Cerveza

...besides intake air restictivness. Now before you point me to some FAQ, read on. I want FACTS not opinions. What I have read is very vague. I have heard many say that a cone air intake adds no power or torque but rather adds heat to the intake air and sound. What this sound is, I don't know. I have never heard a 1.8T with a cone intake. Now the question is, will this added heat take away from any benfit the less restrictive air intake gives and DECREASE hp or torque? There is even question whether a cone intake is less restrictive on a 1.8T. T/F? Also, how would a catback exhaust affect it? I would think that having less ristriction on both ends would help a great deal. Thoughts?

Bryans12v

would definately help in sustaining power...

About the heat issue, I was thinkng of just running an induction tube to the grille in the front bumper....the front of the car is the only place that is recieving cool fresh air..right?
So why not take it from there...

Please give opinions on this , i have just thought about it and would like to hear what ya have to say ....

skabaru

but the turbo, yeah, I have heard mixed things too...

I guess the real question is what kind of driving do you do? lots of highway driving, you would be better, but stop and go will kill you...

about what works? If I had to make a call, I would say no go on the intake, as people whose opinions I trust have removed it, I would tend to agree...

but I have no empirical data... and no proof thereof...

oh the sound, sounds like sucking air... like a shop vac, but without the shopvac engine noise, just the air sucking noise...

Sal R.

...in the case of the A4, it's pointless to add the cone intake. Why?

If you get the chance to examine the OEM system, you'll notice that there is an air scoop that draws in fresh air from the front of the car BEFORE it gets into the engine compartment. This air is COOLER than air inside the engine compartment. The OEM box does is a good system as it serves two purposes, to funnel in cool fresh air via scoop, and serve as a heat shield.

If you put in a cone intake, you can still utilize the stock scoop, but nontheless, the air being ingested is being heated up by the turbo and the cat as they both reside in the general vicinity of the intake.

If you increase the the temperature of air ingested by the intake, you inevitably increase the intake charge temps. As a result, loss of power. Some car argue the the intercooler is used to negate this, but the intercooler efficiency remains a constant in this equation. Cooler intake air temps will result in lower intake charge temps in comparison to the latter.

Not to say that cone intakes don't work. I'm just speaking for the case of the 1.8T.

Ok mark...I'm ready.

ajp

the factory airbox is well designed - perhaps could benefit from hi-flo filter like K&N

A cone would likely be louder (induction noise ? that the factory airbox supresses)

a cone could decrease intake restriction

a cone would increase intake temps

with turbo's especially hot air is bad, cold air is good..this is noticible even seasonally - cold air charge makes a difference...*intercooler*

catback exhaust increases have been proven with hard #'s

I have not seen any hard #'s that show the possible increased benefits from the intake outweigh the -'s

I have seen hard #'s indicating lost hp and torque with intakes.

I won't be purchasing one....
alex

Bryans12v

and thats why i have not modded my airbox!

xr4tic

I noticed a big difference after going to the cone intake. The turbo was much more responsive, and just seemed to have more "oomph" Whether it actually added more power, I don't know, but it did decrease the turbo lag - which provides power sooner.

One problem with the airbox, is it is a restriction. Measure the cross-sectional area of the inlet, the MAF, and the turbo inlet. Where's the restriction? The airbox inlet. When the turbo starts to spool up, and starts sucking air faster than the inlet allows, vacuum forms in the air box and slows the turbo down. Newer models featured an air flap, this would open when the vacuum was present, and help, but my 97 did not have an air flap. People reported slapping sounds when letting off the throttle, this is the flap slamming shut.

By using a heat shield, hot-air isn't as big of a deal. I tested before and after, and the temps were within a few degrees of each other. This is at the throttle body. I was working on directing air up into the cone area from the front bumper, but this got put on hold for a while.

Plus there is no denying the coolness the sound of mass amounts of air rushing that only a turbo and bypass valve can provide

xr4tic

Just curious since you brought it up, and I haven't heard of any being published.

Cool Craig

makes sense - why ask the IC to cool down warm air, the cooler INTO the IC the cooler OUT!!

Andrew A4

...your performance. Even on the APR website, they say that only a drop in K&N airfilter is necessary.

Here is the quote from their site...
"After extensive testing APR has found that contrary to popular belief, Audi and Volkswagen did a very good job of designing the factory airbox in your car. Because of this, APR recommends just a high-flow, factory-replacement K&N air filter for your car."