I'm new, and I tried this in the performance threads but no real help just yet...has anyone modded the factory intake system in their GS with good results? so far all I've done is remove the horn piece that comes up under the hood and above the radiator. I know this isnt really helping seeing that the opening that's there now is pointing basically directly at the heat from the engine. Gives a nice throaty growl under load, maybe a bit of throttle response? I just want to know if anyone has done this with decent results. I also have a K&N drop in coming in the next day or two.

 

IMO the factory intake snorkel is positioned well to get cold air into the engine. One thing you should know is that the throttle body is heated by engine coolant to keep the butterfly from icing possibly negating any method of cold air induction. What I did was replace the plastic silencer right before the throtttle body with an aluminum intake tube and kept the factory filter and snorkel. It does growl under full throttle and sounds pretty good.

 

Well what I did was got a aftermarket short ram intake and kept the factory "snorkel". Because what I'm thinking is that with the "snorkel" still on the car it will direct the outside air right on to the K&N filter. As in keeping the factory intake upgrading it to a aftermarket will reduce any restriction on air flow. Hope that helps.

 

By doing that you are hurting performance, especially under high way driving. The funnel is there to direct cold air into the airbox, now your just sucking in the hot air from the engine which is just hurting performance.

 

Yea..shouldn't have done that. The ram air effect is probably the best thing we can get for an intake. Only thing we need now is a filter that flows better than OEM (within reasonable filtration). It's the more ideal combo for a daily driver like myself.

 

This is the filter I just ordered the other day from Amsoil; part #EaAU3560. It supposedly flows a hell of lot better than the K&N filters, is as dry media (not wet/oil like the K&N) and has a "power stack" funnel on top for making the velocity of air flow more smooth and direct into the TB. I'll let you know how this goes. Oh, BTW it is a direct replacement for the K&N FIPK intake filter...I was getting sick and tired of cleaning the K&N; I must have cleaned it about 8 times in the last 4 years; time for something new. Through my calculations I found that this Amsoil filter also has a little more volume (larger) than the K&N yet still will fit perfectly under the hood.

 

Thanks for all the help guys, I'll probably be putting the snorkel back on, but like i said i knew it probably wasn't doing anything for performance, more just sound. As far as the FIPK, that's all well and good but they don't make one for the GS3. An aftermarket intake is just impractical for me right now so I guess we'll just see how the K&N does for now. I don't know why all of you guys are so afraid of the K&N filters for the oil, I have never once ran into an issue of sucking oil into the engine. And as far as filtration, think about if you were to wipe up some dry dirt with a dry paper towel. You might get a good amount, and block the rest from coming through onto your hand, but if you wet the paper towel down a little, you'll grab a whole lot more. Just don't overoil the thing when you clean it and you'll be fine.

But, more to the point, I was wondering if anyone had tried cutting the airbox in any way. From what I can see, there aren't a whole lot of great outlets for cool air to come in and directly hit the box. Nor is there an easy way to do what i did and then maybe run a hose down to the bumper to suck in some cool air.

 

actually, the air that comes into the snorkel hits the expansion tank above the radiator before it enters the intake system...so I guess what you're thinking is really only true before the engine really warms up...

 

You mean like this... I did this a while back and ran the entire intake pipe down to this location (you can see the cone filter right there). The car definitely pulled real hard up top (very noticable) but there was a slight low end loss (almost like a short turbo lag). I changed this setup back to the regular intake because I was getting a CEL (PO171 lean code) only when I had this setup on. I would take it off, reset the ECU and no CEL...put it back on reset the ECU and BAM! CEL comes on in the matter of 1 minute. I think it's because I went with a 4" pipe for the extension down there. Who knows, when I get a chance I will buy smaller piping and re-install and see what happens. Only thing that sucks with this setup is that you are suseptable to sucking up water in deep puddles and the filter gets dirtier quicker.

 

the OP lives in Rhode Island...I'd keep it.

 

i dunno if these work but what about adding those AEM bypass valve things every ricer had back in like 2001?

 

That AEM bypass you are referring to is only for sizes 2" to 3" intake pipes; mainly for 4 & 6cyl cars.

 

Actually your quite wrong. The heat transfer rate from the top of the radiator to the air at highways speeds is going to be very little over that small area, especially when you factor in the plastic "snorkel" is buffering the heat between the radiator and the airflow.

The air your sucking from the engine bay without the snorkel is going to be almost at a point of stagnation compared with the flow it would be receiving from the snorkel. If you don't believe me crack open a book on thermodynamics

 

perhaps this is the n00b in me rearing its ugly head...what exactly is an OP?

 

Original poster