Flarearrow

Short story..... I built a cold air intake and it works. The proof is in the pudding... Err Torque app screenshots.

The "hot" air intake is not as hot as you think it is.
The stock MB intake is not as cold as you think it maybe.

Car is a 2013 C350 4matic coupe. Only mods are a K&N drop in panel filter into the stock air box, and the x-pipe replacing the resonator. I'm running the 17" AMG staggered wheels with Michelin pilot sport AS3.

Testing the stock air intake and the cold air intake were done in the same manner.

Car was running with under 1/2 tank of fuel, pano roof open, side windows up, air con off.
0-60 launches were done with ESP on, ECO off, transmission in sport, no torque braking. Just Left foot off the brake and right foot on the gas as quick as possible. 0-60 runs were done by coming to a full stop at the bottom of the highway on ramp, waiting for traffic to clear, and stomping it to get onto the highway. The same sets of on ramps in NYC were used. Testing was done after 11pm at night under clear weather conditions and dry pavement.

Don't start arguing over the absolute numbers, saying things like my car runs slower than magazine tests. Its more important to see the difference in the numbers with the stock MB intake and cold air intake. I wanted this to be a real world test. Before taking any Torque app screen shots, I drove the car at least 8 miles on the street to get the engine and engine compartment up to full operating temp. People drive their cars with it up and running at full operating temp. In the real world, no one's method of getting onto the highway is to come to a stop at the end of the highway on ramp, open the hood, let the car rest of several minutes, then start the engine, turn off ESP, turn on launch control, torque brake, then go.


My Torque app screen shots show ambient air temp, intake air temp, coolant temp, car speed, and 0-60 run (when applicable).



BASELINE TESTING WITH THE STOCK INTAKE - driving on the street


In the first set of screenshots, while driving at street speeds, the intake air temp was a toasty 25 to 30 degrees hotter than ambient. When stopped at a read light (speed showing 0 mph), intake air temps would get 30 to 35 degrees hotter than ambient.

Flarearrow

BASELINE TESTING WITH THE STOCK INTAKE - 0 to 60 runs, highway driving

The next set of screen shots are the 0-60 runs, with 2 screen shots showing intake air temp while driving at highway speeds.

I was able to get 3 runs showing a repeatable 5.9 sec.

Now look at the screen shots showing the speeds of 48 mph and 52 mph. After the 0-60 run, instead of getting off at the very next exit, I stayed on the highway to see how much the intake air temp would cool down at highway speeds. The intake air temp stayed 20 degrees hotter than ambient.

Flarearrow

MY COLD AIR INTAKE

I bought a generic CAI for a Honda Accord V6. It was the only intake I was able to find on ebay with 3.25" piping. Originally I was going to use the short right angle piece to connect at the stock rubber elbow, and run the cone filter in the space where the stock air box resided. Because of the space constraint, I was only able to do what you see in the pic.... Basically cutting a 2" length of tubing and attaching the cone filter directly to the stock rubber elbow. And I simply used a twist tie to hold down, and place the intake air temp sensor near the filter element.

Flarearrow

TESTING WITH THE "HOT" AIR INTAKE - driving on the street

From the screen shots, the intake air temps where only 10 degrees (or less) hotter than ambient while the car was in motion. When stopped at a red light, the intake air temps easily and quickly get very hot... Easily getting 50 degrees hotter than ambient.

BUt as quickly the intake air temps rise while waiting at a red light, once the car get's moving forward, the intake air temps drop quickly.

Flarearrow

TESTING WITH THE "HOT" AIR INTAKE - 0 to 60 runs, highway driving


I think the screen shots speak for themselves. My 1st, 2nd, final 0 to 60 runs were 5.7, 5.6, and 5.5 sec. A 4/10 sec improvement over the 5.9 sec with the stock intake. And look at how nice and chill the intake air temps are at highway speed.

kajtek1

I think there is lot of misunderstanding here.
You build HOT air intake, that sucks hot and dirty air from engine bay, while factory inlet is behind grille where fresh air is coming.
Famous K&N have been misleading in their advertisement for years.
To your credit you WIRED-in the filter right behind factory clean air inlet, but as your data shows, with vehicle in park, the air temperature goes to the roof.
They provide increase in performance due to less filtration, who is about linear to the air resistance, so you can compare it on chart below.
To be fair, you should do one more comparison with no filter at all and bring us dyno data.
Doesn't look like you care about engine longevity anyway.

Flarearrow

Here is the next iteration, and probably the final product, of my DIY performance intake for the M276 in my '13 C350 coupe

The cone filter that came with the ebay Honda Accord intake measured 6" at the base, and 8" in length. It was just too big for the space constraints under the hood. The filter was rubbing against wires and hoses.

I bought a AEM dryflow filter of more traditional size, 6" at the base and 5" in length. I cut a new piece of 3.25" intake tubing with a (approximately) 30 degree sweep. As a pre-filter (and this is a old school trick used by off road and desert rally racers), I slipped panty hose over the cone filter. And with the panty hose, I was able to nicely tuck the intake air temp sensor right up against the filter element. Finally, bought and installed one of those ebay cone filter heat shield.



I went out last night to do some testing. All the same testing methods were used as in the 2 previous test..... EXCEPT, unlike before where the weather was around 70 degrees and pleasant, last night was 80 with unbearable humidity. I was running the A/C while doing the intake air temp tests. And I would turn off the A/C after I came to a full stop before doing the 0-60 run, and turn the A/C back on after I got to 60mph. There was so much late night road construction going on and too many cars around (and this was after midnight), I was only able to get 2 0-60 runs in.


Two questions to ask and answer
- Will the smaller 5" filter kill some performance compared to the 8" filter?
- Will the heat shield make a difference since it doesn't fully encapsulate the filter and fully isolate it from the rest of the engine bay?

Flarearrow

DRIVING ON THE STREET:

With the first version of my performance intake, I showed that as the car is moving forward, the intake air temps were about 10 degrees hotter than ambient. And when stopped at a red light waiting for the green, the intake air temps shot up quickly and could get as high as 50 degrees hotter than ambient.

I was really skeptical if the heat shield would do anything at all. But was quite surprised at the results.

Waiting for the green light, the intake air temps rose slowly, and only got 20 degrees hotter than ambient. And once the car got moving, the intake air temps were near ambient.

The heat shield actually did something, keeping the intake air temps under control compared to having a completely exposed filter.


0-60 RUNS AND DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY:

I was able to get 2 runs in, and produced a 5.7 sec and 5.6 sec 0-60. So I would say the smaller filter did not diminish the performance gains compared to having the larger filter.

With the first version of my intake, I was showing intake air temps near ambient. Now with the heat sheild in place, I'm showing intake air temps at ambient.


At this point, I think this is my final product. It doesn't look like there's a need to design a fully encapsulated heat shield to improve intake air temps.

Andrew Sweeney

“How much time and money did it cost you to install it, I got the same car and your the only person I’ve seen do this”

Flarearrow

Getting the no name Accord intake from ebay didn't cost that much. I don't remember how much it was 3 years ago, but it was definitely well under $100. You will also need the special plier tool to remove the Benz proprietary band clamp that's clamping the rubber hose to the stock air box..... I think I paid $10 on ebay for a no name plier.

You're really buying the Accord intake for the piping, and only need to cut a small piece to make like a 20 degree elbow..... a real waste of the entire intake kit.

Gazwould

That contraption will suck in dirt like a Dutch hooker .

karlt10

No it wouldn't. No more so than whatever volume the filter would allow based on micron size. (and I am fairly certain Dutch hookers don't suck dirt)

Flarearrow

Please explain how so.... enlighten me

Flarearrow

Thank you, and LOL

karlt10

Well, someone has to stand-up for Dutch hookers....

lilciroq

after putting the intake on did you ever experience any engine problems that would damage the longevity of the car?

Gazwould

K&Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooo