Better performance with a new air filter?
When car makers design air intakes they are concerned primarily about ensuring the air reaching the engine is perfectly clean, and that air induction is quiet. In fact, because on sporty models, some noise is created – because people enjoy the noise.
These days, there is a big market in air filter kits and inductions kits for sporty cars like Vauxhall Corsas and Vauxhall Astras. Of course, if you buy a real muslce car like a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X or Ford Focus ST, you don’t need these kits.
Most of the companies selling these air filter kits To be sure, it depends on the car and the induction kit. Most air filter kits consist of a pipe from the engine to a conical or cylindrical filter with an exposed element – this results in less air resistance. And that is what these filters are all about - less resistance.
You see, an air filter kit of this type should give a little more power. My guess is about 1-3 per cent. We actually got a gain of this type by altering the shape of the air intake mouth of a filter housing before it went into production.
Need to get cool air to the filter
The difficulty with a filter of this type is that it is in the engine compartment, which is hot. When you drive fast it gets hot. When it gets hot, the air temperature increases, too, which reduces power. So ideally, what is needed is cold air. One way is to take a pipe from the filter housing to the front of the engine bay, where there is a good flow of cool air. This gives the filter cool air.
Watch this, though: if you take the pipe to in front of the radiator ensure that the tube has a bend near the free end, so the entry is pointing sideways. This way you will avoid getting insects into your air filter in the summer.
The ideal arrangement is an air pipe from the front to a BMC carbon dynamic airbox that houses the filter to keep it cool as well. This way you can get the best out of your {air intake system|air induction kit|engine.