RC F engines as it is with the IS F's engine.
Generally speaking, on an NA application all upgrades are going to be incremental rather than transformative. Having said that, the intake heat shield is a simple upgrade, and is very effective. I strongly encourage everyone to datalog your intake temps with and without the heat shield, as we have documented below. The ISF and RCF/GSF airboxes are the same, but the difference is that the ISF has a cover over the secondary air flap, where as the RCF/GSF **does not** and the difference is OBVIOUS when you measure intake air temps. Lowering intake air temp is critical in making power.
On the topic of installation. I am unaware of any issues with the hose size we send out. We install these all the time, perhaps we accidentally sent out the wrong hose size, I don't know because I dont think we were every contacted about this issue. Had we been contacted we would have gladly made things right.
Regrading the horn placement, I think using the existing open hole is a great location, I do not see anything wrong with this location. We use it all the time with heat shield and supercharger installs, it looks OEM to me.
Regarding cutting of the side plastic trim. We get pushback against doing that sometimes, but folks need to understand that without cutting an opening, you won't get nearly as much cold air flowing to the airbox.... it is necessary.
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Thanks for responding. The hose that was included with my kit had a smaller diameter compared to the oem one. Nigel821 explains it better in this thread with pictures. I didn't reach out about the hose size because I felt it wasn't worth the added hassle when the right hose can be sourced locally.
The crack near where the screw goes almost had me reach out for an exchange, but the thing was already in my hands and I felt the same way here; wasn't worth the added hassle when I can just put a rubber o-ring between the screw and the carbon where the crack is.
It's still a great addition to the stock intake system but as mentioned in my original post, delivery fell a little short. But it's nothing that can't be re-evaluated and corrected so I hope these couple of data points help. Maybe sell the damaged ones with a small discount and keep all the mint ones wrapped in cellophane with the correct hose in a ziplock bag taped to the cellophane.
Thanks for hearing me out, RR. Hope to see a tuning solution for the 2020 GSF soon.
10-23-21, 11:27 AM
Reviewing RR Racing Intake Heat Shield in a 2020 GSF
