Originally Posted by Hydrazine

Here's an interesting note.

At least on the dyno, heat soak of the tube and MAF can indeed affect the power results.

What I have noticed is after an extended number of pulls on the dyno, the engine bay becomes quite hot even with an open hood and with all the fans turned on. A good part of the tube heating is from convective heat rising up from the the stock exhaust manifolds.

After a number of pulls, you can actually measure a significant increase in air temperature as seen by the MAF. This was observed through the OBDII scanner.

And I know the MAF is right up against the filter so there isn't much time for the air to become heated but there was no mistaking the results on the OBDII scanner. And of course, as measured air inlet temperature went up from ~70'F to 95'F, the HP went down. By 5-10 HP when the MAF indicated the air was hot.

Note that the coolant temperatures were still regulated to 190'F on all pulls and the fans were still in the same positions with the same settings. And the atmospheric temperatures were constant.

I've always found this to be a problem when trying to conduct controls on extended testing.

I still wonder how it all works because it seems like the air filter housing doesn't have enough surface area or residence time to heat the air that much... but it's clearly there.

It may be possible that the air itself is not actually hot, BUT the MAF sensor and its housing are thermally soaked and this may be prompting false measurements of the air temperature.

Keep in mind though that even if the air isn't actually hot, you can and will still lose power if the ECU "thinks" the air is hot. The ECU adjusts timing based on percieved air inlet temperatures.

So weather or not the air is actually heated (jury is out on this), the air inlet temperatures as measured by the MAF clearly show an increase. And as seen by the ECU, a percieved increase will result in a real world power loss.

Originally Posted by Hydrazine

Here's an interesting note.

At least on the dyno, heat soak of the tube and MAF can indeed affect the power results.

What I have noticed is after an extended number of pulls on the dyno, the engine bay becomes quite hot even with an open hood and with all the fans turned on. A good part of the tube heating is from convective heat rising up from the the stock exhaust manifolds.

Originally Posted by speedgeek

Hey Tony!
Just checking in, anything planned for the next big Motordyne mod. I’m lov’n the mrev.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Hydrazine

A lot of projects will be in test fairly soon.

I'm opening up a new facility for the sole purpose of creating new mods. The Motordyne research and test facility.

Now I'll have all the time, room and equipment in one place need to design, machine, assemble and dyno test new mods. And I have a lot of unconventional and conventional projects in the works.

All the development and test should be as much fun as the mods themselves.

Originally Posted by DaveB

I agree with your findings on the dyno, but under driving conditions, ambient air is flowing through engine bay. Sure, the air gets heated up because there is a big block of hot metal in a tight space, but the air movement greatly reduces the underhood temps, far more so than just running an engine with the hood up. As we all know, air movement is far more effect at cooling than just still cold air.

The shielded intake would be good at combating nearby extreme radient heat (ie manifolds, turbos) since that is the purpose of the material used. But when the intake is situated in an environment that is always hot (110-140 degrees), the tube (shielded or not), will heat soak. Don't forget that it is still connected to a hot manifold and engine.

Originally Posted by dovla

I don’t know how much difference does it make, but it definitely doesn’t hurt.
Picture below is from DaveB friend’s sedan, I think, and mine look similar.