jmoses

I’m looking for opinions on the CTS Intake. I can’t find any solid reviews online and am considering the part due to being able to retain the original engine cover. Thank you.

Star4life

Link? Never heard of it. if it retails the oem engine cover its probably not any bigger than stock.

Darrington

Some info in this thread by @Beast450AMG

https://mbworld.org/forums/c450-c43-...heir-43-a.html

Darrington

…and looks like they have decent price on catted downpipes too.

C450AMGCT

Yeah following this, I might end up snagging it myself since you don't have to cut the engine cover. Looks clean AF. Here's a link to the product:
https://www.ctsturbo.com/product/cts...intake-system/

M3Eater63

Definitely recommend it for the price and quality. Here’s pics for anyone that didn’t see other post.

GermanCarShow

Pardon my ignorance - this is my first turbo engine and I've never modified/tuned a car before.

Are the filters left exposed? They pull in warm air from the engine bay? What's the purpose of the runners from the front of the engine? Thanks.

MaverickC43

Wouldn’t they help get cooler air back to the filters?

M3Eater63

The runners/intake ducts coming from the front area which guides air coming from the front grill to the intake boxes to feed fresh “cooler air” to the filters. I’m not 100% if when the hood closes if that box is sealed or not , I’d guess it’s pretty close to sealing against hood, even if the air isn’t cooler than factory your still going to increase the air flow with the higher flow filters regardless so it’s not completely pointless. I personally like the look of exposed filters versus entire enclosed systems , just my preference though

GermanCarShow

Yes, I suppose there would be a mix of cool and warm air. I would think an enclosed filter housing, isolating the warm air out, would help actual performance.

I had not thought about the hood making a seal. A competitor with filters up front does that. It's possible here too, but the larger "seal" to the side seems higher than the air filter box. And, the box appears to be lower than the engine cover. This is a close up of the pic on their website.

M3Eater63

Yea probably doesn’t seal with the hood, but let’s be honest, what fun is a sealed intake system to silence the extra noise lol

Darrington

As long as there’s no issue that those sensors aren’t in the direct flow path (in the intake pipe), I think this setup is a winner.

GermanCarShow

Noise? Sound? No, it's all about performance!!!

Darrington

I wonder if you could fab up a top for the that heat shield, make it more of an enclosure that pulls more of the air from those intake ducts.

GermanCarShow

I wonder if CTS had a reason for not doing. Complex (expensive) shape to make? Difficult to make a good seal? Maybe they know their customers want the sound?

Regardless, it is an affordable product to consider.

MaverickC43

Put some chalk on top of the box seal and see if there’s transfer onto the hood.

Darrington

I’m thinking I could fab up a sheet metal top, maybe enclose it a bit more if the hood doesn’t seal it. For $407, I think this is a good starting point.

alexasa

iTrader: (1)

sealed intake is critical in warmer climates. I ran BMS and the car LOST power in everyday driving/traffic.

might not matter it it's 75 degrees or lower year round - but definitely something to consider when purchasing

MaverickC43

What are u using now?

alexasa

iTrader: (1)

I went back to stock with aftermarket filters.

M3Eater63

It’s been 80-100 where I’m at lately with no noticeable power loss.

SilverBullet18

This CTS system seems to be a cheap MST rip off.

Putting the filters ABOVE of the hot turbos in metal (read: metal gets hot and stays it) boxes spells recepie for inefficiency and poor performance.

Our platform deserves better

Kevink15

Good find and a local Canadian shop, save me some duties on shipping lol

MaverickC43

Lol
he said duties

Adi-Benz

Trash