Induction

[Russ68]

Hi all,

I had a look at the air filter casing and intake for my 2001 3.0 Sport and it's one of the best standard systems I've come across, but still capable of being improved I suspect. Does anyone (Joe, Jon?) know if the STR uses the same casing and intake as the V6? A websearch was a bit inconclusive.

The intake appears to disappear into the inner wing area, not sure where after that. It does turn a hard 180 degrees before entering the filter box, and my thinking is, if it's the same design on the STR, it won't be restrictive for the V6 and I can park the idea of modifying it, apart from a panel filter perhaps. But if the STR uses a different one, I wonder if it's possible to fit an STR housing and filter for improved performance? Or can the V6 system be improved with STR or aftermarket parts?

Or what do the STR boys do? (That doesn't include sticking a cone filter on the edge of the pipe into the hot engine bay and actually decreasing power!). If systems have been designed to improve the breathing on a 400bhp+ engine, they'd probably work very well indeed on a 3.0 Sport .

Also, I suspect the throttle body and other fuelling parts have already been optimised and would not benefit from being played with?

Thanks in advance for an information or insight!

Cheers, Russ

 

[The Voices]

The picture below shows some of the intake setup (filter box to supercharger / throttle body inlet)

I haven't looked where the feed comes into the airbox.

From what I can tell, the STR upgrade is either 'panel' filter or cone with heatshield, usually with a one piece stainless intake pipe that does away with the corrugated plastic one.

 

 

[JOE-DOT-COM]

hi Russ

avoid cone filters in the engine bay, as it sucks hot air from the engine bay and you will actually lose power

you need a cold feed from the front of the car to gain any performance

the S-type R air box is a good air box, it sucks air from the front, behind the grill and when you put your foot all the way down there is a extra flap at the front of the airbox that opens for additional airflow into the air box

jon, you want one of those induction pipes, there suppose to breath better and you get more supercharger whine, which sounds good

S-type R air box

also ford focus RS use the same air filter as the s-type R, so K&N panel filters, easy fit, are reasonably cheap

pic of my induction pipe on my STR

 

cheers

joe

also s-type r air goes in at the front where red arrow is

 

[Russ68]

Thanks guys! Most helpful and just what I needed. As suspected the STR has a better system, particularly the intake which exits forward as opposed to turning 90 degrees and going though the inner wing. On the basis of your helpful pics, I've just bought one of these from eBay for £11.90, worth a punt! I'll then see about mating this to my filter box and potentially upgrading the piping from the box to the MAF and then to the throttle body with stainless pipe or large core Samco hosing. Complete STR filter boxes are available, but I'll see how I go with modifying my one before I commit to this more expensive and potentially unnecessary option.

With you 100% on the cone filter in the engine bay Joe, I wouldn't go there! Quite prevalent with the MGF crowd who love the induction roar, but physics dictates that the colder the air the denser the charge and the more power. So while a cone may give a marginal gain on an MGF over the woeful standard MGF induction system, they are inferior to something like the Vader system and custom inlet I have on my F, which transformed the performance for the sake of c£300.

The standard Jag stem is too good to expect a similar gain, but I can see a potential quick win with what I have in mind. If and when I get round to it I will report back with pics, you never know, it might even work .

Thanks again, Russ

[Simjag]

My 3.0 gets it air from the same place as the R, it doesn't go into the wing!

[Russ68]

Interesting, perhaps they revised them on later models?

Mine currently looks like this, with the other picture with arrow showing the 180 degree turn from the left (from front) of filter box to them exit through the inner wing (in the direction of the arrow) etc...

 

[Simjag]

All V6 petrols from 2002/5 are like this-

[Russ68]

Quite different from the X200, 98-01 then, the pic below is from Google, not mine. They don't quote a different power as far as I'm aware, so not sure if the changes made much material difference, but interesting to know the later V6's had this system and not just the STR. Thanks Simon 

[Russ68]

For interest, I've seen strut braces on eBay for an 04+ S-Type diesel. But they don't appear to be standard on the V6 or even the STR. Could this be a quick win for c£35, or not worth the bother?

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Just now, Russ68 said:

For interest, I've seen strut braces on eBay for an 04+ S-Type diesel. But they don't appear to be standard on the V6 or even the STR. Could this be a quick win for c£35, or not worth the bother?

HI

post a pic up

I don't think there enough clearance on a s-type r to get one to fit

but the s-type r has  a brace fitted at the rear, when you fold the seats down, you cant access the boot, there just the ski hatch hole, the usuall big hole is braced with a large plate

the only opening is the ski hatch

cheers

joe

[Russ68]

I bet that's it Joe, can't do the pic from my phone, but will check clearance and post pics when I can 

[Claws]

Morning All

This topic got me thinking, so I had a look at mine, which has a minor difference to the image Simon provided. Any reason why the mouth of the air intake is smaller?

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Earlier ones were narrower, but the pipe is the same size, same as early s-type r aswell, but  they have a additional flap that open on the front of the airbox under full power

[Claws]

Thanks Joe

now I know!

Regards

Steve

[Russ68]

Hi all,

The new intake has arrived and other than it being pretty grotty, and the slightly smaller intake, as per later 3.0, I have a potential clearance issue with the bit projecting from from the pipe between the MAF and throttle body shown in blue below.

I'll have a play around with it, no great loss if it doesn't work, but potentially not the quick win I'd hoped. I may be able to rotate it round slightly to go over the new intake, but it doesn't appear to lend itself to upgrading with Samco hosing or similar, barely a straight run in it with lots of stuff projecting off!

Before I take it apart and start playing with it, I don't suppose anyone knows what's inside the lump indicated below?

Thanks, Russ

[Simjag]

Nothing!

[Russ68]

Really Simon? Just an empty lump? What's it for then? Could I cut it off? Must do something? 

[The Voices]

I could be wrong, but a lot of intake pipes have a hollow 'swirl chamber' (for want of a better description) to reduce the amount of intake noise.

That is what I think the 'lump' is in this case ?

In Subaru world, we remove the intake 'silencer' for more induction noise and so that you can hear the turbo !

 

In need a bigger picture to see properly, but you could potentially replace the MAF to throttle body section of the hose with a piece of flexible ducting in the correct diameter ?

Should give you slightly better airflow and a slightly sportier induction noise ?

 

I would want to use something with a reasonably thick wall but flexible enough to bend to shape.

Tried a 4" silicone pipe as a cold air feed to an enclosed cone filter on one of my Imprezas but the silicone pipe was too 'rigid' to bend where I wanted it to go, ended up using a wire reinforced 4" ducting pipe instead.

 

 

 

[Russ68]

Very interesting Jon, the later ones didn't have this swirl chamber or whatever it is, I'm not bothered about induction noise and it won't be an issue for me if this goes from nothing at all to barely audible! I'll take a bigger picture, but potentially changing out this pipe section gives me the clearance I need and may tidy things up. Generally with airflow and induction, if it looks clean and neat, it probably is!

More soon 

[The Voices]

The straighter and smoother the path for the inlet, the better.

Only thing to keep in mind is how any other bits would connect if you replaced the factory inlet with a straight pipe, looks like there is another pipe connected just after the MAF ?

[Russ68]

Of course Jon, I'll factor this in, looks like Samco do a suitable pipe, with an inlet, but this will need further investigation. There's a few engineering places around here that could weld me something up in stainless, which would be a nice bit of bling for the engine bay. But I best look into it properly first 

There's a local guy who breaks S-Types, I may source a complete inlet from him that I can butcher, before I do anything to take mine of the road. But getting my wheels sprayed and sorting out the leak from my expansion tank are higher up the priority list at the moment. I must have bought every damn trim clip that is on the car, except the big 2 piece ones that hold the trim plate that goes over the expansion chamber. Shouldn't hold be back from taking this off, but I like to have replacement clips and replace any broken ones after doing a job. I may post separately about this unless anyone knows what they're called and if they can still be sourced?

Cheers, Russ

[The Voices]

A spare inlet to experiment on is a good idea !