custom intake manifold proto
 

i mod the stock intake mani, moving the TB as close as i could to better the throttle responce. only took me a few hrs and a few parts. the stock ecu is still re-tuning itself. power from idle in 3rd is ok and power so far comes on at 2.5k with the ssv always open. i will run a vac line to get the ssv working agian tonight. i have less rpm float shifting and power feels good at all rpms and much more touchy gas inputs :D i did this to test what it would be like with the pettit upper mani they have for sale with out drop'n the big bucks yet. at this point i would say the pettit mani is worth testing as i really like how my custom one has truned out. i will try to dyno in a month or so.

Honestly I can't see what kind of difference this is going to make. It makes the engine bay look like it was piece mealed with cheap parts laying around in ones garage. Good luck with whatever it is your looking to accomplish.

here is another pic when i was testing different cai length

another pic

bigger pic

:Eyecrazy::squint:

does look cheap and puts the air filter further back into the engine bay thus sucking in more hot air. This is why most people on here will say to just get a drop in filter because the stock intake is very good and most aftermarket intakes are essentially hot air intakes that lose hp such as the typhoon by K&N

Kudos for the creativity, and (no offense) but even though your engine bay does look extremely tragic, you may be on to something. But there is a flaw in what your trying to accomplish. I'm not sure if you have any past experience in engine building (rotary or recip.) of knowledge of how intake manifolds function and produce power. One of the biggest issues with our cars in terms of power, is the almost complete lack of torque. Even though we have 9k+ rpm to play with, we are limited in anything involving low rpm (at least our N/A friends), drags racers, you know what i'm talking about, road racers, we have a better range of utilizing our gearing with a high rpm range to make it around a track in a decent powerband. With intake manifolds, long runners make torque, short runners make HP, so you've effectively narrowed if not dropped your torque #'s, if you plan on staying at 6k+ rpm all the time, then your design is going the right direction, but if you want a usable manifold, that may have potential gains at most/all rpm's, you may want to consider this. Instead of removing the length that you did to make it a more straight flow, keep the length as close to stock as possible, with the modification being in the direction, straight in is great, but keeping the runner length closer to factory will let you still keep the little torque we have. Then, your main restriction in air flow (aside from filter choice) will be the horrible 90deg bend going into the TB. Shit, make a straight tube, off a straight runner, with the MAF in it, with a filter straight on it right behind the drv fender, make a heat box around 5 sides of it, leave the top open, cut a hole in your hood, and BAM, straight, long runner, (cooler) air box system... (this was a joke.... for those of you thinking i was serious...... sad....)

your complete lack of understanding of how a MAF based car works is glaring in all those photos. I applaud your creativity but with no knowledge behind your "mod" you did nothing but trash a very good stock intake in favor of something home brewed.

I have nothing but respect for people who aren't afraid to try new things, but what you're doing has been tried and has been found to cause issues.

its understandable that it looks a bit funny, but i do have a very good understanding of how asc works and how changing the over all length changes it. but the stock mani is built around the stock airbox and ext system, and since i have changed all of these things the stock asc and even when best to open the ssv and apv has changed. when i get my cobb and laptop all set up and i can sweet talk my way into some cheap dyno time it will be fun to see if i can make it all work out in my fav lol.

well as for a update to this mad science, i hooked up the ssv as it should be stock, and now things are really going well, in 3rd at just below 2k it still will take rite off, since i should have really killed low end i can only say that MAYBE due to the tb be so close that it is making a tumbling effect that is counter acting the over all shorter runner length.. once the ecu re-builds the fuel trims table it will be fun to see just how it runs and how my mpg has changed. ill keep you all posted as things change, if for no other reason then to make you all laugh :rollingla

as for the hot air intake, yes i know, but i have ducting that you cant see in the pics, and as soon as the car gets going over 30mph my iat are with in 5 of air temp, as where the stock air box i have seen stays about 20 about once it heat soaks. once i settle on a intake length ill build a new air box :)

Another thing by going with this design you have eliminated your strut tower bar. This cant be good for body roll. Be careful with your high speed cornering.

Are you monitoring your AFRs and/or tuning to offset the major changes you've made to the way your car measures air?

Going to have to mirror what others have said. I'm all for custom....but this is a step backwards. This is the equivilent of scraping off your paint with rasp and painting it with housepaint so you can say it has a "custom paint".

It's not a mcpherson system, the struts are not essentials by any means.
Agreed, i have also experimented with ITBs as well as different lenght manifolds and the results were all within dyno error on a stock engine.

my strut bar is on, just ont in the pics. i am watching my a/f and fuel trims and timing and iat. i am using a stock dia air tube so the only change in how it reads is from the only from the change in length. so far the ecu is still working with in its window, i do have a intake tube that is ~10% smaller in dia if i max out the fuel trim as i dont have a cobb yet. still runing full timing thus far.

i dont like it man... You get a E for effort though.

how did the itbs work out for you? any pics?

I am back to a stock plastic intake manifold and a slightly polished\reworked lower one.

I think, the length of the intake tube before and after the maf, should be 3 times the diameter of the tube,and the tube should be a certain diameter. BHR have a great write up on this.

Well done for trying something different, and for brushing off the negativity.
Hope it's a success.

the MAF tube just has to be the rite dia, length is not a factor. Thanks Specialpowers :D im happy with it so far. ill see how it stacks up to my dyno i had done last year with just a cai and cat back

lol I hope MM sees this thread......

i think he knows better then to even bother posting in here

Several of us are racing without one without any negative effects. There's no shortage of people on this forum who know even less than the other people here they're accusing of not knowing what they're doing ...

^+1 Everyone's an expert.