Pod or Panel filter?

[blaster]

I have a brand new HKS Power Flow air filter ( Mushroom type) for sale if you are interested, Never got round to putting it on car.$180 let me know if you are interested.................... Cheers Brett

[Col-GTSX]

OK.... I purchased a new K&N filter today at autobarn... for the new car....

Got the adapter and recharge kit also.

Found the car to have a little more lag comming onto boost and does not rev as hard as before due to heat intake. I can measure this as i have a intake temp gauge. It lifted over 20 deg C with the POD filter. However it makes the car sound heaps better. Induction (suck noise) and the flutter off boost before i put the HKS SSQV on later in the arvo....

Anyways i did 3 mods today... But test drove after each.... Pod is not good un-less u use a box to seal it out. As i have proven today with higher intake temp.

[gatty]

Col - of course if the POD is not enclosed you will lose performance - the cooler the air the better it combusts

stormy - if your wanting somehting to make allot of noice - go for a cheaper POD if it's a NA. I have a K&N filter - they filter great - and have great air flow - but your not going to hear anything with it on your NA (if it's stockish), the NA simply wont suck enough. I used to be able to hear mine a bit when i shifted down a gear and gave it some - but once I got my exhaust system got no chance of hearing it

[gatty]

also stormy - oiled filters ar ebetter as the oil helps in the filtration process

[Col-GTSX]

gatty i knew already, but he ask me for stats...

I did the testing today... Once i put my Alloy separator back in and the up pipe fromn the standard intercooler hole it dropped back to normal (standard box) temps... Just a touch cooler....

But yeah if your not gonna partition the pod off then dont bother getting a pod...

[gatty]

[sigsputnik]

dayne, i'm in the same boat as zeb - went to a pod, then back again. i really couldn't tell the difference and didn't want to take the risk of a defect during the tsunami cruise. in a few months or so i'll buy a k+n high flow.

[Greg]

generalli no, u wont get that sound. it is possible if u have a cold air induction to make the sound louder, but once i put my exhaust on, u cant hear the suckin of the pod anymore. Bear in mind that my car is non-turbo. i have heard that there are much louder pods such as the apexi n1 i think, and the HKS mushroom pod is quite a loud one as well.

I have the apexi n1 power intake. it sucks quite loudly but its never annoying. I took my pod off completely so the AFM was sucking air directly (just for a test) and the induction noise was the same as with the pod on - to give you an idea.

[Greg]

oh damn im an idiot, i didnt even think of the oil igniting :s

i'de deffinatly want a non oiled one then heh.

mmm i dont really mind if theres no sound, as long as its helpin my car, it would just be nice to have something eye ( or in this case, EAR ) catching since it doesnt have a turbo, and i guess no turbo means no BOV ?

yes the non oiled ones are the way to go... you can clean them with an air compressor easily as well. i clean mine every 5000km and can notice the difference each time - i do drive in dusty conditions though.

on hot days the pod definitely does not help the car in terms of performance in fact i would say it hinders it. but in the colder weather it's awesome - the sucking noise is sweet and it does give it a bit of extra go in the top end.

(sorry for all the posts)

[Aitch]

As I've now tried all of these options and others over the past year, on a non turbo 2.5L, GTS-S R33, I have found the best option to be none of the above, all of which are a compromise.

I have now completed my latest effort, and it's heaps better than the usual mods. It benefits from the best points from the other options but has none of the downsides. It also produces the gains I was seeking, and it's easy.

I purchased a small bonnet vent, nothing huge, this came from Demon Tweeks (UK). I can't recall the part number but can look it up if needed. It's a raised scoop about 7" x 5" x 1.25" high. This is sat over a hole I cut in the bonnet over the air intake box, around 90mm x 60mm. I then cut a piece of very small form alloy mesh to fit inside the scoop, sat flat on the bonnet over the hole, I sprayed the mesh to match the car colour. I used the mesh for fibreglass bodywork reinforcement as it's alloy, has small pattern and was £1.50 for about a square foot at Halfords.

I then cut a corresponding hole in the airbox lid, then glued a piece of door trim rubber around the hole, the bonnet sits on this to seal when closed. I now have a second direct cold air intake, but retaining the original sealed airbox system, which now has a Nismo panel filter in.

I did this mod after decatting, as I felt that whilst I had made gains with the decat unit the motor was not flowing to maximum potential, it is now!

For those preferring an even more subtle bonnet intake, I also found a very small flat louvre panel..indeed I ensured the hole I cut in the bonnet was suitable to to fit this later if the wife didn't like the small raised scoop.

If the mod ever requires reversing it's a simple matter to patch the bonnet from underneath and spray up on top.

Aitch

[gatty]

and water wont go down in there mate????

if water did it'd be going right into the POD....

BTW this is a mainly australian forum so quoting UK shopsaint much help

and using the standard air box with a high flo panel filter would be just as good as what you describe there with a cheap bit of larger diameter pipe bringing cold ait from somewhere under car to boc

good job though

[Eug]

pictures of this bonnet cut would be good.

i am with arron on this one about the water... i do not think many owners would be keen to

hack up their bonnet just for an extra few kw.

[Aitch]

OK, mod modded to stage 2, ie. rubber door seal changed for better method. I have now fitted a 110mm drain gasket seal, obtained from my local builders supplies centre. The centre of this rubber seal was cut out with a stanley knife, the hole in the airfilter lid was cut with 102mm hole saw. I have retained the cutout and keep it in the glove box, until I prove over time that water doesn't effect anything. If it does at any time during my tests, I can pop the cutout inside the rubber seal to close off the spare intake temporarily.

I'm not 100% happy with the fit or security of the stick on intake, but will add a couple of small screws through the bonnet from underneath and into the intake base flange, would probably use small ground down self tappers. I could not find another intake small enough which was cut in. Under bonnet soundproofing had to be cut of course, and eventually I will seal the edges. I also had to cut 6 or 7mm off the top of the rubber fitting used for the seal as it was too high. I will also stick a spot of glue around the bottom edge eventually to prevent it working down inside the air box.

The liner's been out all night, and on the spare drive which has no shelter whatsoever. Bonnet and intake therefore showing plenty of water as it snowed lightly during the night. I'm waiting for some serious rain over a distance to determine how much if any gets through. First mod if it does will be to add another mesh at the entrance of the scoop. This would be vertical and inclined slightly forward at the top, hopefully encouraging moisture droplets to hit the mesh and fall outside the intake..and if that fails a couple of small up and over baffles siliconed inside the scoop will do it.

Been out 2 days now since mod, once in light to medium rain and today in light snow, not a stutter. I notice there's a small 2mm diameter hole in the rear of the intake scoop, plus a slot around 30mm long and 1mm deep at the base along one side. These could I suppose be to encourage any heavier than air droplets etc to exit straight through..

The original intake is twice the width of this but not quite so deep, located just under and behind the front lip of the bonnet. I frequently find flies etc in the panel filter, indicating that rain droplets could also enter through that original intake, but I've never had a problem nor heard of anyone else with one. I deliberately avoided standard louvres in favour of this intake, as it's covered with only the front open. I can soon mod to totally prevent moisture ingress if it's required, so far it's been fine.

If you feel very strongly about this but wish to do the mod, there's an intake which has the opening at the side instead of the front..

Pic's at link below, used my own space to save the load on the forum.

Please note, David Bailey I am not!

http://www.netpostbag.com/~user0448/

Aitch

[gatty]

mate, i think the problem is not when the car is stationary - but when your driving @ 100km/h in heavy rain...

also i know a few older supra's/celica's that have a almost identical scoop - if i could find my digital camera i would post some pics of what i have done....

[gatty]

ok, some pics:

this is a aluminium box with a clear top - lined with heat insulating foam to keep the heat out. The air is bought in VIA the stock funnel as you can see - with this installed as oposed to a POD filter with no partition I can notice a difference at high revs - weird I know but I can...

what you guys think?

[Aitch]

That looks a nice job, should get around the hot air problem fine. I wanted to actually get more air in than the standard intake duct could provide, due to size / volume restrictions, which is why I went the hard way.

Aitch

[gatty]

yeah but look at the size of yours - you's be surprise not 'that' much air is going in - plus the funnel was engineered by nissan - if it's good enough for a GTST it's more than ample for a GTS

[RTHRTY3]

sorry to hijack but wat would u do first, intake or out? In other words airfilter (e.g pods) or the exhaust? Or doesn't it matter which one is done first?

[adznight]

Exhaust mate, thats an easy one. There are much larger power gains to be had there and thats proven on a dyno.