Do-it-Yourself RAM air intake system installation photos

[Caretaker]

I was concerned about the hot air flowing toward the K&N filter I installed a few weeks ago and decided to build my own ram air intake system.

The theory behind this is simple: hot air is less rich in oxygen and this can result in a loss of power. By building a duct toward a colder air area and shielding your filter, you prevent this loss of power and retain the cool sound given by the K&N filter.

I took photos of how I did it and you can take a look if you are interested. This was installed in my Mazda Sport20 4WD.

Click here to see the original version without air scooper


and the new version (2003-8-10)!

Click here to see the new version with air scooper that is even better


Owners of the Protege5 : note that the procedure will be identical since the engine compartment is identical to the Sport20.

They were selling a similar system for K&N filters here for 600$ can..I did it for 10$

[rice_eater]

i heard of ghetto mods but this one takes the cake! You covered the filter with a pot! come to think about it...wouldn't that seriously restrict air flow???

[Akagi Redsuns]

Doesnt the K&N breathe throught the side? Basically it's covered with a pot with a bit of breathing room. Somehow I think hot air being introduced into the engine is better than the airflow being choked. I dunno? Doesn't look right to me. Would work better with a HKS mushroom type filter.

[Fluidic]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

That's the biggest sack of shit I've ever seen! AHAHAHA -- good laugh!

Thanks Caretaker!

Peter

[MK3HKS]

hahhhhahahahahhahahah
this was worth the time lookin at it, got a good laugh!!
thanx caretaker!!

[Caretaker]

I talked with a friend who worked at Autoexe before and this is exactly what they did albeit it was not a flower pot but actually a plastic cover to build the ram intake for the Sport20. There was a 1cm space above their K&N filter and the vent reached behind the headlight.

I have a picture to prove it if you still think this is so funny:




And here is the original web site of autoexe showing it:

AutoExe Ram intake


They sell this for 500$US or more depending of your Mazda type.

The comments like "u restrict the airflow" are not correct. I got 1 cm on each side of the cone. I put a temperature probe inside and outside and I found the following after a run (repeated runs from 0-100, city driving etc):

outside the duct (equivalent of no filter):
- highest temp: 50C
- lowest temps: 35C (this was when I started)

inside the duct:
- highest temp: 39C
- lowest temp: 35C (when I started)

so I got a clean difference of 11 degrees there which could be better when the weather will be colder.

At first I tried without the cover (insulated material only to make the vent, but it was less practical) because of the lack of rigidity of the material.

I admit, the flower pot made me laugh a lot too but it does the exact same thing as Autoexe is doing. Autoexe by the way, is to Mazda what Mugen is to Honda.

As for the torque sensation, I clearly feel it is better this way. So laugh away if you want. I'm not going to take it off soon, only in 10,000 Km to clean the filter.

[Caretaker]

Originally posted by rice_eater
i heard of ghetto mods but this one takes the cake! You covered the filter with a pot! come to think about it...wouldn't that seriously restrict air flow???

no because there is a vent ending to a cold air spot.

I suggest you open your hood and take a look at your stock airbox.


I am not saying I increased the torque beyond the stock airbox with this but I certainly don't decrease it (because the engine is getting colder air) and I still can enjoy the better sound provided by the K&N filter.

[BigMass]

and to think i went through pains to REMOVE my airbox hehe.

[GTS Jeff]

its ok caretaker, i believe u. i will also put a flower pot over my intake.

[atomic]

i'm sorry . that is a horrible thing to do to your car . don't do that again .

you're on the right track . if you're really exciting to perform custom modifications, then i suggest you take a look at the parts available to you and get a bit more creative .

for example.. to do what u did correctly . rather then spending a few hundred dollars . u could do for around $80 .

u can visit a performance shop . (not a rice shop) . sometimes a turbo deisel garage is a good place too . and get yourself some alimunum mandral bend pipe . they come in 180 degree bends .

you use a pipe cutter (or hax saw) and cut the pipe and arrange to fit from your throttle body down to the front lower grill . or in front of the wheel or somewhere behind the bumper, etc ..

you connect the pipes together using silicon couplers u can get from mopac for ~ $8 .

here's an example of an intake i made for my friend . the next step is to cut a larger hole in the body and push it down to get 100% cold air .

just like the cold air kits from aem , but it cost $80 including filter .

the reason we built it instead of purchasing is simple . he learned A TONNE . that's the best way to learn . now he can talk about his engine to ppl and explain what was done . instead of saying "yah i put an intake on" .

[mad_psyentist]

Wow. Talk about the Home Depot special. But... cripes... he used a friggin' flower pot!

Do-it-yourselfers aren't bad, provided you do them correctly.

Edit: PS: Nice job, atomic!

[hjr]

i think that if speeds were up, it would do its purpose. Sure it looks kinda wonky, but there is really nothing wrong with the design IMO (as long as the insulation doesnt have any leaks, and air is indeed getting "rammed" into the 'flower chamber'.

[yohan4ws]

Chopsticks?

Got rice?

[danricenguyen]

I like it caretaker! If it really did 'restrict' air flow, maybe use like a bigger flower pot or something.

[StrokeD z]

didnt know head lights give off air

sorry man your blocking the air flow you need to run it under neath the car or somewhere where there is air flowing

[Caretaker]

Originally posted by StrokeD z
didnt know head lights give off air

sorry man your blocking the air flow you need to run it under neath the car or somewhere where there is air flowing

It is difficult to see maybe with the photos I provided, but there is actually a 3 inches by 0.5 inch space on the right of the left headlight that gets colder air when the car is moving. There is also a hole of 3 x 3 that goes down around there. I first thought of going down there with a pipe but changed my mind. The air near the tarnac in a hot summer day can be quite hotter than the air 1 m above. I measured with a thermometer a difference of 5 degrees.

The important thing to realize with an aspiration type engine, is that the engine is aspirating the air it needs. There is nothing like "blowing" air in the air intake. So your goal here is to make sure that the air beeing aspirated is as cold as possible (richer in O2)

Air is everywhere you know. There is the same concentration of oxygen behind the headlight and in your room. Oxygen of course becomes more sparsed if you climb in altitude.

I don't see it like snorkling with a pipe to the water surface, it doesn't apply at all here.

Anyway, I followed what the Autoexe engineers thought was right to do for this car model and learned a lot by beeing creative.

And yes before anyone else says it: I now have a Flower 'pot' Power car ;-)..but who knows it..you and me only ...If I had used a huge chopped funnel, the crowd reaction here would have probably been different..


:-)

[Caretaker]

K&N is also selling here a shielded version of their popular cone filter.

Here is how it looks:



the shield in this case is made of aluminium.

[syeve]

I cant tell if this is serious or not???

[Caretaker]

Originally posted by Akagi Redsuns
Doesnt the K&N breathe throught the side? Basically it's covered with a pot with a bit of breathing room. Somehow I think hot air being introduced into the engine is better than the airflow being choked. I dunno? Doesn't look right to me. Would work better with a HKS mushroom type filter.

that is a good point I think on the basis that it would be more efficient with a foam type cone as air would get in more directly.

I will look into that idea.

Originally posted by hjr
i think that if speeds were up, it would do its purpose. Sure it looks kinda wonky, but there is really nothing wrong with the design IMO (as long as the insulation doesnt have any leaks, and air is indeed getting "rammed" into the 'flower chamber'.

Yes there were no leaks indeed from the joints.

The comment about whether the aspiration is better with an opened cone filter vs the "flower pot" tunnel is valid. I have no doubt that opened-type is better as long as you are running at over 60 km/h at 5000-6000 RPM..in that case, the air hitting the filter is probably not too much hotter than the air outside and the engine can aspirate maybe more freely as there is basically 0 restriction beside the filter. The open cone becomes problematic mostly if let's say you wait for 2 minutes at a red light. In that case, the radiator fan will blow 45C air on your cone which should lead to a decrease in torque until you go fast enough to ventilate the engine chamber.

I suggest this link to learn more about performance air filters and the hot/cold air issue I am concerned with.

http://www.tuninglinx.com/html/a_filters.html

[StrokeD z]

i used a dryer hose and ran it underneath my car and it worked very good

and it costed $0 and it probaly is more effective than yours for sure and it was very easy to install

IMO you went through alot and didnt get much out of it