Maverick1975

I was looking at a thread in the Black Series forum about a guy deciding between purchasing a Carbonio aftermarket box and a Renntech box. The carbonio box has stated gains based on a dyno of 20hp and other makers such as Evosport claim the same based on redesign of intake etc etc. Despite these very specific claims by reputable manufacturers, several posters said forget aftermarket airbox as you will not make any gains. I was surprised by the skepticism.

Has anyone on the forum bought an aftermarket airbox and had any dynos done??

Why the skepticism out there on this modification?

Do they actually work ??

As someone interested in buying one, i would love some informed anwers...

sflgator

I've heard the RENNtech airboxes do actually yield some decent HP/TQ; any way to increase air volume and/or cold air into the mix should increase power.

Sincity

+1. Those R-Tech boxes do look like they would yield more power. Just look at the smooth flow of the box top and revised runners. Too bad they are so expensive.

Maverick1975

and furthermore, how come renntech only gains 10hp but carbonio and evosport get 20hp, can their internal designs be that different that one gets half what the others claim. in the context of this product specifically and the price, that is a massive difference bwetwen them.

alqamzi

your car have brabus intake??
they should be better then any aftermarket intakes...

Sincity

I thought the Brabus intake is just repainted AMG tops?

Maverick1975

Affirmative, the intake work is all aesthetic, just sports filters added up there.
Looking at adding intake to both Brabus and Vath as neither of them alter airboxes hence my questions

Brian GT PRO

That is a negative Ghost rider, I've tested on the dyno...Want to take about price vs HP gains?? How much is their box? If you want something that "looks cool" yes it looks cool, but does it make power? Not that I've seen.

Maverick1975

Thanks Brian, so do you think their claims are essentially bogus and cant be relied upon??

AMS Performance

The most you will usually see on an NA car is roughly 8-12HP realistically and that's being pretty optimistic. AMG really does an amazing job of designing the intake side of the engine so airbox is one of the last mods you should ever do. K&N filters pick up 2-4HP alone so that must be factored into the aftermarket airbox equation as well, so in reality the airboxes aren't really making that much power at all. Majority of the gains to be had are always on the exhaust side of the engine on AMGs.

hope that helps

Brian GT PRO

I am not going to call any mfg. out and say "bogus" I would love to sell a set, but I will NOT "sell you" on them. I know what I saw on the dyno with my own eyes. They look awesome under the hood, that's about all I will say on that matter. As far as performance? I can go as far as to say that I have had NUMEROUS C63's in the shop make equal or more HP with stock airboxes and stock airfilters vs the CF aforementioned airbox with equal mods. To date, I have yet to be proven wrong, and trust me I would LOVE to be proven wrong on the intake debate.

Sincity

Brian: that is an eye opener. Looking at the smooth flowing tops and revised runners of the R-Rtech unit, one would think they yield more power. But then again, correct me if I'm wrong, the airflow from the dyno fans do not closely simulate an actual triple digit speed run.

Sincity

Did anyone ever ask, during the PL chats, why AMG chose to use such an underperforming part as the "log" exhaust manifold? Even my 24 year-old 190e 2.3 has a tri-y exhaust configuration from the factory.

Even Money

Probably 'cause a better exhaust would yield more hp/torque and thus put the C class AMG closer to the E class, etc., also would cost more $$$..likely same reason for the ECU stock tune.

Sincity

They used the same exhaust manifold on all 63 based AMGs.

Even Money

Exactly....If they were to put a better exhaust manifold on the C63, then more HP, then you start to cannibalize the other AMG classes.

They could put a better exhaust manifold on all 63 motors, but obviously more $$$.

citylightva

I think space has a lot to do with it too...I know there are LT's out there now, but no one really knows what effect they have on surrounding componenets. I'd put em on anyway

AMS Performance

The 6.3L and 5.5L are two totally different animals so you cannot compare them. Log style performance headers make lots of power on the M113s (simply b/c the stock ones were such a horrible design), but you cannot make any more power with a bolt on shorty on the 6.3L b/c the stock one is already so free flowing (as far as log manifolds go) so the only logical route is long tubes.

Moral of the story, don't waste money on intake side of the motor, just get K&N filters and call it a day and move on to the exhaust side of things.

nrgy

I have to agree with what AMS, GT Pro and others have already stated. I have the Carbonio airbox, and I knew when I bought it that the gains if any would be minimal. I bought it mainly for the looks, and if it helped the engine breath better than that was an added bonus.

However, like has already been stated, I think simply removing the charcoal filters and replacing the stock filters with K&Ns or BMCs are going to benefit just as much as an aftermarket airbox. I mean if you think about it logically, none of these airboxes increases the surface area of the filter. They all use the same size filter, so the air must pass through the same amount of resistance regardless of how much more volume one airbox has over another. Maybe I'm not looking at it the right way, but regardless exhaust mods are the way to go.

Sincity

What I meant to imply is that the "log" is used on all 63 motors. If they used a higher performance exhaust manifold, then the increase may/should be the same across the various chassis.