Quote:
Originally Posted by IWantHX
Wouldnt a warm air intake pretty much just be a short ram intake where the filter is still in the engine bay as opposed to the front bumper like a cold air intake?
|
What Ryland said, and my experience in my car to add to his: my 1998 Civic's WAI is black plumbing pipe, running from the airbox forward over the junction of the Distributor and then curving toward the exhaust manifold heat shield. It is just the tube, no filter on the end. Filter is still in the stock airbox. Last summer I saw intake air temps over 145*F at times. Commonly mid 120s to 130s. Without it and without my grill blocking, the temps would be closer to 80s, 90s, or maybe 100. I tested the results ABA and saw a modest 2% improvement (results posted on this site, search for it). The best explanations I have heard for this is that (1) the warmer or even hot air allows better atomization of fuel and maybe more plausibly (2) that the ECU adjusts to the lesser air density by reducing fuel and that leads to a gain in fuel economy because I then have to open the throttle wider to get the same power and therefore I reduce pumping/throttle losses in the engine because the throttle opening is wider than it would be, making the intake strokes less of a loss to overall engine efficiency.
A CAUTION: before you make a WAI, take a look at SENTRA-SE-R's testing here at EM. His car is newer than mine and he has the MAP sensor that mine has plus a MAF sensor. It seems the MAF cars might not see a benefit, though I don't understand why. If an 00 Civic has a MAF, my test results might not apply to your car.
james