THIS looks interesting. I know induction kits don’t do a huge amount for performance, they just sound good. There can be a number of downsides; impaired filtration, MIL light illumination, warranty issues…
If simply removing the intake snorkel gives a great improvement in the sound, I fancy giving it a go.
Can anybody suggest any problems with doing this? Anybody think it’s a bad idea?
What’s the best way of removing it? Do I work from the engine bay, or remove the wheel and arch liner and get in that way.
Brendan, this will probably reduce performance because instead of sucking cooler air from the wheel arch it’ll be sucking hot air from the engine, probably sound pretty cool though
Yes, I thought of that. I was thinking that if it works OK I would concoct some sort of pipe going downwards towards the side intake. Probably with a trumpet on the end to smooth the flow.
Some years ago I upgraded an Elise S1 with a motobuild kit, which included a K&N filter fixed direct to the intake manifold.
Poor pick up was noticable from the off, especially with a warm engine. I moved the filter to the LH side intake & ducted the air to the manifold which made a big difference to the feel of the car.
Ive removed that silly thing but fitted a 4" cold air feed into the air box from the side pod. Its been like that so long now i cant remeber what it was like before! Dont remeber making a massive difference. Does sound a little better though.
Gav
Well, I did this last night. It seems pretty good.
I can’t tell any difference in the noise at idle, or when just cruising. At wide throttle openings there seems to be a bit more bass, which is nice. When it switches to the second cam, the difference is much more pronounced. It seems quite a bit louder, and perhaps a slightly nore sophisticated sound. I like it
My first impression as I pulled away was that it seemed a little more responsive. Probably an illusion, but I certainly don’t feel that I’ve lost any power.
As for sucking warm air, I will fit a pipe directing air from the scoop, but it really doesn’t seem too bad as it is. It’s quite close to the scoop anyway.
Of course I put the air filer box back on once the snorkel is out of the way.
If anything, it’s going to get less crap going into the filter because the the snorkel is directly in the airflow from the side intake. Once the snorkel is removed, the air is ingested directly into the airbox at 90 degrees to the airflow, and a few inches higher up. Should be perfectly safe if not quite as efficient as standard.
I plan to make a replacement snorkel in fibreglass. It should be a similar shape to the original, but with a flared opening to smooth the airflow.
The standard snorkel is made of/covered with something that feels a bit like expanded polystyrene, and it’s furry on the inside. It’s clearly designed to dampen the intake noise.