Smoothed airbox, anyone tried it?

[Bucko]

When i had my mk4 Golf GTI the guys on the forum always talked about smoothing the inside of the airbox out with a dremmel tool in order to maximise airflow.

I've not actually looked inside my airbox but i assume there is plastic fins inside just like on my Golf

Has anyone on here given it a go?

Bucko

 

[Bucko]

Here's a pic from a seat cupra forum. Maybe it is only on VAG cars?...

I can't be arsed to go out in the rain and check if the Ph2 Clio airboxes are similar now but maybe i will tomorrow.

 

[rs250nut]

Seems a lot of work for very little gain

 

[SkidMarx]

Cant do much for flow? Clutching at straws surely?

 

[DrR]

lol sod that

 

[Bucko]

I think maybe it's just for turbo VAG cars. They swear that it improves throttle response...

 

[adam172]

again cant see it doing much tbh ?

 

[-Leigh-]

Surely they serve a purpose?

 

[Tom]

Give the airbox strength.

 

[Reyes]

iLol - Available from your local Reyes store.

 

[Bucko]

Seriously, type something like 'smoothed airbox' into Google and see all the results from VAG forums, they love it!

I thought maybe the bits of plastic were part of the manufaturer process. They talk about turbulance and all sorts on the forums

 

[AhmedRSi]

Will do feck all

 

[DannoTheGreat]

iLol - Available from your local Reyes store.

ooh!

 

[edewer]

Seriously, type something like 'smoothed airbox' into Google and see all the results from VAG forums, they love it!

I thought maybe the bits of plastic were part of the manufaturer process. They talk about turbulance and all sorts on the forums

its because VWs are so damn heavy they need to lose as much weight as possible to keep up with a 172. every little helps n all

 

[Tom@JMS]

The theory behind what you are looking at is in fact sound.

The ridges in the airbox are predominately to reduce noise, as well as provide strength. I'd be surprised if it had any real effect however.

 

[the_prophet]

i did mine on my old lcr, did infact do not much at all. took AGES with a dremmel etc and no noticeable gains / noise increase.

 

[-Leigh-]

If I dremel my pistons and bores, will it go quicker?

 

[the_prophet]

of course it will.

best way thats quicker than a dremel, is pour some sand into the throttle body and give it a good rev.

i hope maz doesnt find this thread......

 

[jack_davey]

what makes me laugh is people always start the quest for more power by changing the air filter setup...Whatever you do the gains will be absolutely minimal at best!

 

[ben_r1]

I cant see this making a gain, otherwise it'd be as popular as matching inlets etc.

 

[Hutchie]

your dremel'n the wrong bit, dremel the head and the inlet manifold. that has an effect make sure you take a warrenty out on the dreml though, they get bloody hot..

 

[the_prophet]

to be fair the only reason i tried it was, like mentioned in the few posts on the previous page, the guys over on seatcupra.net and other vagforums go on about it as much as people on here do about turini's and cup splitters.

i managed to pick up a airbox from ebay for less than a tenner and for the sake of a good few hours with the dremel getting it smooth as poss, i proved to myself than they were talking b****cks. its good in theory but in the real world you wont notice the difference.

for me though, it was about finding out for myself whether something or not made a difference. i like to try things myself where i can and make my own judgements. not trust people from a forum as half of them are just fanboys....

 

[Weeman]

I did it on my old Mk 5 gti

Pre smoothing a std 198 hp, after smoothing 276 AT THE WHEELS!!!!!!!!

 

[Lagerlout]

This could be the next Espace V6 airbox tbh. Completely unfounded, but if enough people say it's the thing to do the sheep will follow!

 

[the_prophet]

This could be the next Espace V6 airbox tbh. Completely unfounded, but if enough people say it's the thing to do the sheep will follow!

erm, yeh i'd check that v6 airbox thing out for yourself before saying that. or have a read of jms' thread.

 

[Lagerlout]

erm, yeh i'd check that v6 airbox thing out for yourself before saying that. or have a read of jms' thread.

The one where they've pulled a renault airbox out of the parts bin and stuck a JMS sticker on it? FLOL

I've been on here long enough not to believe a f**king word any 'tuner' says tbh, only what I've seen with my own eyes.

 

[Tom@JMS]

lol. You can't win.

 

[Weeman]

Whatever happened to just drilling holes to make it sound fruity.

I know of one airbox that works properly a carbon one on a m3 engine, and they cost silly money.

 

[the_prophet]

The one where they've pulled a renault airbox out of the parts bin and stuck a JMS sticker on it? FLOL

I've been on here long enough not to believe a f**king word any 'tuner' says tbh, only what I've seen with my own eyes.

Ok, well have you tried it yourself? as per my first post at the top of the page? have you seen the results?

 

[Lagerlout]

Ok, well have you tried it yourself? as per my first post at the top of the page? have you seen the results?

Nope. Only the ph1 172 box. As well as a Viper, a BMC, std box with ITG and std panel filters, with and without acoustic valve, ITG Maxogen. Having tried all these and concluded that, in isolation, the airbox/filter makes f**k all difference in the great scheme of things.

Maxogen was best, but none really made an appreciable difference - except the BMC, which made my car worse.

And yes, I've seen the figures. Like the first 244bhp ITB cars.... and the cars with airbox and a remap making 200bhp.....

Not saying JMS have made them up in any way... just that rolling roads are a bit hit and miss for this sort of stuff and there's really no susbstitute for trying them on the road.

And did the choice of Espace V6 airbox come from weeks of CFD work , or was it because they'd already become folklore on Cliosport?

I guess the older you get, the more cynical you become.

Anyway. BOT. Smoothing your airbox. I'll bet a months wages that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

 

[Damo_Sport]

Nope. Only the ph1 172 box. As well as a Viper, a BMC, std box with ITG and std panel filters, with and without acoustic valve, ITG Maxogen. Having tried all these and concluded that, in isolation, the airbox/filter makes f**k all difference in the great scheme of things.

Maxogen was best, but none really made an appreciable difference - except the BMC, which made my car worse.

And yes, I've seen the figures. Like the first 244bhp ITB cars.... and the cars with airbox and a remap making 200bhp.....

Not saying JMS have made them up in any way... just that rolling roads are a bit hit and miss for this sort of stuff and there's really no susbstitute for trying them on the road.

And did the choice of Espace V6 airbox come from weeks of CFD work , or was it because they'd already become folklore on Cliosport?

I guess the older you get, the more cynical you become.

Anyway. BOT. Smoothing your airbox. I'll bet a months wages that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

£5?

 

[the_prophet]

Nope. Only the ph1 172 box. As well as a Viper, a BMC, std box with ITG and std panel filters, with and without acoustic valve, ITG Maxogen. Having tried all these and concluded that, in isolation, the airbox/filter makes f**k all difference in the great scheme of things.

Maxogen was best, but none really made an appreciable difference - except the BMC, which made my car worse.

And yes, I've seen the figures. Like the first 244bhp ITB cars.... and the cars with airbox and a remap making 200bhp.....

Not saying JMS have made them up in any way... just that rolling roads are a bit hit and miss for this sort of stuff and there's really no susbstitute for trying them on the road.

and did the choice of Espace V6 airbox come from weeks of CFD work and working out a perfect shpe, or was it because they'd already become folklore on Cliosprt.

I guess the older you get, the more cynical you become.

Anyway. BOT. Smoothing your airbox. I'll bet a months wages that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

....for the sake of not getting this thread off topic and into another forum discussion of what works and what doesn't - i agree completely with that last paragraph, talking from my own experience.

 

[Tom@JMS]

Problem is there are so many contradictions. Sure, on the road - but people need results, figures, graphs before committing to a product. Telling them it 'feels' good is just no good.

Secondly CFD is something I work with on a daily basis - small simple example:

[youtube]fvPu0Ut5lPw[/youtube]

Simulating the V6 airbox is something that I have not considered but I will do. We saw the physical results on the pressure drop between the standard airbox & the V6 using the map load data, I will simulate it and compare the theoretical pressure differences with the recorded - will that satisfy you

 

[Lagerlout]

£5?

That's pa. Wages are poor up here.

 

[Lagerlout]

Problem is there are so many contradictions. Sure, on the road - but people need results, figures, graphs before committing to a product. Telling them it 'feels' good is just no good.

Secondly CFD is something I work with on a daily basis - small simple example:

[youtube]fvPu0Ut5lPw[/youtube]

Simulating the V6 airbox is something that I have not considered but I will do. We saw the physical results on the pressure drop between the standard airbox & the V6 using the map load data, I will simulate it and compare the theoretical pressure differences with the recorded - will that satisfy you

You don't have to do it for me... I'd not be satisfied until I'd tested it myself..... and as you can tell my time of pissing about with RS airboxes is long gone lol.

 

[iimushroomzii]

f**k the airbox, just stick a tight over the Tb, that'll work.

 

[Gaz.]

f**k the airbox, just stick a tight over the Tb, that'll work.

Cloths are better I heard.

 

[jack_davey]

I got to be honest having worked in motorsport I was sceptical about the gains to be had from the espace airbox, but I cant argue with JMS' research!

Although like I said earlier in the thread, the gains from an airbox will always be minimal!

 

[_WILL_]

Tom what CFD package are you using? (not relevant to this thread just trying to find a good one for uni)

 

[jack_davey]

^ i'd also like to know this please