3.3TT DIY intakes w/Heat shielding drop about 0.2sec off 0-60

[Hyperjetta]

I have the exact same set up as you do, same orientation but you feel the heat shield aren't doing their job? I am wondering if K&N or BMS would output the same numbers since it is almost the same set up ...

I'm sure the heat shields are helping in most cases, but they're no where near as effective as the stock air boxes were (obviously). Normal driving they are probably plenty adequate, but for track days I need to figure out a way to isolate them more so that heatsoak isn't such a problem. Once I got moving the air temps cooled off quickly (about 20 degrees in 8 seconds), but still not enough to save my run.

Before I invest in an aftermarket intercooler I'm really interested in getting some temperature readings of the charge air coming from the turbos to see how well the stock intercooler is working with the extra boost from the JB4.

 

[SKStinger]

I'm sure the heat shields are helping in most cases, but they're no where near as effective as the stock air boxes were (obviously). Normal driving they are probably plenty adequate, but for track days I need to figure out a way to isolate them more so that heatsoak isn't such a problem. Once I got moving the air temps cooled off quickly (about 20 degrees in 8 seconds), but still not enough to save my run.

Before I invest in an aftermarket intercooler I'm really interested in getting some temperature readings of the charge air coming from the turbos to see how well the stock intercooler is working with the extra boost from the JB4.

Do you have the VT Snorkels? Might be worth checking out to get more cold air at your filters. The stock snorkels are pathetic.

 

[Chaser-1]

Has anyone tried removing the stock "snorkels" leading to the airboxes and leaving the stock airbox intact (and maybe switching out the panels with K&N drop ins)? Curious to see if that would result in any performance differences.

 

[Mr. Tech]

Has anyone tried removing the stock "snorkels" leading to the airboxes and leaving the stock airbox intact (and maybe switching out the panels with K&N drop ins)? Curious to see if that would result in any performance differences.

I'm guessing you'd just get higher intake air temperatures (IATs). Those snorkels funnel cold air from in front of the car. If you take them out, that air path becomes turbulent and you won't get as much cool air to your filters. So best guess would be either almost no difference, or a slight loss of power, especially after multiple hard pulls.

 

[Chaser-1]

I'm guessing you'd just get higher intake air temperatures (IATs). Those snorkels funnel cold air from in front of the car. If you take them out, that air path becomes turbulent and you won't get as much cool air to your filters. So best guess would be either almost no difference, or a slight loss of power, especially after multiple hard pulls.

I'm not so sure that'd be the case. Have you seen how the stock snorkels look like? They take in air from a really weird spot in the front of the engine bay away from the heat. Wouldn't freeing up that flow make things better?

 

[Mr. Tech]

I'm not so sure that'd be the case. Have you seen how the stock snorkels look like? They take in air from a really weird spot in the front of the engine bay away from the heat. Wouldn't freeing up that flow make things better?

Interesting. Just looked at a video of the stock snorkels. I'm wondering if they turned them up like that to reduce the amount of road dirt from getting to the filters or to stop water from getting into the airbox on a super rainy day..

It looks like the inlet to the airbox is right behind the corner of the grille, so you should still get somewhat decent airflow if you uninstall the stock snorkels. You could give it a shot and see what happens, but I still don't think you'd see a noticeable gain from just removing the snorkels. I could be wrong though.

 

[SteveCo]

The stock airboxes are a closed system, with fresh air drawn through the OEM intake tube inlets located on the 'cold' side of the radiator support. When the engine is running, it create a low pressure area in the airboxes, so they are actively drawing through those tubes, even at a standstill. While the design of the plastic intake openings under the rad cover looks restrictive at first glance, its actually of a decent size and should get a reasonable flow - during normal driving and intake demands.

Uncouple/remove the OEM air intake tubes, and all that will accomplish is to draw the heated air directly from the engine compartment.

 

[SKStinger]

I'm not so sure that'd be the case. Have you seen how the stock snorkels look like? They take in air from a really weird spot in the front of the engine bay away from the heat. Wouldn't freeing up that flow make things better?

I'm not sure I'd want to go through the effort of removing the bumper only to take the stock snorkels off and not replace them with the VT snorkels while i'm in there.

 

[Chaser-1]

I'm not sure I'd want to go through the effort of removing the bumper only to take the stock snorkels off and not replace them with the VT snorkels while i'm in there.

That's very true, but I also am hesitant about removing the shroud that directs air to the radiator.

 

[SKStinger]

That's very true, but I also am hesitant about removing the shroud that directs air to the radiator.

It can be modified but i'm not really convinced it does much of anything. There isn't a lot to it. I've had mine off for months now and have noticed zero difference. We're seeing consistent 90+ temperatures here lately and no rad issues to report.

 

[xot1]

I'm guessing you'd just get higher intake air temperatures (IATs). Those snorkels funnel cold air from in front of the car. If you take them out, that air path becomes turbulent and you won't get as much cool air to your filters. So best guess would be either almost no difference, or a slight loss of power, especially after multiple hard pulls.

Most people that want better airflow removed them.
I know at least 5 people around me who removed them.
I also removed it as soon as I got the chance.

Even KIA did it.
Look at the GT420 engine room picture:



Any snorkels?
End of the debate

 

[Kazz]

Even KIA did it.
Look at the GT420 engine room picture:

View attachment 28892

End of the debate

Yes. The aftermarket CAI supports the horsepower gains in the GT420. Open elements in the engine bay do not.

 

[StungBlueGT2]

I took a shot at the DIY intake setup and I'm not I love with the performance of the Spectre heatshields. I tracked it once since then and my intake temps reading from the JB4 were around 175F. That reading was even after I had let the car sit for a bit (hood closed). Ambient temps were around 80F or so. Engine was somewhere around 200F.

Normal street driving logs show my intake temps typically stay around 100-110F. It has been hot as balls here lately so I'm sure these numbers will drop considerably once it cools off.
View attachment 28861 View attachment 28862 View attachment 28863

Wow that’s extremely high IATs. This was my concern and why I didnt think shielding would help unless it somewhat sealed the filters off from the rest of the turbos/engine. If hot engine air can still be easily drawn into the filters the shielding is mostly useless.

I have the exact same set up as you do, same orientation but you feel the heat shield aren't doing their job? I am wondering if K&N or BMS would output the same numbers since it is almost the same set up ...

They may look similar but they aren’t actually the same type of setup. K&N, BMS, AP, AEM all use shielding to separate the filters from the hot engine air. Their designs create a box barrier that mostly seals off the filters from the rest of the engine bay. Since air follows the path of least resistance the cooler air is drawn from the OEM air inlets and/or from the openings in the front of the car opposed to the hot engine air that is blocked and held behind the shielding box.

That’s one reason I chose to make a soft box barrier with ThrermoTec heat shielding instead. It doesn’t look as good but it does almost completely seal off the filters from the turbos/engine when the hood is closed and only allows the cooler air to be drawn into the filters from the OEM inlets & front of the car.

 

[Hyperjetta]

Hmm, I'll have to see if I can figure out a way to measure airflow through those factory snorkels with the airboxes removed. I'm working on an arduino setup to measure the hotside charge pipe temps going into the intercooler and this might be an add on sensor.

That being said, this is my first time attempting something like this so any advice/tips are welcome

 

[SKStinger]

Most people that want better airflow removed them.
I know at least 5 people around me who removed them.
I also removed it as soon as I got the chance.

Even KIA did it.
Look at the GT420 engine room picture:

View attachment 28892

Any snorkels?
End of the debate

They’ve also removed the radiator shroud.

 

[Yangl123]

Great thread, looked through this last night and ordered the Spectre intake and rubber elbows - didn't want the chrome piping just based on appearances. Amazon prime is a blessing, got them in this morning. After reading about the potential risk with the filter cap on the inner base, I am considering an AEM filter that is closed - less surface area for the intake to suck in air but I am guessing the practical HP differences will be trivial. For now I'm just going to enjoy my WOOoooosh and PSSsssh sounds, I'm not getting the boost too high on my daily commute anyways.

Also, has anyone thought of sticking the air ducts into the centre of the open intake? The passenger side piping is totally flexible and I was able to position the air duct directly into the open intake but was not sure if this has any risks to is. Didn't try on the driver side but I suspect it is also possible. Thoughts?

 

[StungBlueGT2]

Great thread, looked through this last night and ordered the Spectre intake and rubber elbows - didn't want the chrome piping just based on appearances. Amazon prime is a blessing, got them in this morning. After reading about the potential risk with the filter cap on the inner base, I am considering an AEM filter that is closed - less surface area for the intake to suck in air but I am guessing the practical HP differences will be trivial. For now I'm just going to enjoy my WOOoooosh and PSSsssh sounds, I'm not getting the boost too high on my daily commute anyways.

Also, has anyone thought of sticking the air ducts into the centre of the open intake? The passenger side piping is totally flexible and I was able to position the air duct directly into the open intake but was not sure if this has any risks to is. Didn't try on the driver side but I suspect it is also possible. Thoughts?

View attachment 29025 View attachment 29026 View attachment 29027

Looks good and I did try to to position my filters that way too, but couldn’t get them to stay in place. It bent/stretched the tubing too much or would press against other hoses. I also had no way of mounting it in that direction so I eventually just used brackets to hold it directly next to the air inlets. I didn’t want the filters to touch anything or move around at all so it was the best I could build with the materials I had. It may be possible and if you or someone could find a way to secure it in that forward facing direction it may help draw more cool air from the inlets.

 

[Hapa88]

Saw this photo from Lap3 on their G70 3.3TT build pushing out 650 hp with larger XT26 turbos. Looks like they’re using the smaller closed top AEM(?) filters for it.

 

[xot1]

Because they have no room for bigger ones

 

[Hapa88]

Because they have no room for bigger ones

It’s good to know that those sizes are good enough for 650hp though!