MR2 Roadster Owners Club

The Workshop => Performance Related => Topic started by: Anonymous on June 26, 2003, 11:39

Title: Air filter elements
Post by: Anonymous on June 26, 2003, 11:39
What have people's experience with replacement air filter elements (stock airbox) been. I noticed that Hardcore had dropped in the K+N filter - how easy is it to do (anyone have pictures), and apart from sound, are there any other benefits?    Thanks,

Mike
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Post by: Anonymous on June 26, 2003, 11:54
The K&N replacement filter element isn't too expensive, and when you consider they're good for a million miles or something daft like that, you'll probably actually save money in the long term.

The fitting is very easy, just pop the top of the air box and drop it in.  It's a bit of a tight squeeze under the strut brace IIRC but not too tricky.  Check out this (http://www.spydermagazine.com/2000/july/trd_air/trd.htm) for a decent guide, with pictures, for doing the installation.

In terms of benefits, well the sound is a bit nicer certainly, from inside the car it is more noticable than outside I have found.  I remember at the time thinking the engine seemed to rev a bit more freely but I concede that this may be a placebo effect.  If there;s any improvement in power/economy etc (which there probably is) it is too small to really notice.  A dyno may show some change in the shape of the power & torque curves but I wouldn't really know.

HTH

--H--
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Post by: zud on June 26, 2003, 13:07
Anyone know if this would count as a "mod" to an insurance company?
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Post by: Anonymous on June 26, 2003, 13:15
No it doesn't.  OEM paper filters need replacing, you're just replacing yours with a non-disposible one that's all.

--H--
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Post by: Jap GT300 on June 26, 2003, 13:52
TRD make one!

(http://www.poweraxel.com/trd/mr-s/image/af1.jpg)

Ricoh racing also made one but I understand that they have now gone out of business!

Adam
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Post by: Anonymous on June 26, 2003, 14:11
Quote from: "Jap GT300"TRD make one!
They sure do, but it's more expensive and more difficult to get hold of than K&N.

--H--
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Post by: mph on June 26, 2003, 21:13
Quote from: "Jap GT300"Ricoh racing also made one but I understand that they have now gone out of business!
Woah! This is major news if true.   s:cry: :cry: s:cry:  Can you confirm?
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Post by: Tem on June 27, 2003, 06:58
Here's something about replacement filters:
 m http://www.spydermagazine.com/2001/Sept ... ilters.htm (http://www.spydermagazine.com/2001/Sept/air_filters/air_filters.htm) m
 m http://www.spydermagazine.com/2001/Nov/ ... ms_air.htm (http://www.spydermagazine.com/2001/Nov/toms_air/toms_air.htm) m
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Post by: Anonymous on June 27, 2003, 15:17
Taken from another website...

This was the shock of the day. The standard Momo filter gave 4bhp when we drilled holes in the air box we got an average of 5.5bhp increase, with one run actually giving us 7bhp. This would be the cheapest option for people on a budget. A Momo or K&N replacement  filter will save you money in the long term and drilling holes costs you nothing.

... has anyone tried this on their '2?
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Post by: Anonymous on June 27, 2003, 15:20
OH SHUDDER NNOOOOO!!!!!   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:    s:!: :!: s:!:  

I saw this done on some other cars a couple of years back... looks nasty as hell and i know i would NEVER drill holes in mine pride and joy!
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Post by: Jap GT300 on June 27, 2003, 16:30
How about, cut out the top section and replace with mesh?
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Post by: Anonymous on June 28, 2003, 14:48
wouldnt the filter get realy blocked up and surely it would then be sucking in hot air from the engine as the plastic case would offer some protection   s:? :? s:?
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Post by: mph on June 28, 2003, 23:56
Quote from: "Leahcim"Taken from another website...

This was the shock of the day. The standard Momo filter gave 4bhp when we drilled holes in the air box we got an average of 5.5bhp increase, with one run actually giving us 7bhp. This would be the cheapest option for people on a budget. A Momo or K&N replacement  filter will save you money in the long term and drilling holes costs you nothing.

... has anyone tried this on their '2?
Absolute load of rubbish. I await any independant proof that any aftermarket airfilter will increase hp.
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Post by: juansolo on June 29, 2003, 08:35
Absolutely right.  They can make it sound nicer but that's about as far as it goes on it's own.  The induction kit on my MX-5 actually sapped power as it sucked hot air in from the engine bay.  I took it off after a year and could feel the difference between it and the stock airbox.  It did sound nice though...
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Post by: GSB on June 29, 2003, 15:57
Quote from: "mph"
Quote from: "Leahcim"Taken from another website...

This was the shock of the day. The standard Momo filter gave 4bhp when we drilled holes in the air box we got an average of 5.5bhp increase, with one run actually giving us 7bhp. This would be the cheapest option for people on a budget. A Momo or K&N replacement  filter will save you money in the long term and drilling holes costs you nothing.

... has anyone tried this on their '2?
Absolute load of rubbish. I await any independant proof that any aftermarket airfilter will increase hp.

Actually I've seen this somewhere recently, I think it was done on old VW Golf GTi's or something similar, but there was a photo of an airbox with several large holes drilled in the inlet half of the box that were apparently facing directly into the front grille of the car. I can believe it would work on some front engine cars, as the iduction paths on some are ridiculously convuluted. Theres not enough cold arflow into the MR2 engine bay though, so I dont think this is a mod I'll be carrying out...
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Post by: mph on June 29, 2003, 19:24
Quote from: "GSB"Actually I've seen this somewhere recently, I think it was done on old VW Golf GTi's or something similar, but there was a photo of an airbox with several large holes drilled in the inlet half of the box that were apparently facing directly into the front grille of the car.
The filter probably needed changing anyway.</cynical>

SteveJ & I where playing with the inlet side of the intake while we had full use of the dyno at Millway. Swapping bits in and out made no difference measured power output of the engine.

If you're looking solely at performance, I wouldn't bother messing with the stock system as it's perfectly adequate for this engine. The biggest single performance increase you can get is by getting a Unichip and getting the engine tuned with super unleaded. The CAT & silencer are fairly restrictive, though that will only effect the top end.
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Post by: Anonymous on July 2, 2003, 10:08
Hardcore

Could you please post details of your K&N filter pad element supplier ie name, address and tel/web site?
 w www.DCDezign.com (http://www.dcdezign.com) w  have quoted £35.88 incl delivery.
Motorsportworld want £46.50.

  s:) :) s:)    s:) :) s:)
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Post by: Anonymous on July 2, 2003, 16:38
IIRC I got my K&N filter from http://www.filterpower.co.uk.  I'm afraid I can't remeber how much it cost, IIRC they send you a quote by email.

HTH

--H--
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Post by: Anonymous on July 2, 2003, 17:07
Just been reading what you guys have said about drilled airboxes, i used to own Eddy Jordans (Irish F1 bloke) vw golf GTI and the air box was drilled on that below the K&N std filter element it was much quicker than a normal golf GTI and that was the only mod on it. Mabe it does work??
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Post by: Anonymous on July 3, 2003, 08:59
 w www.filterpower.co.uk (http://www.filterpower.co.uk) w  want £43.70 inc p&p
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Post by: Anonymous on July 3, 2003, 09:46
Quote from: "keninski"www.filterpower.co.uk want £43.70 inc p&p
Eeep!

I don't think I paid that much but it was a while back so I can't remember.  I'm not even sure if that's where I got mine in the end!

Sorry!

  s:? :? s:?  

--H--
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Post by: Anonymous on July 3, 2003, 16:06
Quote from: "GSB"
Quote from: "mph"
Quote from: "Leahcim"Taken from another website..


QuoteI can believe it would work on some front engine cars, as the iduction paths on some are ridiculously convuluted. ...

That was the case on my old Astra 1.4 16V they restricted airflow by making the path a whopping 13 FEET long.

They did this because the engine is more tuneable than the 1.6 and has been known to be highly tuned to 180BHP.

They thought no1 would buy the 1.6 hence the restriction!!
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Post by: Anonymous on July 3, 2003, 16:50
Hi all.

The pillock at DCDezign made a mistake when quoting for a K&N panel filter. He omitted to include p&p. The correct price is £40.00.
They say that they will beat ANY like-for-like quote so has anybody got any contacts  s:?: :?: s:?:   K&N's RRP is £41.47 incl VAT, obviously excl postage.

  s:) :) s:)    s:) :) s:)
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Post by: Jap GT300 on July 4, 2003, 11:53
Sard also make a drop in filter try contacting http://www.irs.co.jp or Japanparts of course.

Adam
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Post by: Tem on July 22, 2003, 14:07
Quote from: "mph"Absolute load of rubbish. I await any independant proof that any aftermarket airfilter will increase hp.

I recently dynoed my car and got 149hp. The operator was interested in the car and since no one was coming to the dyno after me, he did another pull for free. We took the stock filter off (and closed the airbox and kept every original plastic pipe), hoping to break into 150hp  s:) :) s:)  But we got 149hp again...

I really doubt that ANY airfilter will flow better than no filter at all. So I don't think you'll ever see that proof, mph  s;) ;) s;)


I'm not saying that you can't get any hp from intake. Once you change the intake piping, it's another story...but you won't get anything with just replacing the stock filter.
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Post by: Anonymous on July 22, 2003, 14:19
Tem,
You haven't listed your modifications, if any.  How come you can get 11bhp more than MrT says? Is the petrol in Finland that much better then we can get in the UK?

  s:) :) s:)    s:) :) s:)
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Post by: Tem on July 22, 2003, 15:47
No hp-related mods...not sure about the petrol, but I always use Neste Futura, which is superior compared to other brands in Finland (Esso, Shell, JET)...no idea what you have in UK, so can't really compare  s:) :) s:)

Then again, I managed to hit the car on the ground pretty hard once and heard this metallic sound from the rear and the exhaust got louder at a same time...and has been louder since. Maybe some restrictive plate broke loose from the muffler, giving few ponies...I can only guess.