Finally bit the bullet and picked up the Carbonio 55K Airbox and Python tubes. I was originally interested due to the cosmetic enhancements and didn't expect much in the way of performance gains but I was pleasantly surprised. Power is improved all over the rev range. Pulls much more eagerly to redline. Engine sound is actually dampened a bit but its clear the engine is breathing way better now. I still have to install the 82mm TB kit so I imagine gains will only compound then. Looks amazing with my painted surge tanks and front cover. Very happy with how it came out. On to pictures:

I don't mean to be a buzz kill, but the Carbonio carbon fiber products yellow out very disgustingly after 6 months to a year I have their carbon fiber engine cover and it turned yellow while it was sitting in my garage

They do look nice though when their brand new.... how much power do you think they added to the car?

Looking good man! Love the cf look.

Hey MB, Ill be getting my Renntech cf airbox soon!

Looks good. What was said above about the yellowing is correct. RENNtech is the way to go.

Looks great man! But as warned prepare yourself for the yellowing. it's pretty disappointing for a product this expensive to end up looking like that in a few months time.

I want to find out if it's just the clearcoat that is yellowing or the actual carbon weave... It might be worth taking mine off in the winter and re-clear it.

All epoxies will yellow over time. Happens on even oem CF on RS4's and R8's. I spoke to Rob at Carbonio about it and they said they are using better epoxies to help prevent the yellowing but its inevitable. Turns out Carbonio is about 4 blocks away from my parents house, so If it gets bad I'll go by and see what they can do. Looks amazing now, and the price was right.

Performance wise, its enough to feel on an already 500+whp car so I would estimate 15ish whp. Maybe more up top as from 4K on it really rips.

Ding ding ding... Epoxy resins are notorious for yellowing & the main culprit. what you need to get these Co's to use is Polyurethane resin, vs it's Epoxy counterpart.

Poly will absolutely NOT yellow over time or w/reasonable heat if prepared mixed correctly (unless subjected to extreme high heat for extreme durations, or if adding too much Catalyst to prematurely harden the resin in order to finish multiple cured units much faster)

Pros of Epoxy is it's slightly lighter & slightly stronger, so take your pick? an ounce or so lighter, slightly stronger yellowed POS or Polyurethane CF clean/clear for life of the product

(it's not going to be brittle, just not as strong as yellow epoxy) Engine covers will see a mere fraction of action vs a Polyurethane CF surfboard that get abused/riden daily...

Hope this helps


Heat would have to be over 500 deg F, your engine bay will never see that unless you want to mount it directly to your headers

I think its obvious as well that yellowing of carbon takes place due to the resins used. So I'm totally with you on that. The question I'd like to know is... Does the yellowing of the resin or gelcoat take place due to off gassing? IF so can you prevent that with some quality automotive clear coat?

Maybe the next guy to buy a Carbonio airbox can get it clear coated from a body shop to see if that helps..

+1
A swear I heard the same thing about poly resins.

looks good.. i like it

Looks good

Looks nice. What 82mm tb are you going to run? I had fitment issues with a VRP airbox on mine, and will be interested to hear your results.

I have the TTM kit with the MB S550 82mm tb. The Carbonio guys gave me some tips for the 82mm TB install, and said it should work. Going to try to finally knock off the install this weekend so we will see.

They do look great when brand new

By the way, at the last track event, I looked at a car that had a 6-year old RENNtech air boxes for the 55 and 3-year old Carbonio tubes. The RENNtech air boxes looked almost brand new while the Carbonio tubes looked absolutely crappy. I don't know what RENNtech is using, but it has been lasting pretty good

Just port the inlet and it will slide on without an issue. Using their foam and metal plate will work but you should be able to use the gaskets that came with the TTM 82 Kit to seal the air box. Let me know if you need me to send you another set of gaskets!

I have a question, but let me preface it first by saying that the first mod I did back in 2005 was a Renntech ECU re-flash and that in itself was quite an improvement. Subsequently I noticed that the driver side intake pipe had about a 50% reduction in the diameter just behind the radiator, whereas the passenger side intake pipe maintained a constant diameter. It looked to me (correctly so) that an unrestricted passenger side pipe could be installed on the driver side. So, first I dropped in a pair of K&N's and with out a doubt there was an immediate improvement and then I replaced the driver side air intake pipe and there was and additional improvement of about the same magnitude of the K&N's. Therefore, my questions is: What was the state of your intake system prior to the installation of the new Carbonio air box?

Intake before was K&N's with the blocking plates for the air inlets removed. This is not a placebo effect. Car is really woken up with this airbox combo and it's not like it was slow before. Throttle response is much improved, and pulls damn hard.

The 55 airbox from Renntech is an excellent airbox. They do not yellow at all. The company that makes it for Renntech also makes parts for NASCAR teams. However this is not the case with the 63 airbox. That is made by an other company

I have no doubt about the improvement, but had you replaced the driver's side intake pipe? I know it can be hard to gauge with the butt dyno. Just thinking about adding a box. I'll speak with Hartmut (he's 5 minutes from me) after we get back to Florida next month.

MO i must say mine has been one since June of 09 and still looks brand new . Not a hint of fading or yellowing .


Maybe some airborne contaminants in the garage caused it ?????

Fuel , Exhaust and so on .

Carbonio made the VRUS items...

Yep...

I tested the renntech box at the track.I did 2 runs stock box the changed it out at the track and picked up 2 mph and went from 11.8 to 11.6

I was talking about the 55 airbox NOT the 63.... although I have NOT seen a single 63 airbox yellow either

Negative.... I have seen this at the track with my own eyes: 3 different cars with 3 different sets of carbonio products and all of them looked yellow. You may have to look under sunlight to see it or look at it directly next to a higher quality carbon fiber product. The product WILL yellow, I have not only seen it in person, but in so many pictures as well.

is anyone has carbon used ar box for sale for good price for my cls 55????