Very slick, I'm impressed! I wonder how it would look with the stock paper element, or maybe a Green filter or K&N "flat" panel filter? See, the only thing I wonder about is if that round element is doing you any good. Still, a great idea, and very clean execution. I hope to see a DIY thread from you soon.

 

i will post some more pics today. The air duct i installed that mounts to the front of the air box was made possible by removing the stock air duct that is mounted behind the bumper, you know the one with the vaccuum valve. I removed that whole unit including all of the parts that went with it. Now you dont have to do this, but i chose to in order to put my own air duct in place. Now much more air is supplied to the airbox, compared to the stock duct. The ram air effect i was talking about is accomplished by mounting the opening of my airduct down in the front of the bumper right where the lower lip spoiler is. The movement of the vehicle forces the air to the box and slightly compresses the volume of the air that remains in the airbox. In terms it is not a true ram air, but it does help out and you can clearly feel it when you are driving over 30mph. And because there is a constant force pushing the air to the air box the intake temperatures are reduced, and that is the big thing about this situation.
I will explain,
Lets say all of you that still have the stock filter and setup drive your car for about 20 to thirty minutes, and drive it hard enough so the heat will build up fairly well in the engine bay. Now if you stop and open your hood touch the diffrent parts of the intake all the way from the air box to the throttle body and around to the metal intake manifold. You will notice that it gradually gets hotter and hotter and then to the point where you can barely touch it.
Now with my setup you can drive as long and as fast as you want and pull over and open the hood and feel that the intake is just as cool as it was when i left my house. It really makes a diffrence.
The old K@N typhoon intake worked great until your engine heats up and then your really sucking in some hot air. I have just found that through this experiment and test and trial runs i really wish i would have done this along time ago.
I am working on getting some of the installation pics on today.

 

I recently re-installed my factory box in place of the RE unit I have been using for a year. I tested the stock against the RE and found my 8 to be a tenth, or two, quicker when using the stock box. My question is; do you think the removal of the screens helped the flow/performance of the stock box? I, like everyone else, really like the work you have done on your unit. Thanks for the pix.

Charles

 

Don't the screens help straighten airflow to the MAF? I'm not sure how much I would want to mess with that aspect of the design. Also, I think I would try to find a way to keep the VFAD (I think that's the proper acronymn for the factory intake tube with the valve that you removed)...the VFAD is supposed to tune the intake length for lower RPMs and then re-tune it for upper, correct? I would think perhaps you could duct cooler air to the stock tube (or a larger replacement that retains the valve if that would be beneficial). In any case, I think this method of getting a new intake has a lot of promise. Racing Beat had better hurry up :-)

jds

 

That's more along the lines of what I'm thinking of doing- keep the VFAD actuator and assembly in place, but reroute fresh air duct down to the opening behind the grill with a naca or ram air duct or scoop, and also replace the current fresh air duct material (which appears to be more of a nylon sock) with a smooth silicone hose or similar duct. It looks Mazda made some concessions for the sake of safety regarding sucking water up from a true fresh/cold air spot, and hopefully this concept will make their already well tuned setup even better. That and superscout's cool airbox mod for a little more airflow without the concern of contaminating the maf with oil should make for a cool DIY setup.

I'm currently trying to find a pressure sensor switch to do some testing of various pressure points behind the bumper to find the point of highest pressure to validate my plans make sense. Anybody have a source for these things ?

 

Didn't the K&N Typhoon completely do away with these screens as well? And, aren't there two screens? One before the MAF and one behind the MAF? Superscout mentioned that he has tweaked the MAF somehow in another post. I wonder what was done.

How about several large fans and some smoke, and then watch where all the smoke enters the openings? The highest concentrations of smoke should show the highest pressure zones. Would this work? Or am I crazy? Just a thought...

 

When i removed the screens, I was just doing that for test and trial, When I descreened the stock intake using the stock filter, I could notice a little bit more fluxuation in the idle, I didnt like it. But when I used the wire mesh filter I am using now the fluxuation does not exist, dont get me wrong there is still the same rough idle that i think we have all experienced, nothing out of the normal range. But performance wise no i really dont think descreening the intake makes a noticeable difference. But if you want to try it, the screens are made to be removable and very easy to take out and put back in.

 

With all the troubles people have had with the Typhoon I don't think I'd base too many design decisions on their product!

jds

[QUOTE=Nemesis8]Didn't the K&N Typhoon completely do away with these screens as well? QUOTE]

 

... except maybe what NOT to do....

 

There is a very good article on measuring the actual pressures and vacuums in your system, in an Aussie magazine.....

Aussie article....

The 'Magnahelic' instrument they use is a very sensitive and accurate micro-pressure gauge, I got mine on ebay, about $60, a great investment for anyone who 'tunes' intakes professionally. They are made in the USA.
S

 

also great for getting your pellet stove adjusted correctly - we have 2 here at work

 

Thanks for the info on the screens. I didn't realize they were removable. If you don't think removing them has any benefit, I'll take your word for it.

Charles

 

well superscout, as i said i put your signature on my car today. I just washed my hands and i logged on. I did do a couple of variables. Ist no plexagalss yet(didnt have time but that is coming) and i left one screen in(both screens are before the maf guys) in. I didnt have acess to a filter like yours so I used the usual pepboys k/n type. It took a little thought about how to mount it as it was a 3 " and the pipes inside the box are 3 1/2inch but ingenuity and persistance won(without duct tape) i left the "stuff" for the vacumn control variable switch a flow thingy all intact. I simply cut the factory air intake hose off and mounted new hose and re-routed like you did. The hardest part was finding out how I wanted to mount the filter in the box and actually getting the airbox out of the car. The bumper etc like you said was easy(once i did it) I followed the instructions in the diy thread. Now-----the results!
When I first fired er up the idle was a little off but that settled quickly. I could here a little deeper sound from the car(i also have the rb catback). I warmer her up a little and then took her out. I really couldnt test it properly(wrong time of day and too much traffic on the roads I was on) but I could actually tell a differance. It sounder a little more throaty but only slightly so and I swear it pulled harder in 2nd and 3nd.(couldnt get into 4th because of traffic etc). The idle was fine actually i think a little smoother as during my short drive(about 10 miles) when I was idleing it was about 100 rpms faster than before(according to the not so accuate factory tach). It ran smooth, no problems. Sounds better without being too loud. And it does seem to give a car a little more go. Also when i returned I put my hand on the airbox and it was COOL! Now that was a big and very noticeable differance.
I reccomend this. It cost me about $30 to do it. I will be looking for a better filter in the near future so the cost will be a little more then. It took me about 6 hrs total, doing it alone with 2 trips to get parts and being very carefull because I had never taken the bumper off before and i was nervous. This is a good diy mod. Thanks superscout!
olddragger

 

Where is the suction end of your intake tube located?

 

You didn't happen to take any pics while you were in there did you Dragger?

 

Guys .
I routed the end of my intake pipe at the rotary symbol on the front bumper. I also placed a recessed screen(black) in the symbol/pipe. This way (without the pexaglass on the airbox and no obvious air intake around the bumper) you wouldnt even know it's there if you didnt look closely. Well maybe the screen will pick up a few bugs in time.
Sorry no pictures. But I would be glad to answer any questions. Just pm me.
I took the car out more today and I stand behind what I've already said. It's a good inexpensive mod. Did give my car just a little more ump and I would compare it to when I added my rb catback....maybe just a tad more. What it mainly does is gives the car more character sound wise and it sure does reduce the airbox temp! When I go to road atlanta for track day on 12/11 maybe I will feel it even more then. We will see.
olddragger

 

Nice work , like the idea of a glowing cooler air filter .

cheers
michael

 

i have done the same with a smaller k&n ram pod type filter inside the factory airbox. sorry no pics. no screening mod. had minor idel problem, went to mazda dealership, they adjust the basic timing, its all fine now.
soon...... i will probably find a more direct cold air induction is i can be bothered :p

e

 

Thanks for the info- I wasn't able to open that whole article without a subscription, but I did find this one from the same mag that discusses that device as well. Looks a lot more sensitive than the pressure switch I was looking for. Off to eBay to find one...

http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_2081/article.html

 

What's the model number of the Universal Blitz filter that you used? This looks really nice, definately going to go forward with this vs Typhoon until RB or someone else comes up with something that sounds and performs better than stock.

 

what part numbers did you use for your custom intake? what filter? what tubing? any info will be appreciated. I am not very mechanically inclined, so any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

if anybody else does this, are you going to post a DIY with pics?

 

As someone alsed asked for - Can you post some pics of the intake tube leading up to the filter?
Great job by the way, looks sweeeeeeeeeeeeet! :D

 

I have been experimenting with both the factory and the Rotary Extreme intakes and have discovered something. I have used both intakes on the "L" flash and, so far, used the R.E. intake on the "M" flash. During the "L", the engine seemed to prefer the factory intake. The R.E. seemed to cause a slightly shaky idle, which I accepted and ignored. The dealer then installed the "M" flash and the car seemed to idle much smoother, although still with some occasional mis-fires. I then fabricated a screen to put over the R.E. intake tube and there is no longer any shakiness or misfiring. In addition, whether the screen is in place or not there seems to be no change in the 1/4 mile e.t. or mph. My next test, weather permitting, will involve trying the factory intake along with the "M" flash. Has anyone else discovered the same thing?

Charles

 

I'll take pics of the piping today. I installed my filter in the air box yesterday and was planning on pulling the bumper today.