fantrman

iTrader: (27)

There have been a few threads here for a DIY cold-air intake shield. Well, here's mine. I was just surprised there are really no good inexpensive shields being offered. I guess all the different combinations of aftermarket intake pipes and filters make it impractical for a vendor to offer one. Anyhow, I was interested to see if I could come up with one that works. My plan was to make a simple, cheap and good-looking one and then test it on the road.

I have a pretty common intake setup - BR filter/adapter, stock MAF and a FP intake pipe connected to an FP Black. The first thing was to decide the configuration and material. On my car it seemed the best thing was to separate the filter from the MAF and create a boxed area that pulls air mainly from the front and bottom. The plan was to seal the boxed area at the hood for closure. 0.025” Sheet aluminum seemed like the best material as it is easy to cut, bend and holds its shape well. I used corrugated cardboard to create mockup templates to develop the shield configuration. It took three mockups to get the final shape. The hardest part was figuring out how to get a good seal at the hood. To get it right, I cut the top of the shield a little short to start with and then used a series toothpicks inserted into the cardboard corrugations at the top of the installed mockup. I made sure they stuck up higher than the top of the shield would be. Once the toothpicks were in place, I closed the hood. This pushed the toothpicks down into the cardboard and gave me a perfect profile where the hood meets the shield. Once I had a good template, I marked and cut the aluminum shield. The unfinished shield was trial fit and everything looked good. As you can see the shield meets the connection of the filter and the filter adapter at the MAF. A slot was cut at the bottom of the shield to allow the MAF and boost controller wires to pass through it. The heat shield was sanded and painted flat black.




















I found universal rubber trunk seal at the local auto parts store. This is used to finish the top of the shield and create a seal at the hood. To finish the edge of the hole for the filter, I used some 6mm vacuum hose I happen to have on hand. I split it length-wise and pushed it on the edge. It seems to stay in place well without adhesive.



OK, so here is the testing. First thing was to document the actual under-hood air temperature going into the filter with no shield. It was measured both while the car is moving at a 45 MPH cruise and during a stationary idle after a three minute stop to simulate a traffic light stop. I used a digital cooking thermometer with a wire probe. The thermometer probe was clipped to the air filter to make sure it was reading the air entering the filter. It was 90 degrees F outside throughout the tests. I made sure to warm the car to normal operating temp with a coolant temp of about 200 degrees F. At a 45 MPH cruise, the temp at the un-shielded filter varied between 102 and 103 degrees F. After a three minute stop and idle, the temp rose to 151 degrees F.










I then installed the finished heat shield, hooked up the thermometer and tested it. At a 45 MPH cruise, it stayed at 93 degrees F, two degrees below ambient temp. After a three minute stop and idle, the temp rose to 121 degrees F.









So, that’s a 10 degree difference at a 45 MPH cruise and a 30 degree difference at a simulated traffic stop. It’s kind of weird the differences were both in 10 degree increments, but that’s what the thermometer said.

Observations: Is a heat shield really needed? I don’t know – maybe. I have no idea what difference 10 degree cooler intake air makes while cruising and 30 degree cooler intake air makes at a street launch. I considered doing some VD pulls and comparing the graphs, but frankly I don’t think VD is consistent enough for that type of comparison. There may only be a few HP differences, who knows.

In the end, the project cost me $30, a few hours and looks OK.

fantrman

iTrader: (27)

Fixed the images...

B.J.@ToxicFab

iTrader: (26)

Nice job man, I always like seeing these DIY intake heat shield setups!

B.J.@ToxicFab

iTrader: (26)

I was wondering that as well, I had to click on the Xs to see the pics...

evoxsi

iTrader: (8)

im gonna be making one of these once i switch to sd. thanks for the info.

sujinX

iTrader: (22)

looks good bro. thanks for the info.
do u know if having a top on will benefit it at all?

fantrman

iTrader: (27)

I don't think it needs a top if it seals reasonable well at the top, which I made sure this one does. I also don't think a heat shield needs to be an air-tight enclosure either.

drb

iTrader: (39)

Nice job and thanks for posting the results. Feed it some cold air from the front bumper (like the attached pictures) and I'll bet that the temperature drops even more.

Mochafrap

iTrader: (1)

Interesting test. Nice job.

maikcat

a rather silly question...

AFAIK the incoming air passes through : Turbo - Intercooler - Intake mani

the turbo is hot whatsoever...

so i believe it doesnt matter the temperature measured on your intake filter
as much AFTER the intercooler itself....

in any case the turbo will heat up the air...

am i wrong?

regards

Michael.

ps: sorry for my poor english..

fantrman

iTrader: (27)

Good idea. Where did you get that funnel connected to the front fascia?


You are correct of course, what really matters in the end is the temperature of the air actually going into the engine. However, that is determined by more than just the affectiveness of the intercooler. The intercooler simply causes a temperature difference in the heated air from the turbo. I believe the temperature of the incoming air also plays a part in the final air temp leaving the intercoller. By how much, I don't know.

ILuvJDM

iTrader: (12)

true, but one could assume that colder intake air results in colder charge air... that's why your car runs better when it's 80*F as opposed to 105*F

If you really want to know you could test with an IAT sensor on SD tuned cars in addition to this test to see how lower intake temps result (if they do) in colder charge air

B.J.@ToxicFab

iTrader: (26)

Your setup looks good! I will be doing a very similar setup once I get rid of all my ACD junk...

I was wondering the same thing. Looks like a piece from a brake cooling duct kit. Seems to fit well & not universal like most...

spdngdragon

iTrader: (3)

Put bluntly, you are wrong...sort of Seriously though, the hotter the air entering the turbo, the less oxygen for a given volume is entering the turbo. If the air entering the turbo is hotter, then the air exiting the turbo is hotter (assuming that the air in not able to sit in the turbo long enough to obtain temperature equilibrium with it (which it isn't)). This hotter air is cooled down by the intercooler at pretty much the same rate, which means that the air exiting the intercooler is hotter...so less oxygen got to your engine to go bang the gas. but you are correct in that the ultimate goal is to decrease the temperature at the intake manifold as much as possible.

Edit: BTW i really like this shield and want to copy it soon.

x03_EVO8x

Nice job man!