cold air intake NC

[Penguin]

Hi all

I am thinking of putting one of these on my NC.

Two questions:

1. Does it affect the warrantee?
2. Does it help or is it more ¨I think my car has more power¨ rather than any proof that it does?

Cheers

Penguin

[Okibi]

Try messaging Wotsa, he's got a CAI on his NC.

[Penguin]

Try messaging Wotsa, he's got a CAI on his NC.

Will do, thanks for the tip.

I am interested that there are not more people with cold air systems. I com from NW Tas where the air temp does not get above mid 20's. I am not sure whether that is a good or a bad thing when considering these intake systems.

Also the temp does not get much below 5 degrees where I live before I get all the "its cold in Tassie" jibes!

[AJ]

if your user name is in any way indicative of your location Penguin, I remember it snowing on the Penguin Footy ground one day when I was umpiring an NWFU game (no smartarse remarks about my age either )..............doesn't get below 5 my arse!!! ..........maybe if you stay inside with the fire stoked

[Penguin]

if your user name is in any way indicative of your location Penguin, I remember it snowing on the Penguin Footy ground one day when I was umpiring an NWFU game (no smartarse remarks about my age either )..............doesn't get below 5 my arse!!! ..........maybe if you stay inside with the fire stoked

Hi AJ

I live about 65 meters above Penguin Oval and about 250 meters further inland. In the 12 years that I have lived here it has not snowed at my place...yet

The outside temp gauge does occasionally below 5 degrees but not often. Sure it ain't hot and humid like Brisbane, but we are a bit north of the Antarctic as you may be slightly south of the tropics. I was in Brisbane about four weeks ago and is was warmer in Penguin on the day I got back than it was in Brisbane.

Convertibles are great down here, but in winter with the top down the heater is a necessity.

Still the question, is a cold air intake useful in a cool climate?

[JBT]

It already has a cold air intake - the intake is behind the plastic front bar above the "mouth".

[Charlie Brown]

This is the standard CAI on the NC:



I’ve fitted the Cobalt CAI and the K&N filter bought from Moss in the US. http://www.miatamania.com/Shop/ViewProd ... exID=66066
Price wise it’s “cheap” when compared to the Mazdaspeed version.

I for one wasn’t a believer that the CAI would make any difference to the performance of the car given the location of the standard system.
Nothing has changed my mind since fitting it.

You can see from the next photo that both unit have the same tuned length.





And this is where the Cobalt intake sits. Now being fed air directly from the outside:



So will it make any improvement to your car in Tassie? …….NO.

[CoffeeBoss]

Depends on the intake - i stand by my claims that the Autoexe intake is a massive improvement over the standard intake. I won't make any claims on outright power or peak torque, but power delivery is altered considerably, with more pickup in the higher rpm. It must be said that my expectations were low, but having dríven before/after on both NA and forced induction cars with standard/modified intake, i know how varied the results can be (usually not much difference).

No 2 intakes are alike, with flow of filter, intake tract etc etc all being factors in what the result will be like. The Autoexe intake is fully enclosed and therefore makes no appreciable difference in sound, so it doesn't give you that placebo effect you get from more engine noise. In this respect it's 'plod' friendly and stock to the untrained eye. An exposed pod would be a different story.

With regards to warranty issues, talk to your dealership - i've been very up front with my plans with my dealership and they have been quite ok with what i have carried out thus far. It's all about building that repore, and being a member of the club helps a great deal in my experience.

[mx5racing]

On our race cars we run with the std airbox and air filter. We have removed the elbow that runs behind the bumper and have a piece of flexible hose running down to pick air up from the bumper intake. Basically we have the same as Phil just ours is home made and disrupts air flow to the radiator less!!

We HAVE dyno'd it and found this alone gave us 3 additional kw with a marginal improvement in torque. The most restricted area on the NC is the exhaust manifold. At the point of the 1st collector it is tiny, with all that air straining to get through. By eliminating this and with the air intake mod we gained almost 7 kw. Dump the 2nd cat and this increased to 9 kw and a huge jump in torque.

None of the exhaust mods would be legal for road use but nonetheless does give you an insight on how restrictive they are.

Aussie ones also have the 3.7 diff as apposed to the Jap 4.1. This alone makes a big difference to acceleration.

[Penguin]

On our race cars we run with the std airbox and air filter. We have removed the elbow that runs behind the bumper and have a piece of flexible hose running down to pick air up from the bumper intake. Basically we have the same as Phil just ours is home made and disrupts air flow to the radiator less!!

We HAVE dyno'd it and found this alone gave us 3 additional kw with a marginal improvement in torque.

Very interesting - nice to see some figures. Do you feel the engine revs a bit freer with the CIA or it it just the change in sound?

[mx5racing]

Do you feel the engine revs a bit freer with the CIA or it it just the change in sound?

As we are on the track and 5000+ rpm all the time it is a bit hard to hear with our exhausts. That said I have done the same thing on one of our road cars and you can just hear it sucking. Not like a $5 hooker or anything but still you can just hear it.

Without opening up a BIG CAN OF WORMS.... I think the thing that makes the biggest difference to the NC is the clutch cut. For those that dont know they have a switch on the clutch that cuts power as you press it down. The ecu does adjustments to compensate and it is not as crisp as it could be. If you disconnect the switch at the pedal and drive it for a while so the ecu adjusts, you will find it is a lot punchier out of the corners...

Bad news is after 30 - 50 km it logs a code and the ECU light comes on. Disconnect the battery for 30 seconds the the ecu codes are cleared. Also has a tendancy to make the idle a little high.

Worth looking at if for no other reason than to see what it could be like ...........