CAI installation

[Atlantis_boi]

Bro, notice ur setup has 2 sets of cyclone. Does it work 4 u? Worth the $$?

[Gexer]

thx bro.

[Gexer]

it does for me. also depending where you place them. if place at wrong place will not have effect and sometimes can have check engine light lid up. but it is no big issue. just have to make sure they are in their right place.

[Sei_fei_loh]

Hi,

 

im driving a MT gen 2.

 

something that i dun quite get u. u asked hw much i am willing to fork out for CAI.

hmm.. wat do u mean by tat?

 

i tot DIY CAI are cheaper?

 

care to enlighten?

 

thks. d" >

[Gexer]

cheaper yes. but time consuming also bro.

 

i did my in 3 weeks. as i do it during my free time. also there is a lot to do in DIY. eg. open pod, piping, measuring of max. space available to do. how the air will flow in.

 

actually air flow is as important as exhaust. there are specialist doing exhaust. but no one actually do specialised in air flow intake. just like food. eat good food, out waste if this flow is maintain, you will have healthy lifestyle. if eat junk, you will fall sick same logic. if you intake in not done properly, even if you got good exhaust, it does not matter. but if you are able to do good intake with good output, it will be best performance gain.

 

as the cost wise, material is cost. sourcing the material is also cost not forgetting doing the box and installing. all are time taken. CAI is not just get a hose/pipe and stick it to your filter and called it CAI. the way/how the air flow in must be study, and the length of piping if you are doing open pod have to be tested. too long or short will affect the response on your ride.

 

also if your ride is AT, too much air or too little will also affect the ride, unless yours is MT. so only with the correct air direction, amount of air flow will give you max combustion to optimal your performance and compression within your car. its your own call bro. if you want a cheaper way to do it. get a hose and hook up your resonator. you will get "CAI" but you might be running too lean.

[Gexer]

take a read at this article. if you notice, intake and output are both important

 

Cold Air Induction

 

 

As any chemist knows, the colder that air is, the more dense it is, and denser air will provide more oxygen in any given volume (i.e. inside the engine cylinder), allowing your engine to burn more fuel and generate more power.

 

A common rule of thumb is that decreasing the air intake temperature by 10 degrees F (12.2 degree celcius) will increase horsepower and torque by 1%. The converse is also true. The problem with most stock engine intake systems is that they consist of just a box with a filter located somewhere in the engine bay where it fit. This box justs draws in the hot air from under the car's hood and is probably not in the best place to draw cooler air. Furthermore, they tend to be quite restrictive, in an attempt to reduce underhood noise. Aftermarket "short ram" air intakes (that look like a cone on a pipe) are less restrictive and might provide a few more extra horsepower. However, they suffer from the same problem as stock systems in that they draw in the underhood air.

 

Therefore, they work nicely after the car has been sitting overnight, but actually decrease in performance once the engine (and thus under-hood temperature) heats up. The better aftermarket systems try to locate their intake tip in an area under the engine bay that might have cooler air, such as near the bottom of the car or by the grille. This arrangement helps out by drawing slightly cooler air than that generally found under the hood and thus results in more of a power gain.

 

The only way to solve the problem of hot under-hood air is to get air from somewhere else. The solution is what is called a true cold air induction system, but is commonly called "Ram Air" (Pontiac invented that name). There are two common techniques used by these systems. The first is to draw air from the outside either through holes in the hood, or through openings in the grille into air ducts that channel the air through the air filter and into the carburetor.

 

In almost all cases, the carb is sealed off from getting any air from under the hood. In fact, you can easily stall the engine by covering the holes on the hood or grille that feed the carb because the carb does not receive air from any other means. Oftentimes, the hood vents will actually be scoops or are raised from the rest of the hood, to capture air as it flows over the hood. Performance can be increased if these scoops are at least 1" above the surface of the hood, because the air flows faster than right at the hood's surface. Thus, the air flowing over the hood is "ramed" into the scoops, through the air ducts, and into the engine. While most scoops either point upwards or forward, Chevrolet pioneer their "Cowl Induction" system which featured a backward facing scoop right at the base of the windshield. This scoop actually received air that was forced backwards after hitting the windshield.

 

The second technique is to move the entire air filter & carb assembly out from under the hood. The most common examples are Shaker hoods where the air filter (usually in a protective and decorative cover) physically juts out of the hood through a hole in the hood. Thus, the air is drawn directly from the outside, without having to go through any piping. It is called a Shaker hood because the air filter cover actually can be seen shaking as the engine vibrates. This technique also has a greater benefit the higher off of the hood it is. Most high performance race cars use this technique and, with carb risers, often have intake systems 6" - 10" higher than the rest of the hood.

 

the above information was exerpted from musclecarclub.com

Edited November 5, 2005 by Gexer

[Gexer]

here is another info on CAI. see how important is CAI. like i said it before, do a good CAI to get good intake and exhaust to good output. to get max gain. if you do just the exhaust. your car lungs are not breathing well, you think you can run fast with weak breathing? try running or jogging with a flu or running nose or something to cover/restrict your breathing. try dashing for 100m. the logic is the same for car and human. hope these info will clear your doubt $$ on CAI.

 

The key to improving engine performance is the intake system. As an internal- combustion engine requires approximately 14.7 parts of air for each part of gasoline in the combustion chamber, getting enough quality air to the engine is essential. By quality air, we mean the big three: cool, clean, and compact. Here are some modifications you can do to give your heavy breathing engine all the quality air it needs.

 

 

Air Filters

 

 

When driving on dirt or other dusty roads, dust particles are drawn through the radiator and find their way into the engine if it is not filtered and cleaned. Dust and other foreign materials in the engine will cause excessive wear and operating problems. Air cleaners are made to separate dust and other particles in the incoming air before it enters the carburetor. Thousands of cubic feet of air are drawn from within the car hood and passed through the engine cylinders, so it is important that the air is clean. One of the easiest and cheapest modification is to replace your stock paper air filter element with a high performance one. Available from K&N and other companies for around $100, these performance filters are often made of cotton and provide less restrictive air flow while still filtering out particles in the air. Hot Rod magazine tested a K&N air filter and found a 5 bhp increase at the wheels on a 1996 Ford Mustang. Most of the horsepower gains is at higher RPMs when the engine really benefits from the less-restrictive air flow. While not a tremendous power gain, the filters' relatively low cost and ease of installation (about 5 minutes) more than make up for it. Plus, performance air filters last longer than cheap paper ones so you might actually come out ahead in the long run.

 

Cold Air Induction

 

 

As any chemist knows, the colder that air is, the more dense it is, and denser air will provide more oxygen in any given volume (i.e. inside the engine cylinder), allowing your engine to burn more fuel and generate more power. A common rule of thumb is that decreasing the air intake temperature by 10 degrees F will increase horsepower and torque by 1%. The converse is also true. The problem with most stock engine intake systems is that they consist of just a box with a filter located somewhere in the engine bay where it fit. This box justs draws in the hot air from under the car's hood and is probably not in the best place to draw cooler air. Furthermore, they tend to be quite restrictive, in an attempt to reduce underhood noise. Aftermarket "short ram" air intakes (that look like a cone on a pipe) are less restrictive and might provide a few more extra horsepower. However, they suffer from the same problem as stock systems in that they draw in the underhood air. Therefore, they work nicely after the car has been sitting overnight, but actually decrease in performance once the engine (and thus under-hood temperature) heats up. The better aftermarket systems try to locate their intake tip in an area under the engine bay that might have cooler air, such as near the bottom of the car or by the grille. This arrangement helps out by drawing slightly cooler air than that generally found under the hood and thus results in more of a power gain.

 

The only way to solve the problem of hot under-hood air is to get air from somewhere else. The solution is what is called a true cold air induction system, but is commonly called "Ram Air" (Pontiac invented that name). There are two common techniques used by these systems. The first is to draw air from the outside either through holes in the hood, or through openings in the grille into air ducts that channel the air through the air filter and into the carburetor. In almost all cases, the carb is sealed off from getting any air from under the hood. In fact, you can easily stall the engine by covering the holes on the hood or grille that feed the carb because the carb does not receive air from any other means. Oftentimes, the hood vents will actually be scoops or are raised from the rest of the hood, to capture air as it flows over the hood. Performance can be increased if these scoops are at least 1" above the surface of the hood, because the air flows faster than right at the hood's surface. Thus, the air flowing over the hood is "ramed" into the scoops, through the air ducts, and into the engine. While most scoops either point upwards or forward, Chevrolet pioneer their "Cowl Induction" system which featured a backward facing scoop right at the base of the windshield. This scoop actually received air that was forced backwards after hitting the windshield.

 

The second technique is to move the entire air filter & carb assembly out from under the hood. The most common examples are Shaker hoods where the air filter (usually in a protective and decorative cover) physically juts out of the hood through a hole in the hood. Thus, the air is drawn directly from the outside, without having to go through any piping. It is called a Shaker hood because the air filter cover actually can be seen shaking as the engine vibrates. This technique also has a greater benefit the higher off of the hood it is. Most high performance race cars use this technique and, with carb risers, often have intake systems 6" - 10" higher than the rest of the hood.

 

 

Intake Manifolds

 

 

An intake manifold is a system of passages which conduct the fuel mixture from the carburetor to the intake valves of the engine. Manifold design has much to do with the efficient operation of an engine. For smooth and even operation, the fuel charge taken into each cylinder should be of the same strength and quality.

 

Distribution of the fuel should, therefore, be as even as possible. This depends greatly upon the design of the intake manifold. Dry fuel vapor is an ideal form of fuel charge, but present-day fuel prevents this unless the mixture is subjected to high temperature. If the fuel charge is heated too highly, the power of the engine is reduced because the heat expands the fuel charge. Therefore, it is better to have some of the fuel deposited on the walls of the cylinders and manifold vents. Manifolds in modern engines are designed so that the amount of fuel condensing on the intake manifold walls is reduced to a minimum.

 

In a V-8 engine, the intake manifold is mounted between the cylinder heads. The L-head engine's manifold is bolted to the side of the block, and the I-head manifold is bolted to the cylinder head.

 

There are two main types of Intake Manifolds for typical 4 barrel carbureted V8 engines. A Dual Plane Manifold, named because it is split down the middle, separates the carb down the middle so as to feed four cylinders from two barrels, and the other four from the other two barrels. This type of manifold usually works best for an engine tuned to make lots of torque at low RPM, for good driveability and pull off the line. The downside is that dual plane intakes tend to become restrictive at high RPM. Single Plane Manifolds have a large area under the carburetor, called a plenum, which draws air from all four barrels and then distributes the air and fuel to all the cylinders. This arrangement works best under high RPM applications, at the expense of low RPM driveability. Intake manifolds for fuel-injected engines and intakes designed for In-line engines look very different from these two designs, but all Intake Manifolds can be split into the two types: Ones that feed half the cylinders separately are generally better at low RPMs while ones that feed all the cylinders together are better at high RPMs. In addition, fuel injected engines have fewer fuel distribution problems, and frequently use tuned intake runners to create standing waves that help push air into the cylinders for more performance.

 

 

Ram Induction Manifolds

 

 

The ram induction manifold system consists of twin air cleaners, twin four-barrel carburetors and two manifolds containing eight long tubes of equal length (four for each manifold). This system was designed by the Chrysler Company to increase power output by in the middle speed range (1800-3600 rpm). Each manifold supplies one bank of cylinders and is carefully calculated to harness the natural supercharging effect of a ram induction system. By taking advantage of the pulsations in the air intake column caused by the valves opening and closing, sonic impulses help pack more mixture into the combustion chambers.

 

In the Chrysler system, the air-fuel mixture from each carburetor flows into a chamber directly below the carburetor, then passes through the long individual intake branches to the opposite cylinder bank. The right-hand carburetor supplies the air-fuel mixtures for the left-hand cylinder bank, and the left-hand carburetor supplies the right cylinder bank. The passages between the manifolds are interconnected with a pressure equalizer tube to maintain balance of the engine pulsations.

 

 

also from musclecar club.com

[Sei_fei_loh]

Wow!!

 

tats a lot of info!

 

actually i do know that intake is also important cos i haf seen a friend of mine spending alot of money just on the intake. He is driving a SIR and he told me he has got the car breathing so well that he is so satisfied. his next project would be the exhuast.

 

I am green to mod and so i tot CAI is only istalling a pipe to the outside and the other end of the pipe to go to the air filter.

 

From wat u said, i tink ur CAI is a chim wan.

 

wat will be a complete CAI in ur context?

 

[Gexer]

ok. i assume that your Gen2 is AT.

 

for AT cars, we can have open pod filter too. although, some might face lost of low end. but there are ways to compensate this to bring your low end back to life. very much depending how you do it.

 

a good CAI is to allow cool air to be available for your engine combustion. which means you need to give your engine enough cool air to breath. so you will need to find ways to make sure that your enigne only suck in cool air and there is no leak for the hot air to enter.

 

second, my intake has the logic of force induction which means forcing the air to the trottle body using the logic of turbo charging. this will create a certain amt of pressure boost in your combustion. so i will be able to help you regain your low end and optimise your combustion. so with this optimising, you will be able to get the most power by using the same amt of fuel and air mix. resulting a better FC with the same power.

 

so if you thinking of diy, you have to read and study how the air will flow and where is the point to get the most cool air. and how your hose will run within the engine and the hose must not hinder the flow of air.

 

this is something simota, AEM, ADM will not do for you.

 

:)

[Sei_fei_loh]

hi..

 

OHhh.. u got it wrong. im driving a MT gen 2. d: >

 

ok..

from wat u said, am i expecting the same FC even after the mod?

 

soo.. from ur estimation, hw much is the whole setup?

[Gexer]

MT. hmmm. good to mod. can you send me a pix of your engine bay. will try to est the material and labour cost. but have to wait awhile to do cos i have in hand 2 mazda 3 and 1 vios to complete this coming week. :)

 

Fc will not be affected as much. but there are ways to make it FC better with the same amount of power increase.

Edited November 6, 2005 by Gexer

[Sei_fei_loh]

haha!!

 

tats is cool..

power + good FC..

 

hehe..

 

btw, i hope my low end wont suffer.. cos mine is already quite bad..

 

i will send u some pics once i take some..

 

just a pic of my engine bay?

 

do PM me ur email. d: >

 

thks!

[Gexer]

not to worry about low end. i am sure i will be able to get the low end back for you. i had gotten a low end back for 2 mazda3.

 

before

torque came in at 3.5k rpm @ 2nd

 

after

torque came in at 2.8k rpm @ 2nd

 

my ride AT

torque came in at 2.4k rpm @ 2nd

 

just that i have yet to dyno test the final result of my gain. will be doing it this week. awiting a forum bro to go together. you can email me at [email protected] for your pix

[Sei_fei_loh]

thks bro!

 

hopefully, its not too costly..

i haven do the exhaust yet!

 

hahaa

[Sei_fei_loh]

btw, hw much is the total set up for ur car and the other 2 mazdas?

[Gexer]

dont worry about cost. will bring it low. cos doing it for hobby also. if you like my setup, you can refer "client" to me loh. kekekekek. will also advise you what exhaust to go for. but first must get CAI done first before doing the "farting" part

 

:)

[Sei_fei_loh]

haha..tats y came to my mind too.. must haf enough air to 'fart' ma..

hhehe..

 

ohh cos! if u realise, gen 2 community is quite harmonious..

haha

[Sgguy]

hi if u do ur cai dun mind let mi know tml wat time u free wan try my car.