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the chambers are \"resonance chambers\" and help with torque at lower rpm's. some people like to remove the intake piping and replace it with big chrome pipes etc. but i reckon mazda have millions of dollars to spend on r&d and designed it that way for a reason. the only benefit i can see in putting chrome pipes on in BLING.

before i went turbo, i put a cold air intake on the car and was looking for any other small performance increases i could get, so i did a bit of reading on this subject and the only empirical data i found for reasons to modify the intake was due to restrictions in the afm, NOT the piping. the AFM can be replaced with a higher flowing unit such as that off a rx7, but gains will be negligable unless you are running a highly modified na engine, or forced induction. this is according to the \"miata performance handbook\". they did dyno tests to come to this conclusion after trying a bunch of different intake mods. if you DO decide to put an rx7 afm on, you'll need to fiddle with the fuel mixtures to get it back withing normal range (either by fiddling with the afm spring setting, or using a piggyback fuel computer, or aftermarket ecu)

there's my thoughts on the subject. keen to hear what others have to offer!

Fatty wrote:the chambers are "resonance chambers" and help with torque at lower rpm's. some people like to remove the intake piping and replace it with big chrome pipes etc. but i reckon mazda have millions of dollars to spend on r&d and designed it that way for a reason. the only benefit i can see in putting chrome pipes on in BLING.

before i went turbo, i put a cold air intake on the car and was looking for any other small performance increases i could get, so i did a bit of reading on this subject and the only empirical data i found for reasons to modify the intake was due to restrictions in the afm, NOT the piping. the AFM can be replaced with a higher flowing unit such as that off a rx7, but gains will be negligable unless you are running a highly modified na engine, or forced induction. this is according to the "miata performance handbook". they did dyno tests to come to this conclusion after trying a bunch of different intake mods. if you DO decide to put an rx7 afm on, you'll need to fiddle with the fuel mixtures to get it back withing normal range (either by fiddling with the afm spring setting, or using a piggyback fuel computer, or aftermarket ecu)

there's my thoughts on the subject. keen to hear what others have to offer!

any chance of a link to this info??
i know everyone hates dyno readouts these days.. but going by club dyno days id say a CAI dose make a difference. i know mazda have got alot more money than me and others that have made CAI (hell mines made of dunny pipe ) but then again we arnt worried about making too much noise or emissions also.. if theres stock dyno readings and modified dyno readings that support this than id say its a dead issue... there seems to be gains from a modified intake pipe.. there have been some other threads along these lines discussing what style gives the best gains but it appears the shorter free-er flowing designs give better high rpm gains and throttle response where the longer designs give better mid range and low end.
i admit in the early NA cars the AFM is the bigger restriction it seems there is better gains for changing this then changing the piping itself however i feel you really need to do both... and as always start with the cheaper... dunny pipe

my 2c

i have the mx5mania cold air intake and enlarged intake piping..

with combining this and my exhaust system i got 79kw on the dyno



EDIT: and this required no mofication (besides the hole in the firewall) but you can remove the carbon fibre tunnel and just have an enclosed pod if you dont want to cut the body

oh yes , a CAI is a good mod absolutely! i noticed a good benefit from mine. sorry for not being clear, but i was trying to say that where things become more unclear and debatable is intake mods AFTER the afm. the stock AFM is known to be restrictive mainly due to the sharp bend where it joind to the stock airbox. also, you can transplant the guts of the mx5 afm into the rx7 afm, for better airflow .

but yeah, removing the airbox and replacing with CAI is a tried and true performance mod, no argument there.

i don't have a link to the info from the miata performance handbook. afaik the info is not available online. it is in the book. it's worth a read, as it has lots of good info on all sorts of improvements to the mx5.

Fatty wrote:oh yes , a CAI is a good mod absolutely! i noticed a good benefit from mine. sorry for not being clear, but i was trying to say that where things become more unclear and debatable is intake mods AFTER the afm. the stock AFM is known to be restrictive mainly due to the sharp bend where it joind to the stock airbox. also, you can transplant the guts of the mx5 afm into the rx7 afm, for better airflow .

but yeah, removing the airbox and replacing with CAI is a tried and true performance mod, no argument there.

i don't have a link to the info from the miata performance handbook. afaik the info is not available online. it is in the book. it's worth a read, as it has lots of good info on all sorts of improvements to the mx5.

after the AFM is something that was talked about fairly recently on here i think... intake lengths seem to effect the power curve... i know the guys with quad throttle setups go to great lengths to try and achieve the perfect intake length but thats a whole different thing as what they are playing with is more like playing with the inside of the standard intake manifold and its internal runner lengths... AFAIK

yep what you said about the power curve earlier. low rom vs high rpm, throttle respsonse, all those things, it seems like a big can of worms that is not worth getting into unless you got a lot of time and money on your hands to fiddle with it. eg, shorter piping WILL give better throttle response, but may deliver less power... it's a real balancing act that would be hard to get right.

so anyway, if was in fozzie's shoes (remembering his car in not actually an mx5), i would leave piping from throttle body to afm as is. i would attach aftermarket air filter to afm (probably a pod filter, unless you can find a cold air source easilly enough). MAYBE gut a rx7 afm and bung the na6 afm guts into it. but probably wouldn't bother with that. i would look at a jaycar dfa and timing control to tune yr air/fuel and timing as well, to extract a little extra grunt too.

Fatty wrote:the chambers are "resonance chambers" and help with torque at lower rpm's. some people like to remove the intake piping and replace it with big chrome pipes etc. but i reckon mazda have millions of dollars to spend on r&d and designed it that way for a reason. the only benefit i can see in putting chrome pipes on in BLING.

I would respectfully disagree completely.
sure low revs with more torque & the resonance chambers I will not argue. But at high RPM. that pipe maKES A DECENT AMOUNT OF DIFFERENCE.
I was left for dead on some uphill straight along putty road with a car essentially the same as mine mechanically.After comenting on this we later tested it again to really check,
I don't need Dynogarphs for that.

sure . maybe the best intake pipe mod would be to combine both approaches, by using a larger pipe that connects just before the resonance chamber near the throttle body. you'd need to hack the oem intake up to do this... no big deal. somebody should try this!

Why not just make an intake pipe that has the ability to still have the resonance chambers connected up to it? I have been considering this for a long time.

Well, until all this mess happened with the RTA (read my other threads)

Anyway, back on topic.

If you make the enlarged pipe with the ability to connect up the chambers, wouldn't you then get the extra flow, still have the low and mid-range torque and more top end. Also for those of us who like less noise - you would also then have no extra intake noise. Speaking from experience here as after I did my 1.8 conversion, I ran it with several cross pipes and combinations of cross pipes. 1.6, 1.8 with and without the resonance chambers. The chambers do make a difference in torque but also in the amount of noise the intake makes. It is quieter with the chambers - something I personally like for long distance cruising with the wife.

don't quote me on this but i THINK the first chamber is the one that deals with the noise, and the second chamber is for the low down torque. therefore why i mentioned just retaining the second one, if you're not too concerned about noise.

Ajay wrote:i have the mx5mania cold air intake and enlarged intake piping..

with combining this and my exhaust system i got 79kw on the dyno



EDIT: and this required no mofication (besides the hole in the firewall) but you can remove the carbon fibre tunnel and just have an enclosed pod if you dont want to cut the body

Can anyone suggest where (Melbourne) and how much it costs to get the enlarged intake piping? It looks awesome!!!
I'd guess it gives better airflow than that stock pipe that bends everywhere, but does it give any noticable effect?

doogle wrote:Can anyone suggest where (Melbourne) and how much it costs to get the enlarged intake piping? It looks awesome!!!
I'd guess it gives better airflow than that stock pipe that bends everywhere, but does it give any noticable effect?

yeah it looks awesome eh! and like , it totally looks like it gives better airflow than that dumb stock pipe that bends everywhere too....





did you even read this thread??

whoops i was too busy looking at the engine bling!!
but thanks Fatty for pointing me in the right direction
just looked it up on the website. it's a pretty expensive mod for what it is... i'll have to save up

Sorry I don't have any data to back up my claims, but I ran my pod filter on the stock intake runner (NB8A doesn't have resonance chambers) and on my blingtake.

I think the extra volume of the blingtake gave a fraction more throttle response.

I didn't do any dyno runs with just the intake, but I had the most power from any naturally aspirated NB on our club dyno day.

Even though I have gone down the bling-take path with a pod and heatshield deal, the Lach Stewart intake is the go.

I have dríven a car with these \"cold-air\" intakes, and the throttle response and low-mid range is very different and alot better.

The only reason why personally never done it is the fact you have to drill a hole in the firewall.