FTO AUSTRALIA

Hi guys,
So I have finally finished doing my cold air intake on my facelift GR. I took out the stock air box and filter to throttle body piping and replaced it with my own flexi piping. I also put in a K&N pod filter and ran some more flexi piping up from the front grill to my filter as a cold air intake. I have not made an air box as yet but plan to soon. What I am after is some opinions on whether what I have done is safe enough in wet weather. Ok I realise I don't have pics atm but plan to post some up soon, so I will just explain my situation- I live in Brisbane and we are getting regular downpours almost every night. My 3inch intake pipe is mounted flush in the corner on the front grill. I have a facelift GR with stock front bumper so it is a fair bit different to the prior facelift bumper I think. But to give an idea, the intake pipe sits in the lower right corner of the radiator (had to mount it hear as nowhere else) when looking at the car front on. The pipe then does a few little twists and turns up to the exposed filter. So yeah what is the possibility of water getting up there and doing mass damage, like the poor other guy that had this happen to him (I think he lives in Brissy too )???

Thanks for any opinions

a small amount of water being sucked in through the intake will not be a problem and will infact improve performance by slightly lowering intake temperatures, the only time water ingestion will be a problem is when a large amount of water is sucked into the engine as water can not be compressed inside the cylinder in the same way air can, if this happens then you will more than likely end up bending all the valve stems.

TBH I wouldn't worry about it because unless the CAI is submerged in water it will never suck up enough water to cause a problem. but if you still are worried you can consider fitting one of these http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/perfo ... mance.html

I'd be worried if the filter was encased in the piping that ran directly into the bumper as, having only one way for air to come through, it would create a vacuum and suck in everything from the CAI pickup. In this situation I think it would probably crush the flexi pipe before sucking in any water.

However, by the way most people setup their CAI pickups (yours doesn't sound any different) I don't think this is the case at all So don't worry and enjoy the cold air difference.

in my opinion cold air intakes suck without a properly sealed enclosure. Even if there is a small bend in the pipe, it bascially is useless. Try this out for a test, go 30km/h with a pipe sticking out the window with a small bend and see how much cold air comes through, almost nothing. Do the same at 80km/h a bit more comes through but considering how much air is needed by the engine, its nothing. At 80km/h the cold air intake becomes useless, as air coming through the grill more than enough.

Pods might see a gain on dynos, but theres a massive fun blowing into the damn thing at all times. So idling at a set of traffic light, pod sucking in hot air from engine, as car is idle. Accelerate from 0-40 still sucking in hot air, less power. Get to about 50+ and a soft breeze is flowing through the air intake, while all the air is gushing through the grill. So less power at low speeds and a tad more at high speeds. With a normal panel filter, no hot air is ever sucked in as its sealed, do the same for the pod, have a a smany kinks as you want as its sealed.

Just my two cents.

try this, stick a proper bell mouth on the end of the tube and see how much air comes through

you'll be surprised at how much of a difference this makes!

totally agree about the sealed closure though. if you put a pod in sealed closure it's pretty much the optimum intake, but if you have it lying exposed under the bonnet, no "CAI" is going to compensate for the heat soak. seal it up people!

I have a CAI, see my guide in the DIY section, it's pretty massive, and my POD is boxed, i have driven in some bad weather and checked the box and it was not wet.

Aslong as you don't drive through puddles you should be fine!

timnkoo, i have almost the exact same setup as you, k&n, no box and ive driven in the wet for over an hour on the open road, checked the pod and not a drop, thats what the bonnets for!

you should be fine