CAI and Forced Induction ... waste of time?

NMX516 · Postby **NMX516** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 5:13 pm

Of all the extensive reading I've done re turbo installs over the past 15 years or so, the consensus from the experts, such as Corky Bell, is that the cooler the air into the system at the filter, the better. A lower air temp puts less "strain" on any intercooler system, which is always a good thing. Every turbo car I've owned or had the pleasure of driving in cold weather, has always performed much better in the cold.

The simple answer to the question raised in the title of this topic is, NO! I guess it does depend though on how much extra you want to squeeze out of the turbo install, and how much time, effort and cost that might involve.

Reducing the heat in a turbo system is good for many reasons though - the lower air temp results in more power produced in the combustion process; there is less heat for the intercooler to transfer, therefor making it less of an interwarmer; component life is reduced by hot under bonnet temps (wiring and rubber hoses to name a couple)...

Postby **Okibi** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 5:36 pm

Also I assume.. the cooler the air entering the turbo the cooler the turbo will remain and the less it will transfer heat to the air it compresses.

NMX516 · Postby **NMX516** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 8:13 pm

Okibi wrote:Also I assume.. the cooler the air entering the turbo the cooler the turbo will remain and the less it will transfer heat to the air it compresses.

Yep, and they say that a cooler turbo spins up quicker too...

Tezzax5 · Postby **Tezzax5** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 5:19 pm

I'm probably talking through my .
Has anyone thought about using a couple of thermo electric motor coolers(Think electric rc car racing.They use them on brushless motors so they can overgear and not thermal the motor)
Low voltage and they work pretty quick.
Put a couple in parallel on an alloy intake and down goes the air intake temp.
Much More is one brand that comes to mind plus there are a few diy's floating on the rc forums..

just a thought :idea:

THE REAL BORIS · Postby **THE REAL BORIS** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:11 am

I have had to remove my FM mbc because I hit (the SE) boost cut too easily with the U.K. winter temperatures. It's also modified to get the boost signal just after the turbo NOT from the inlet elbow. The mbc little bleed hole also reduces the pressure signal to the actuator a small but significant amount. I know, the intercooler further reduces temperatures due to the colder (and importantly, damper) air.

No brainer ....... a CAI can make a big difference, I now have a DIY butterfly valve in the air intake to the filter to reduce the air flow in order to further compensate! Perhaps I should get an inlet air HEATER? :mrgreen:

crzymx · Postby **crzymx** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 10:41 pm

Makes perfect sense, even if the intercooler does remove 98% of the heat. At least the CAI will feed through cooler air, thus making it even easier as previously stated.

poison · Postby **poison** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:13 am

I read in some US forums that CAI was bad on a turbo due to temperature variations at high flows effecting the hotwire, now I can't seem to find those posts. Any thoughts on this?

Also If you are really worried about cold air and under bonnet temps the best solution is below, and it's an easy install...

Juffa · Postby **Juffa** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:45 pm

Here is a pic of the engine bay of the car that mx5mainia setup. The car is currently on the NSW Club website as being for sale, registered in NSW.

J

GS · Postby GS » Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:15 am

This looks very similar to the setup Fuzzlet had in his NA8 (although they were both build by Mania so that really shouldnt be a surprise).

Sounds like a fun track car, wonder how much they want for it?

Fuzzlet · Postby **Fuzzlet** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:35 am

Ah that would be Rennie's car...the hardcore engine from my NA was sold. That car was the prototype for my CAI. I already had the Mania CAI, and said that if I went turbo, I wanted to keep it, so they used Rennies car as a test mule.....I wonder why he's selling it though. A few pics of my setup:

As you can see, it was a bit of a mess piping wise to get the CAI piping to fit, but we did it. We were considering just covering the hole and having the pod in the stock location, but figured if the holes there why not try to use it? That and since the turbo already heats the air why not give the IC a helping hand...

crzymx · Postby **crzymx** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 1:27 am

If someone doesnt mind answering this. If i do decide to do the whole CAI thing, do i still need to have all the electronics that are hooked up to my existing air box? or just the pipe pod and CAI?

Alex · Postby **Alex** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 4:40 am

crzymx wrote:If someone doesnt mind answering this. If i do decide to do the whole CAI thing, do i still need to have all the electronics that are hooked up to my existing air box? or just the pipe pod and CAI?

If you have the standard ECU then you will still need to keep everything, normally the airflow will go straight after the pod and you drill a hole at the top of the pod for the small temp sensor.

d-mag · Postby **d-mag** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:39 am

That looks fantastic Fuzzlet. The only issue would be that your unable to fit a strut brace, other than that I really like it.

Fuzzlet · Postby **Fuzzlet** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 12:20 pm

d-mag wrote:That looks fantastic Fuzzlet. The only issue would be that your unable to fit a strut brace, other than that I really like it.

Yep unfortunately. On Rennie's car (one for sale at Mania), he already had the brace so daniel had to use a smaller pipe and tighter bends to make it fit, but it is possible haha