eviltwinkie

Greetings all...I have answered a call to be the guinea pig / reviewer of a Simota SRI Intake.

I scoured all other forums such as the MS3 and VW forums for information on this intake and how they have affected other vehicles and come up with very little objective information. Perhaps I missed something...if you find anything please feel free to chime in.

I am also very familiar with the Simota CF Intake v1 issues so I know what to test for. I am looking to provide back to the community as objective a review as possible while answering any questions and performing any tests as well.

Here is your chance to post your questions, comments, tests, picture, etc...requests.

I'll keep everyone posted and try to make everyone happy (haa...I said TRY).


UPDATE:

I have yet to make the measurements but I will and post my findings...

SO...after spending some time going thru the kit I took a few pictures and posted them to my server so you could download the hi-res versions for closer inspection if you so wish.

First off the finish of the tube is pretty poor. If you look inside its very rough and has metal poking in. It's very cheap looking and needs sandpaper taken to it to smooth it out, especially the parts of the tubes that are jutting in (see pic).




LARGE: http://www.eviltwinkie.com/RX8/INTKIT3.JPG


The airfilter (simota 3.5in) is nothing special...however I dont think I could trust its filtration ability. If I take a flashlight I can almost see clearly thru it. No airhorn anywhere.




LARGE: http://www.eviltwinkie.com/RX8/INTKIT2.JPG


You will also need to pull out one of the stock airbox screens and install it to smooth the airflow to complete the install.

Now to more interesting things...I decided to further investigate the K&N "heat sheild" (black metal part) similarities...which is also what has taken me so long to post this update. Attached you will see an auction on ebay for what is almost the EXACT same kit...however with a K&N filter and no simota sticker.




LARGE: http://www.eviltwinkie.com/RX8/INTKIT1.JPG



LARGE: http://www.eviltwinkie.com/RX8/EBAYRX8KN.JPG


It appears that the original componets of the K&N Typhoon v1 have either been cloned or sold off to a bulk distributor or something because all this "kit" really is...a knock off with a simota filter+simota sticker.

Obviously with our cars your not going to see any HP increases and my highly tuned butt dyno could not pick anything up. Unless your running a duct and seal the intake off from the engine bay, your going to be sucking hot air in as well. The car's intake is now MUCH louder than stock but that is also to be expected from any of these kits.

INSTALL:

If you were paying attention you will notice the aluminum shroud I created specifically for the "heat shield". It was a 10min job so cut me some slack. The heat being soaked up from the radiator was pretty high so I removed the lower tray and fabbed that part instead. Using my trusty handy dandy temp-o-meter I confirmed that it was doing its job and keeping a majority of the heat away from the intake, and direct whatever air coming in from the radiator support hole. After some running around the MAF tube was cooler than before, but still warmer than I like to see. Tracking in texas heat is my biggest concern so I know this intake is not going to be for me. Shouldnt be that big of a deal for most other people tho.



LARGE: http://www.eviltwinkie.com/RX8/SIM-INT.JPG

SOUND:

I accidentally placed the recorder too close to the car and so it sounds somewhat distorted at the upper volume threshold. You can also hear a whine which is pronounced due to the proximity of the recorder, this is also a side effect of the intake install. [EDIT] I noticed that whine was not there when the car was cold...so I may have incorrectly blamed the intake for the whine. It may have been from the cooling fans. I'll double check it later.

http://www.eviltwinkie.com/RX8/simota.wav

CONCLUSION: (so far)

So far, I'm not impressed and I cant help but feel that its a cheap knockoff considering the lack of information, product page, manual, quality of build, and striking similarities to other kits which already exist.

So far I'd give it a "MEH"...more to follow soon...

POST-MORTEM: (rep response + my feedback)

I cut/paste a snip of conversation between the Simota Rep and myself. Figured it would be best for the peeps that are too lazy to read the entire thread. For more info and indepth discussions regarding these and other points...do yourself a favor and read the entire thread.

Agreed, its not a big deal, simply a comment on the "finish" of the product. I just nit-pick that way...nice welds, smooth edges, etc, etc...the "finish" of a product is usually (not always) a good indicator of quality...

I am sure that its a good filter, however I know that better filters exist. Flow is important in any filter, but how well it performs filtration is also equally important. I do not question the ability of the filter to flow, I question the filtration capability. Again I am very picky about this aspect...perhaps more than most people.

That would probably be a good idea. You should assume your target audience should know how to replace thier air filter, but will not know how to replace thier entire intake.

See thats what I am investigating now. Its not a similar design...its nearly identical down to the incorrectly sized hose that shipped with the kit. With the exception of the filter, they both appear identical. The MAF tube and "heat shield" are identical on both this kit as well as the one off of ebay. I cannot verify the older Typhoon v1 kit as I have yet to source anyone with one or find any solid photos to compare.

My recommendations would be to ship with tech sheet of some sort, correct the size of the hose sent with the kit, and offer different filters if possible.

limepro

do a dyno with stock air box and then with the intake put in see if there is any noticable difference and also sound wise from stock.

eviltwinkie

First thing that I noticed BTW was that the metal shroud looks suspicously alot like the K&N Typhoon V1 shroud...can anyone who used to own one chime in?

I plan to do a dyno test as soon as I can get something scheduled to also answer that same question limepro...

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

that looks like the same thing others before you have tried, what am I missing?

edit: noted that it doesn't have the CF box, now it can suck in even more hot radiator air

Trekk

put an RB ram on it and it wont.

eviltwinkie

Ha...you seriously think I'd let that slide? That's step 1...seal off that bastard and duct it w/ cool air via the RB ram...

But first things first...what's it do all by its lonesome...

Trekk

I'd, measure the inside of the pipe while your at it. I'd also like to know if the filter has a air bell/horn inside to increase the flow to the pipe, if the Maf sits as deep as on the stock intake and ummm does the rubber connector have thread (woven) in it?

eviltwinkie

Will do...

ETA April 28...

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

looks like the same filter as the earlier versions:

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-aftermarket-performance-modifications-23/attention-people-umnitza-carbon-fiber-intake-must-read-103692/


unless you add a sealed box you're mistaken ...

eviltwinkie

Good eye there...yeah it does look the same...

And yeah...unless you seal it off your gonna be sucking hot air from the bay...

In this case its a cheap intake I can make a box for...first things first however was to do a review and I'm going to be as objective as possible for that...afterwards tho I'm gonna get midevil on it haa haa...

Trekk

I had a big post about it, measured all the temps between the maf and on the filter. At different speed locations and so on, then I posted it it and everyone was like "wow you mean the cold air ram, rams in cold air????"
So I erased it and no longer post any finding or testing. Those were my findings, I'm not saying I'm right or your wrong.

I'm working on a fiberglass box anyways to try. The difference as is, was 1deg higher then outside air. I'll see.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

the heat difference when I'm racing and when I'm driving on the street is like night and day, my comment on sucking hot air was WRT racing

scsi

can you do your testing with the intake out of the box before any modifications? also can u weigh the new setup as well as the stock piece that it replaces and tell us the weight difference? thanks!

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

I'm going to take this back. Ran the first event for 2007 yesterday, part of my mods this year were removing the perforated aluminum grills from the front bumper oopenings. I was thinking that maybe the grilles were reducing too much airflow and was right. The engine bay is running way cooler now.

eviltwinkie

Thats very interesting. I was thinking of picking up some grills from grill-guy and I know that I could remove the stock grill entirely and use the one from grill-guy instead of installing it in front of the stock grill like the directions state. Me thinks that perhaps this would help cooling. I plan on doing HPDE's later on this summer and Texas heat is absolutely brutal.

One thing I found that helped reduce my oil temps was to take a jewlers screwdriver and clean out the bugs from my oil coolers. I also went fin-by-fin bending them back into shape. Temp dropped like 9C...Had a moth the size of a silver dollar embedded that was at least worth a few degrees haa haa

eviltwinkie

Intake JUST arrived...opened the box and the contents is exactly as appeared on the picture.

Ding #1...No install sheet or product page at all. Not that it takes a brain surgeon to install an intake, but as someone who actually creates products for the IT world I learned a long time ago...just because you can make something does not make it a "product". A "product" is a finished good with documentation and appropriate packaging. This might be beta .5 but a document explaining the components or a "exploded" diagram should have at least been included for the less technically inclined.

I'll post pictures very shortly. A few things troubling is that it arrived with a hose that is too small for the protruding tubes, and a strip of what looks like weather stripping/grommet which is too long and appears might need to be cut in half. More to follow in a bit.

LabDad

Did you take this measurement yet? It looks small in the pic (like a 3" pipe). Of course it's hard to tell without a reference. First thing is to make sure it's the same size as the factory piece.

eviltwinkie

Updated First Post

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

I have no problem with people making the same mistake I did, it's a relief to know other people are just as dumb as I was ...

eviltwinkie

Pfft...you think YOUR dumb? I still dont understand which mistake out of all of mine your talking about! haa...

savedsol

I believe he's saying Grille Guys' grille is part of the problem not the solution - even when removing the stock grill. That thing looks like it doesn't breathe at all. Check out this one on the right the "XXL". It's what I'll be doing in powdercoated black on all the openings after removing the stock honeycomb.


Now look at all of the surface area of the Grille Guy grill:

eviltwinkie

Ahhh I see...your probably right...that is most likely what he ment.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

bingo, and the OE grille only feeds the RB ram duct and I have that area already cut out, so it wasn't the radiator that was being deprived airflow for that piece ...

eviltwinkie

So what are you plannin on doing longer term? Happy with the stock grille w/ cutout?

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

yes