3.3TT AEM Intake Review

[Manchuz]

Got some video this evening. It's not the greatest as I was trying to get it done quick, but hopefully it gives a little idea of the sound. Of course speaker quality and the mic quality will affect how everyone hears the video, but in general you should at least get an idea of the volume level.

Cool man. Did you notice any throttle response improvements? Quicker acceleration?

 

[Maddog2873]

I am pretty sure there was a difference, but it was a small amount and not easy to tell. My butt dyno may not be calibrated very well so I just may not have felt it as much as someone else.

It's ok though because all I was looking for was a slight power bump, slight throttle response improvement, and be able to hear the turbos. I think I got all of that with this setup. Also paving the way for eventually getting a JB4 that the wife may never know about...

 

[Manaz]

The AEM intakes are dry so there is no oil to worry about from them. Unless you were referring to a different setup.

Yep, I was quoting a reply that related to K&N filters.

Oiled filters periodically require that you wash them and refresh the oil. Often people over-oil filters, which can cause issues (often with the MAF for cars so equipped).

 

[Dspec 1]

Cool man. Did you notice any throttle response improvements? Quicker acceleration?

I posted this on another thread:I can honestly say that the AEM intake installed yesterday 'feel' more responsive and pulls faster to redline. Been at this stuff for 25 years and can say the intakes on this car made an appreciable difference in how the car drives as opposed to any other turbo or NA car I've added an intake to. Plus, seriously, the stock BOV sound scares people on the street and the turbo spook up sounds like a jet.

 

[Manchuz]

I posted this on another thread:I can honestly say that the AEM intake installed yesterday 'feel' more responsive and pulls faster to redline. Been at this stuff for 25 years and can say the intakes on this car made an appreciable difference in how the car drives as opposed to any other turbo or NA car I've added an intake to. Plus, seriously, the stock BOV sound scares people on the street and the turbo spook up sounds like a jet.

Nice! I know sometimes it's hard to tell whether some addon actually did anything or if you're just sensing a placebo effect, so it's good to hear feedback that there's a small improvement overall.

Do you find the new audible sounds loud and annoying now or it's just the right amount? ie. You can remain quiet while cruising and feel the thrust when you step on the peddle.

 

[Blitz]

The instructions had me disconnect the negative on the battery. I am not sure what the reasoning is for as I didn't touch any of the electrical to complete the install. Is it just a common safety practice or is there another reason?

Yes, that's just S.O.P. when working on a vehicle - just in case you were to drop a wrench in the wrong place, for example, or inadvertently touch a live terminal.

They have you disconnect the battery completely because it resets the ECU. The ECU adjusts itself as you break the car in to maximize power for your octane/setup and minimize knock. It saves the values and basically "auto-tunes" to a minor degree each vehicle. Something like crappy gas and the engine will retard the timing so you don't cause any damage. Each engine is different so some just work a little better or worse than others in some spots, etc. Unplugging the battery resets all this adaptation because your setup is different and the engine needs to retard/advance timing based on the new airflow.

 

[StungBlueGT2]

Interesting food for thought thats for sure. Thx for that. What open airs did you originally go with?

I initially just added Spectre 8136 highflow filters without any shielding. Spectre Performance 8136 , Spectre Conical Filter
Then after noticing the heatsoak and power loss I made a soft box wall between the engine & filters using Thermo-Tec heat shielding. I didnt expect such a difference and am thrilled with the results. Here is my thread explaining the details and let me know if you have any questions. Hope this helps and happy tuning! 3.3TT - DIY intakes w/Heat shielding drop about 0.2sec off 0-60

 

[Jacques]

I am pretty sure there was a difference, but it was a small amount and not easy to tell. My butt dyno may not be calibrated very well so I just may not have felt it as much as someone else.

It's ok though because all I was looking for was a slight power bump, slight throttle response improvement, and be able to hear the turbos. I think I got all of that with this setup. Also paving the way for eventually getting a JB4 that the wife may never know about...

Heh, I'm looking for a nice first (and fun) performance mod, and this might be the one. Hopefully my wife doesn't notice the sound too much.

 

[Revvdmedia]

I initially just added Spectre 8136 highflow filters without any shielding. Spectre Performance 8136 , Spectre Conical Filter
Then after noticing the heatsoak and power loss I made a soft box wall between the engine & filters using Thermo-Tec heat shielding. I didnt expect such a difference and am thrilled with the results. Here is my thread explaining the details and let me know if you have any questions. Hope this helps and happy tuning! 3.3TT - DIY intakes w/Heat shielding drop about 0.2sec off 0-60

I noticed substantially warm IAT when at the track last week with my filters as well. Pushing as high as 159F with ambient around 65F...I noticed one run was 13.6 with the IAT @ 159F, and another was 13.19 @ ~113F, so the hot air is definitely hurting my times. I could be in the 12's most likely with near ambient air at our altitude (2200ft).

Right now the filters are sitting in the lower half of the factory airbox. I'm thinking I'm either going to build a structural heat shield that utilizes the factory clips on the lower half of the box for easy swap-out when going back to the factory lid for service, but may explore other options depending how well that turns out. I want something removable.

 

[ZyroXZ2]

Those filters are so tiny... lol

 

[StungBlueGT2]

I noticed substantially warm IAT when at the track last week with my filters as well. Pushing as high as 159F with ambient around 65F...I noticed one run was 13.6 with the IAT @ 159F, and another was 13.19 @ ~113F, so the hot air is definitely hurting my times. I could be in the 12's most likely with near ambient air at our altitude (2200ft).

Right now the filters are sitting in the lower half of the factory airbox. I'm thinking I'm either going to build a structural heat shield that utilizes the factory clips on the lower half of the box for easy swap-out when going back to the factory lid for service, but may explore other options depending how well that turns out. I want something removable.

Exactly. Unless you can make a barrier between the turbo/engine and the filters it will always draw hot air when sitting still. However, since air follows the path of least resistance you simply need to make the hot air from the engine harder to pull than the cool air from the front of the car.

In my experience as long as you have a barrier that wraps around the strut bar and below the filter(or below your OEM airbox) it will keep the hot engine air away from the intakes. This doesnt look professional, but you can see how it separates the filters from the engine & turbos. It basically makes a large soft box of cool air surrounding the intakes so it draws that first and then naturally pulls air from the front of the car & from the OEM air inlets.


Lastly, this setup is easily removable and I can go back to stock in about 15mins. I hope this helps and good luck with your search.

 

[CoconutRob]

I thought this was AEM thread.

 

[Blitz]

Those filters are so tiny... lol

If you're talking about the AEM, they are certainly not. Maybe the pictures mislead but they are quite big. Much bigger than my agency power filters.

 

[Maddog2873]

Nice! I know sometimes it's hard to tell whether some addon actually did anything or if you're just sensing a placebo effect, so it's good to hear feedback that there's a small improvement overall.

Do you find the new audible sounds loud and annoying now or it's just the right amount? ie. You can remain quiet while cruising and feel the thrust when you step on the peddle.

Personally I find the new sound to be loud (in a good way), but only because the car is so quiet to start with. My wife immediately noticed the noise when I got on it. With the windows up you can tell something different is going on when you get into the pedal, and if you let off on hard acceleration you will hear the BOV. With the windows down it is even more noticeable, but again, to me it is not a bad or annoying sound, just definitely there for all to hear depending on how heavy your right foot is. Under casual everyday driving, you will hear absolutely nothing different (except on cold starts when you could swear a couple of Hoover vacuums are under the hood for the first few seconds on warmup).

 

[Maddog2873]

Heh, I'm looking for a nice first (and fun) performance mod, and this might be the one. Hopefully my wife doesn't notice the sound too much.

Intakes are definitely a nice easy first mod for most people. I am not knowledgeable at what I am doing under the hood and I was able to do this on my own, just took a little longer than most probably.

Like I said in a couple other posts, your wife will only hear it on a cold startup for a few seconds, and when the right foot gets heavy. I will say it is also easier to get the noises to come to life in Sport mode.

 

[Jacques]

^^^When I had the Optima, I put in a BOV plate. You would only notice it on cold startups and when I drive it hard and let off. My wife asked what that was, and I simply said it's a side effect of the turbo spooling up, helps dissipate air. She didn't think anything of it after that. Her only complaint with the Stinger so far is she doesn't like the headrests.

 

[ZyroXZ2]

If you're talking about the AEM, they are certainly not. Maybe the pictures mislead but they are quite big. Much bigger than my agency power filters.

I feel like we should all start doing surface area calculations and create a thread of various intake kits and their included filter surface areas

 

[Jonathan Lasich]

I feel like we should all start doing surface area calculations and create a thread of various intake kits and their included filter surface areas

That would be helpful info!

 

[Maddog2873]

I feel like we should all start doing surface area calculations and create a thread of various intake kits and their included filter surface areas

I will see if I can get a measurement when I get home.

 

[ZyroXZ2]

That would be helpful info!

Well, people just need to list the part number and manufacturer of the filter. Surely there will be dimensions online, and then we just calculate surface area.

HOWEVER, this assumes pleats are somewhat uniform across the board. If one filter has more pleats than another, it actually has more surface area.