Intake Air Temperature Experiment

[Stef]

Thought I'd run some air temp tests this week to see how cold the intake air is and whether it's suitable enough for a Cold Air Intake filter.

First location is the general area where the existing pick up is, I've placed the sensor between the existing intake pipe and the battery.

This morning ambient outside air temp was around 11C and that area of the engine bay stayed a fairly consistent average of 19c above outside air temp @ 70-80MPH (So approx 29-31C). The problem here being that it's directly behind the air con/rad fan!

When stationary it climbed to 45C!!

I'll run the same location home this afternoon and then tomorrow I'll put the sensor inside the existing intake tube and on Wednesday I'll locate it down in the bumper void space on the passenger side bumper/wing area.

Stef

[Gareth]

Well done Stef! look forward to seeing the outcome. I think the intercooler doesn't do a good enough job either. Everything is too hot. :-(

[jc_boc]

Heatsoak is the biggest issue on performance for a car.

[Stef]

OK, so drive home today gave the following, ambient air temp 26C, average intake area temp 46C and at one point in slow traffic it rose to 62C!

I've placed the sensor inside the intake hose now and will see what that is like tomorrow.

Stef

[DS3RACING96]

Nice 1 mate would interesting to know mate ,

[Stef]

This mornings run to work with the sensor inside the intake achieved better results, ambient air temp was 15C and the intake temp was only 7-9C higher, this climbed to 14C higher at idle.

Again I'll run the same setup on the way home as the ambient temps will be higher.

Stef

[jc_boc]

Very good tests you're performing mate.

[Stef]

Same results on the way home, ambient air at 22C, intake temp was approx 7 - 9C higher and around 14C higher at low speed.

So summary so far,

The first location, the sensor was placed where the red X is in this picture, typically where a Pipercross induction kit sits....................................



High temperatures are found here as it is directly in line with the output from the radiator fan.

Second location was just inside the air intake tube shown in the picture below, temperature here is marginally higher than ambient, and in the case of the DS3R (not sure about the THP/Diesels) it seems as if they actually did a pretty good job of placing it here, there appears to be a reasonable amount of plastic shield between this and the area in the photo above, and just above the intake is a vent which actually has forced air from the grille area pushed through it.............................



Location 3 which is the void behind the passenger side bumper/fog light area should in theory give cooler air as it's the furthest point from the turbo. I'll test this tomorrow. However, the only reservations I would have placing a filter here (such as the Forge MS one) is the potential for drawing moist air from road spray, and the intake tube still has to run through the potential heat soak area and correct me if I'm wrong, as their tubing is metal it is more heat conductive than plastic.............................



Stef

[ZACK]

Lower To The Floor = Colder Intake Air

Get The Kit To Point Downwards

[Stef]

Lower To The Floor = Colder Intake Air

Get The Kit To Point Downwards

The Forge one does Zack so it would definitely pull the coldest air, problem is the tubing still comes up past the back of the rad fan with all the heat.



Do you know off hand how dry that area behind the bumper stays? I can see it appears to be protected by the under tray but not really had a chance to look at it in the wet.

Stef

[jc_boc]

What if you put some heat wrap around the pipe? I know one of the guys with a fabia VRS that has the same engine as mine has wrapped his DP with stuff due to heat soak issues and I believe it works a treat. I know it wont look the greatest but if your looking at increasing the power delivery with lower temps this may be a very good way to go. Alternatively you would need to design and fabricate some kins of heat sheild.

[Stef]

Last test position today, drive in this morning, ambient air at 16C and the sensor stayed the same.

So bar picking up a bit of heat from the tube, it looks like the position the Forge kit sits in gets good ambient air.

I think another good alternative would be a decent panel filter and then extend the air intake down in to the lower bumper area behind that passenger side headlamp.

Stef

[x6411]

guys with a fabia VRS.

Someone in one of those tried to race me the other day!

Tried.

[Dangerousfish]

I've placed my air horn on the opposite side (behind the DRL's on the passenger side) and can confirm that moisture from the road isn't an issue.

[Eagle]

The one that forge is using has a long intake pipe,and the airfilter is far away from the inlet manifold, I think this can some lag in the throttle response-/power ? I had this issue with my previous car (suzuki swift sport),had installed a trust-greddy cold air intake with a long intake pipe,the filter was at the far end (similar to the forge) and when i was pressing the throttle pedal all the way to the floor there was a bit of delay-hesitation for the revs to go up. I don't know if with the ds3 thp will be better?

Also another alternative option but a bit pricey would be the intercooler from forge and a panel filter, i think this would give some significant power and keep the air intake temperatures low