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Hey there new owner and member here. Search worked just as well as ....well any other forum so here I am 😅
Looking to do my first intake mod and I really like the look of the AEM enclosed intake. Especially since im in CA and it has that handy little carb sticker.
A lot of the other systems I see have much larger piping and filters and my question is, is the AEM system easily "outgrown"? As in, Is there any limiting factors down the road if I keep missing where this system won't keep up? Or is it pretty solid?
So update, got the intake. Installed pretty smooth just had to cut some of the vacuum lines they came with because they were waaaay to long
noticed slightly more turbo woosh haha
Noticed a little bump in power. Overall clean looking system will update with pics!
So update, got the intake. Installed pretty smooth just had to cut some of the vacuum lines they came with because they were waaaay to long
noticed slightly more turbo woosh haha
Noticed a little bump in power. Overall clean looking system will update with pics!
Make sure you get tuned for it as the MAF housing is larger than OEM.
Make sure you get tuned for it as the MAF housing is larger than OEM.
See this is where I'm stuck. I actually snagged a 60k miles warranty when I bought her, so I really didn't have plans to tune it any time soon untill I'm close or up with the warranty. The guys at RRE said I should be fine if I can hold myself back from doing any other mods. His rule of thumb was "intake OR exhaust, but once you do both and more then a tune would be absolutely necessary to be safe....so for now , I must resist.....
Even though I could net like 50whp tomorrow...must.....hold....back....
Retuning the MAF via ECUflash would be beneficial. I removed the radiator upper plastic shroud which was heavily restricting the airbox inlet. I paired this with the cast Tomei compressor inlet pipe. Works well and the pressure drop across the intake and works well with a stock turbo. Definitely worth the money.
so I really didn't have plans to tune it [...]. The guys at RRE said I should be fine if I can hold myself back from doing any other mods. His rule of thumb was "intake OR exhaust, but once you do both and more then a tune would be absolutely necessary [...]
Currently I'm also looking at the AEM intake. This seems consistent with the explanation given by Yxd68:
Originally Posted by Yxd68
The AEM intake uses a larger MAF tube, thus it sends a LOWER airflow value to the ECU. The ECU sees a lower airflow and dispenses less fuel. The lower fuel level leans out the excessively rich stock tune, for a power gain. AND the lower load levels (calculated from the lower airflow values) advances timing more (due to being in a lower load cell) so there may also be some more power. That's the AEM with a *stock* binary.
When the engine is tuned, - with or without the AEM intake - the mixture is leaned out (with resulting power gain) so anything the larger AEM MAF tube did is negated. Tuning fuel and timing for the AEM will negate the effects of the larger MAF tube. Using a tune on the stock airbox then switching to the AEM intake (without retuning) could result in a dangerously lean setup if not tuned again to compensate for the AEM's larger MAF tube size.
The TUNE is what gained more power, NOT the AEM intake (on a tuned car). The same power gains can be had with the stock intake and a good tune.
Example: The AEM intake makes 21HP on a STOCK tune. A stock intake with a good tune makes +50HP. You are NOT going to see another +21HP (for +71HP total) by installing the AEM on a tuned engine.
And by RRE:
Originally Posted by RRE
This intake makes great power. AEM spent a lot of time developing it over the last three months. They really do their best not to suck. Much of the power comes from the car making a touch more boost and running a little leaner. On a dead stock car it would make less power with out the aid of the full exhaust.
There hasn't been much information about the exact horsepower limit of a closed AEM airbox. For sure it will chock an upgraded turbo, requiring cutting the airbox or simply removing the lid. For full bolt-on (but stock turbo) builds, this is less clear. sstevojr reported that:
Originally Posted by sstevojr
Just and FYI, it's not just for large turbos. I "discovered" that I was chocking my stock turbo on track days; removed the lid problem solved. Best of both worlds, insolate the intake from transient heat, and allow it to breathe deeper in the upper rpms (6000+)
Originally Posted by razorlab
Also the AEM has another restriction, which is the lid. At higher flows the lid creates a restriction which causes the rubber part of the intake to collapse onto itself and choke the motor. Just taking the lid off the box totally stops this issue from happening.
I'm slighted worried about simply removing the lid for track days and putting the lid back for daily driving. As the intake temperature would be different, I believe that ideally an Evo X owner would need 2 tunes, one for lid-on and one for lid-off:
Originally Posted by RevMaynard
Tried it, ran like crap so I put it back on immediately. If you want the sound of recirc, get an ETS or AMS and a retune. The whole point of the AEM is to be closed and offer a ton of cool air.
Therefore, a one-size-fits-all solution could be to cut the AEM airbox for a second opening, sacrificing some cool air for daily driving but prevent chocking at top RPMs. Maybe cut a big round hole at the relay-box-facing side, which is the side that open element intakes (e.g. AMS, ETS, MAP) get much of the air from:
If the tuner is okay with the large and unpredictable fluctuation of intake temperatures, cutting such a hole could work well. (You probably don't want to cut the airbox open on the radiator-fan-side, else the fans could cause interference. It is for this exact reason that all open element intake kits come with an intake fan shield.)
At last, for those people wondering why the AEM intake buyers don't go for a simple open element intake :
Originally Posted by RRE
For So Cal it is the best thing EVAR with the poorly trained anti-import street racing police. You could paint the MAF pipe flat black and make your own lid for the box out of something with no logo. Officer Bob could stare at it all night long with a stupid look on his face and not know it was a highly illegal part that killed innocent people. 'Cause that is what they are looking for. They all know shiny pipes is what makes you street race boy.
Last edited by Lightsaber; Feb 17, 2023 at 10:33 PM.
Reason: added night mode support
So update, got the intake. Installed pretty smooth just had to cut some of the vacuum lines they came with because they were waaaay to long
noticed slightly more turbo woosh haha
Noticed a little bump in power. Overall clean looking system will update with pics!
as someone else stated, a tune for the new intake is to account for the larger MAF sensor housing in the intake. Very important to at minimum verify you are still running a reasonable afr and boost should have the ecu tuned (MAF calibration and calculated load tables will all need addressed when changing the MAF/intake.)
Update
Huge progress since originally posting this thread.....still on the AEM intake , ditched the box and the filter for a boostlabs SS mesh filter with Velocity stack and fully tuned e85 and bolt ons. This forum has served as invaluable resource to me and I just want to say thanks to everyone that helped.
Update
Huge progress since originally posting this thread.....still on the AEM intake , ditched the box and the filter for a boostlabs SS mesh filter with Velocity stack and fully tuned e85 and bolt ons. This forum has served as invaluable resource to me and I just want to say thanks to everyone that helped.
I personally like the AEM dry flow filter, because it doesn't use any oil that can potentially clog the MAF sensor. Of course, I'm aware that AEM has sold the filter line of business to K&N in 2009, but the dry flow is still a distinct line.
Recently when browsing AEM catalogs, I noticed that AEM makes the really big 3" FID dry flow filters for our cars as well. This means we can probably use the AMS performance intake (SRI), ditch the oiled filter (p/n: RE-0930) that comes with it, and clamp on an AEM dry flow filter. This way we can have the best of both worlds: the AMS SRI's large intake diameter without the turbo-choking airbox, and a properly sized dry flow filter that doesn't clog the MAP sensor.
The oiled filter RE-0930 has a flange inside diameter (FID) of 3", base outside diameter (BOD) of 6", and height (H) of 6". The AEM's "'really big 3" FID'" filter I found is 21-203D-XK (FID=3", BOD=6", H=5.563"), which will likely fit and it's big enough for our Evo X. With a pre-filter wrap, the cleaning and replacement interval will be comfortably long. If I end up with this setup myself in the future, I should post on the forum whether it works well.
. This seems consistent with the explanation given by Yxd68:
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