Hello guys. This is just more of an info write up for those who are planning of putting a bug screen on your Evo to protect the intercooler from rocks/debris. Have you guys recently seen your intercooler? Well when I first got my Evo, a few weeks later I noticed that i have been getting alot of bugs and peebles "rammed" in the fins of the intercooler. You guys know that's it's a ***** trying to pick those crap out. I figured after a while, I might get a hole in some part of the intercooler. So I went to Home Depot to buy a screen which are normally used on home windows. I looked at the product and it didn't look restricted. So trimmed it to fit the intercooler grille and stuck it with hot glue (temporary). After a while I noticed (of course) that the intercooler stayed "debri free" and left it like that. Now 6 months later I was looking at the bug screen and thought to myself if this screen is restrictive to air flow. When to my amazement it was very restrictive! I got a piece of some of the left over screen and used a hairdryer(which my wf have 4 of) to blow air through it and I would say it stopped about 50% of the air flow! which equal to a drop in air temperature which intails a drop in hp. So I guess I will have to do without the bug screen and if the intercooler ever gets a pin hole of some sort, I will just have to solder it of just get the Greddy intercooler. I still have the screen and I think I would only put it back on if I am going out of town for a long drive.

 

I did the exact same thing that you did (minus the hot glue part). I actually wrote a "how to" about a year ago on this. It did in fact keep all those bugs and rocks out well. But I kept having thoughts about how much air I was restricting, so I took it off after using it for about half a year. Only time I'm putting it on is for road trips. Summer's creeping up and I can't be having that screen covering my intercooler.

 

I Road Dynoed my EVO with the screen mesh on in the middle of last summer. I did not see any measurable amount of difference in power or torque loss.
I have been using it since the car was almost new and I will keep on using it. A lot of people rag on me for this, but even if I loose that 1 or 2 hp, I really don't care. I do not have the time to pick at my intercooler for hours. I have better things to do.

 

this is because you have the fan blowing into an open hood

 

You are thinking of chassis dyno.

RoadDyno -> done on the road while driving the car. No open hoods, no fans. All under actual driving conditions including air flow, drag, engine load, etc.

This is not a gtec type of thing either...

 

Is that so? I might as well put it back on. My intercooler's beginning to get zits.

 

How do you measure horsepower besides just guessing?

Say, you don't have a Dynoflash, do you?

 

Using a tool such as this one: http://www.charm.net/~mchaney/roaddyno/dyno.htm

No, I don't have a Dynoflash.

 

i just decided to take off my bug screen for a day. figured no bugs would go inside my intercooler. todayi check and a HUGE MOTH is fried across my intercooler. screen going back on