Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Possible 6% mpg gain from adding a cone filter...Ford Focus...

niky · 07-03-2012, 03:38 AM

By niky_tamayo at 2012-07-02

By niky_tamayo at 2012-07-02
(Didn't really want to share these, because they're for an unpublished article, but you asked nicely...

)

This was a media test unit that I brought over to a friend's shop. Perks of being both an autojourno and an aftermarket seller, he gets to test out and prototype intakes, exhausts and headers that they build in-house to gauge whether they're worth stocking for sale. Pipe routing is a big part of the package development*. Obviously, this one was a bust. Can't sell customers an intake that loses power in the area most people drive in every day.

Not shown is the AFR trace or the dyno where we put the stock piping back in and simply removed the stock air filter element... but that was exactly halfway between the aftermarket and stock traces. The AFR trace showed an area where the engine goes pig rich at cruising rpms at full throttle under load (this is a brake dyno). In both aftermarket and no filter tests, the AFRs dip into even richer territory at said area, even though it runs leaner (as you'd expect) in others. My theory was that the engine expects a fat load of air from the intake resonator at 3-4k rpm, but we still showed that loss in power with the stock induction (sans filter) back in place... so perhaps it's simply a failsafe to keep the engine cool and happy while under load on the highway. Shame. The car can do 30 km/l. (officially 26 highway) I bet it could do much better with a retune.

This is obviously not one of those cars that dials back power to stock levels across the board when you change out the induction system... since the dynos actually show power gains... but I can actually dig up said dynos if you feel like it.

These tests help the shop determine what aftermarket parts they will offer for sale or strike off their list. It's thanks to these that they don't offer cone filters for most MAP-equipped modern turbodiesels (no gain, no point) or cat-backs for some mass-market cars (no gain, no point). While they could probably bundle such things with a retune or a chip that stops the stock ECU from neutering gains, there's not enough of a market here to bother.

EDIT: We didn't attach an OBD reader to the car... but there was little need and no time to do a comprehensive test... it's a relatively simple car with a single cat that doesn't meet US or Euro emissions standards, so any computer chicanery is happening due to what's going on at the MAP and not the O2 sensor... especially since we weren't running it in closed-loop on the dyno (all WOT runs).

Yes, the STFT and possibly LTFT (if this car actually runs LTFT adjustment) will wander, and yes, that needs to be taken into account when designing an intake, but this was a short and simple test to see if it was worth the while to try to develop the part. (in other words, would it be simple or too involved for something that at most a dozen customers would buy?)

-----

*Pipe routing... Honda claims that they gained 10 hp midrange on the MMC 06 Fit/Aria by reversing the rotation of one radiator fan so it blew cool air onto the intake pipes... seriously...

More concretely, I actually lost 10 peak hp on the dyno on my personal car when we tested a different WAI configuration (shorter tube)... 10 hp that we couldn't get back no matter how we retuned the ECU... which showed that said pipe length really wasn't optimal... which supports the observation that me and some others have that a big part of why CAIs make power isn't to do with intake air temperature, but induction tube resonance and/or flow.... which is why I went with a WAI instead of a CAI in the first place, despite my build being for power rather than economy.

07-03-2012, 03:38 AM	#27 (permalink)
niky Master EcoModder Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Philippines Posts: 2,173 Thanks: 1,739 Thanked 589 Times in 401 Posts	By niky_tamayo at 2012-07-02 By niky_tamayo at 2012-07-02 By niky_tamayo at 2012-07-02 (Didn't really want to share these, because they're for an unpublished article, but you asked nicely... ) This was a media test unit that I brought over to a friend's shop. Perks of being both an autojourno and an aftermarket seller, he gets to test out and prototype intakes, exhausts and headers that they build in-house to gauge whether they're worth stocking for sale. Pipe routing is a big part of the package development. Obviously, this one was a bust. Can't sell customers an intake that loses power in the area most people drive in every day. Not shown is the AFR trace or the dyno where we put the stock piping back in and simply removed the stock air filter element... but that was exactly halfway between the aftermarket and stock traces. The AFR trace showed an area where the engine goes pig rich at cruising rpms at full throttle under load (this is a brake dyno). In both aftermarket and no filter tests, the AFRs dip into even richer territory at said area, even though it runs leaner (as you'd expect) in others. My theory was that the engine expects a fat load of air from the intake resonator at 3-4k rpm, but we still showed that loss in power with the stock induction (sans filter) back in place... so perhaps it's simply a failsafe to keep the engine cool and happy while under load on the highway. Shame. The car can do 30 km/l. (officially 26 highway) I bet it could do much better with a retune. This is obviously not one of those cars that dials back power to stock levels across the board when you change out the induction system... since the dynos actually show power gains... but I can actually dig up said dynos if you feel like it. These tests help the shop determine what aftermarket parts they will offer for sale or strike off their list. It's thanks to these that they don't offer cone filters for most MAP-equipped modern turbodiesels (no gain, no point) or cat-backs for some mass-market cars (no gain, no point). While they could probably bundle such things with a retune or a chip that stops the stock ECU from neutering gains, there's not enough of a market here to bother. EDIT: We didn't attach an OBD reader to the car... but there was little need and no time to do a comprehensive test... it's a relatively simple car with a single cat that doesn't meet US or Euro emissions standards, so any computer chicanery is happening due to what's going on at the MAP and not the O2 sensor... especially since we weren't running it in closed-loop on the dyno (all WOT runs). Yes, the STFT and possibly LTFT (if this car actually runs LTFT adjustment) will wander, and yes, that needs to be taken into account when designing an intake, but this was a short and simple test to see if it was worth the while to try to develop the part. (in other words, would it be simple or too involved for something that at most a dozen customers would buy?) ----- Pipe routing... Honda claims that they gained 10 hp midrange on the MMC 06 Fit/Aria by reversing the rotation of one radiator fan so it blew cool air onto the intake pipes... seriously... More concretely, I actually lost 10 peak hp on the dyno on my personal car when we tested a different WAI configuration (shorter tube)... 10 hp that we couldn't get back no matter how we retuned the ECU... which showed that said pipe length really wasn't optimal... which supports the observation that me and some others have that a big part of why CAIs make power isn't to do with intake air temperature, but induction tube resonance and/or flow.... which is why I went with a WAI instead of a CAI in the first place, despite my build being for power rather than economy. Last edited by niky; 07-03-2012 at 09:06 PM..