Air Intake

[Guest mg-n-tbo]

Has anybody thought of swapping the battery over in the engine bay to put the air box in a better position ? ( shorter route ) ?

This would also make way for a mod on the plenuim ( trottle body ) to be spun ( 180 ) and run a straight through bigger inter- cooler across the front of the car, removing the pipes of the top of the engine ( heat ).

Sorry if this topic has been already thrashed im a newbie !

[mickq]

Shortening it is not automatically good.

You need to remember that the length may be that way for a reason, be it related to tuned pulsing or final air velocity. Shortening the length may have an adverse effect, depending on how they have designed it.

[ASNU]

Check out the APS web site mate or the SSINDUCTIONS site as well.These companies will have units for sale next month which look and apparently even work.They also have the original look about them so it does not look butchered.

[rjs]

I have checked out APS and it looks pretty good so far. Don't know about the cost though, abit on the pricey side for me.

[ASNU]

Bet you will get one ris as I personally wont be able to help myself.I think the one from SS will be quite good and for about $300 fitted its not bad value at all considering it will look on the original side.Go on go and spoil yourself.

[Guest mg-n-tbo]

mickq,Apr 23 2003, 01:27 AM]Shortening it is not automatically good.

You need to remember that the length may be that way for a reason, be it related to tuned pulsing or final air velocity. Shortening the length may have an adverse effect, depending on how they have designed it.

My experiance with this type of thing is that the length of the air intake tube to the turbo can be as short as you like as long as the air is correctly filtered no problems will arise just improved flow.

However the same can't be said for the tubes connecting the commpresor housing to the intercooler and on to the plenuim, too long you get lag , too big in tube dia and you get lag. I think this maybe what you mean, as I don't want to upset the natrual smooth power deliverly I think we all love in the BA I will personaly be spending much time getting the above combo just right.

That is as soon as I can find a match to set my factory warranty a blaze !

Cheers for the words Mick

[mickq]

Shortening the air intake tube length will reduce the air velocity further up the chain (for example at the air filter box). This DOES have an effect on everything further back right up until the air enters the cyclinder.

Also, as air consumtion by a car is not a steady thing (it pulses very quickly - but like a flouro light the pulsing is not normally detectable by humans- the rate it pulses is similar to each cylinder firing), its possible to "tune" the air intake tubes reduce the effect of this pulsing, and even to use it to your advantage. (Because the exact moment a pulse peaks can be the exact moment the fuel and air injection system needs it to shove into the cylinders).

The same thing is often doen with exhuast systems...in fact you can even ensure the backpressure pulse is timed purposefully and re-enters the cylinder and scours out un-expended gases that werent cleared when the exhaust port opens. Result: greater efficiency, more power.

Also, the "end" or "mouth" of the air intake can have a large impact on everything from air velocity to flow volume to flow even-ness. Change this bit and you want to be sure you know what you are doing. (For example, simple bell-shaped intakes are often best as high flow, high speed, and dont add turbulence which is why you will see it on so many race cars)

Air intakes are quite a complex art. There is no black and white rule that works in every situation, so testing is required or else you could be holding back your engines best potential. (Which is afterall the opposite of what you are trying to achieve!)

Im not saying it cant be beneficial....it certainly can be. But my point is dont assume shortening it is a good thing. Dont assume lengthening it is a good thing. Dont assume a bigger or smaller pipe is a good thing, or a wider or smaller air intake "mouth" is a good thing. The original post appeared to be making a blind assumption that shortening the intake is good. Not necessarily so.

Ive done lots of work on air intake systems for a variety of cars.

[turbotrana]

Yeh, I would have thought ford would have swapped the location of the battery and the airbox to make the air routes more direct and efficient. However they were to lazy to do this. If I were to mod a BA I would change the batery location from left to right. The manifold inlet runners are way way too long on the BA (remember turbo just uses the long runners). I would put on a EB inlet manifold. The EB inlet manifold has runners about 2cm longer than the short runners on the EF/BA N/a manifold. I would have a cross flow bar and plate intercooler and the overall air route would run from one side to another instead of backwards and forwards. Overall I think the engine would run heaps better. This is the way I'm building my turbo EA Falcoon