Cold Air Intake

[NickCats]

I was talking to one of my co-workers about buying a different exhaust for my car ( I am looking at the Remus ) and he asked me why not just add a cold air intake instead : http://www.mercedesbenzwheel.com/mer...ntake-362.html I noticed on the forum people often mention the K&N air filter, but not much talk about CAI - why ? Nick

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[micropower99]

There is none available for our car. Some will say "our C Classes already have CAI built in" but I dunno simply no one manufactures a good one for our cars. The one you posted is a cheap one that has had many bad reviews with shooting warm air in the engine rather than cold.

[imboom]

The one you listed isn't a real cold air intake as the engine will heat-soak the filter. Our stock intake system is a real cold air intake in that draws air away from a hot source(front of your car through the grill).

Consider this, tuners for many cars that use the similar system like we have recommend staying with the stock system and not going aftermarket(at most replacing stock system with a fancier CF replica of stock). Many aftermarket intakes in fact lose power instead of gaining power also because the stock system normally has really good design(most modern cars) and aftermarket intakes draw heat from the engine.

Let's not fix what's not broken.

[bigigg]

i am looking into the same kind of setup, but instead of foam filters its with cone k&n filters, and has 2 heat sheilds around the filter to protect from heat.. you keep the same air box just take out the stock filters, and the cone filter sits rite behind the grille where our air inlet is.. soo your still getting the "cold" outside air.. regardless it looks niice cuz the aluminum pipe is polished. im not expecting any hp gains.. prob wont even sound any different., but with a painted strut bar, and 2-tone engine cover under the hood, the judges at the car show love the look.. ive talked to performance shops, and they told me to install a true cold air and customize the 2 pipes to go around the engine to the back of the motor, will cost almost $1000.. soo im good where im at..

[buffyclk500]

if there r lots of people who r looking 4 a cold air for under 1000 abracing might help they make 1 for m113 and might do 1 for the c350 here is a pic or mine



they might do a deal 2 the fist few people

[Azn_C300]

Originally Posted by buffyclk500

if there r lots of people who r looking 4 a cold air for under 1000 abracing might help they make 1 for m113 and might do 1 for the c350 here is a pic or mine



they might do a deal 2 the fist few people

hard to tell from the pic, but looks like you don't have any heat shield on yours. What you're doing is pulling hot engine air in and losing performance.

And yes, our system comes with CAI stock already. If any improvements were to be made that I could think of would be to remove the plastic tubing from intake to airbox and replace with something with less baffling, and larger air scoops in front.

[FrankW]

our cars don't have CAI. they're more like ram airs.

if anyone wants to "improve" the intake efficiency they should be looking to increase the volume of the airbox instead of a CAI.

[Normandie4life]

Originally Posted by NickCats

I was talking to one of my co-workers about buying a different exhaust for my car ( I am looking at the Remus ) and he asked me why not just add a cold air intake instead :

http://www.mercedesbenzwheel.com/mer...ntake-362.html

I noticed on the forum people often mention the K&N air filter, but not much talk about CAI - why ?

Nick

i have that on my car got it for $180

[buffyclk500]

it has a heat shield under the pips

[Normandie4life]

Here it is, after changing it to this one you can feel a difference just a lil bit so its noticeable

[buffyclk500]

drive your car for 30min then hold your intake and c how hot it gets the abracing is still cold 2 the touch
if any 1 is in south fl hit me up and i will b happy 2 show them

[bigigg]

Originally Posted by Normandie4life

Here it is, after changing it to this one you can feel a difference just a lil bit so its noticeable

thats a pretty basic setup, me personaly i would change the foam filters to k&n cone filters..

[Normandie4life]

did everything by myself even the painting

[micropower99]

Originally Posted by Normandie4life

did everything by myself even the painting

Damn man that looks sick! Is there a different sound too? You can honestly feel a difference in power? Where did you buy yours from?

[Peabody]

Originally Posted by FrankW

our cars don't have CAI. they're more like ram airs.

if anyone wants to "improve" the intake efficiency they should be looking to increase the volume of the airbox instead of a CAI.

Carlsson uses a high flow replacement filter with the stock delivery system. FrankW is exactly correct on this one.

[FrankW]

Originally Posted by Peabody

Carlsson uses a high flow replacement filter with the stock delivery system. FrankW is exactly correct on this one.

yup thx

and if you open up the airbox I'll bet there are baffle designed to disrupt the airflow so the intake is quieter. almost all the MB airbox have this design. smoothing out the inside makes a lot of difference.

[Azn_C300]

There are a few baffles within the airbox that you can dremel down, but the m272 airbox is already pretty well designed as you've mentioned before. And you're right upon thinking about it more...it is more of a ram style intake.

[BEEPbeepZIPtang]

take the filters and tubes off...drive around without them for a bit...that will give you the most gains and loudest sound...wait what? there is NO difference what so ever? EXACTLY.

why ppl think there is a difference and why ppl think that pulling that hot air from the bay is going to give you gains is beyond me. misinforming others that there are gains is even worse...this is basic 101 stuff. When your 16 and learning about modding for the first time, isn't this the VERY first thing you learn right after having a lower center of gravity improves handling?

these are mercedes...500+ hp MB black series motors use the same set up...M5's have short ram sets ups, along with many performance in mind designed cars. the ones that don't are heat shielded...they don't use open air designs and they certainly don't use foam filters.

we're 20-50 yr drivers/owners now...we should know this stuff. why is this back up for debate...again... and again...and again...

btw...great job on the paint scheme! I love the painted covers...need to do mine. however, you probably used high temp paint right? the correct product for the application...who knew, good job.

[Illusive]

FrankW is spot on, BEEP you make a good point as well. The intake shown there is a short ram/ram air intake. It's pretty much the same thing as the stock airbox except that the filters are now exposed to the heat inside of the engine bay. Given that they are foam, they probably don't retain heat as much as a stock paper filter, but the addition of the steel tubes will definitely be subjected to heat soak. Either way, you will still be pulling some of the warmer air around the engine especially at lower speeds. If someone made a double wall steel tube for the intake pipe, then make a custom airbox sans baffles, utilized the stock ram air intakes at the front of the car and insulate it from the engine heat, it could make a difference, but that would take a lot of work and I'm sure quite a bit of money.

Either way, if you are swapping over to K&N filters, I'd recommend using a dry filter over a rechargeable oiled filter. If you've never done the recharge before, there is a chance you can add too much oil and then during acceleration, have the oil sucked into the intake plenum ( do we have one?!?!)/manifold and cause problems in the future.

[BEEPbeepZIPtang]

there is MAF cleaner for the oil on the sensor but yes, do not recharge the filters unless you know what your doing. although, its not the rubix cube...anyone can do it.