Best air induction kit for a C6?
Discussion
Halltech's 'Killer Bee' line is a 'hot' product in Corvette Intakes - or should I say a 'cool' product!
http://www.halltechsystems.com/
Aftermarket Induction Systems abound in the marketplace - no matter what brand of car you drive, someone will make 'Foghorn Mk2' kit which will claim to give you another 200 bhp, for only ten minutes work with a screwdriver - wish it was so easy!
There's lots of smoke and mirrors around with regard to the efficacy of aftermarket induction systems, primarily, because it is the first and perhaps the only mod most owners will make, so the market is competitive on account of the fact that there is much money to be made - the Chinese will make you kits by the bucketload for a few Yuan, and you can sell them for Megabucks down at your local Halfrauds.
OEM air intake system are usually pretty well designed for general all round use - their main design constraints will be noise related, rather than power related, so there may well be a few extra BHP to be had with a more power focused design.
Katech - a reliable source of Corvette information concerning what works and what doesn't - fit 'Killer Bees' to their cars. They seem to think the product works or for sure they would not use it.
I have used one, but as to how much extra power it liberates I could not say, because I've never tested it in isolation - it works 'OK' shall I say, and I never had any problems as a consequence of fitting it.
Fitting it is an easy 15 min job.
You can get the unit sprayed in the colour of your car and it looks quite stylish - lots of US aftermarket vendors sell Killer Bees for various discounted prices.
Try Keith at Eurovettes for top class service!
Halltech also sell a contraption called a 'Bee Hive' - oh the marketing! - which is basically a shroud which fits forward of the radiator, enclosing the filter element and isolating it to some extent from the heat generated in the engine bay - thus reducing the temp of the intake air in some circumstances.
This is quite a good idea because the car management is set to be quite sensitive to Intake Air Temp - it pulls the timing quite sharply as the Intake Air Temp Rises
If you are, say, sitting stationary for a while on the strip, then, if 'things get hot',you will be quite a few BHP down at launch, as a consequence of timing pull - so the quicker you can draw down the IAT the better for your ETs
If you just use the car to cruise down to Tesco's of a Saturday, then this fact may not bother you too much!
One final point - if you see claims of 25+ BHP power increases from fitting filter kits, then be sure that a lot of this purported increase actually come from remapping the car's ECU, in conjunction with fitting the filter kit.
The standard engine map is set to run very rich ex works, and there are good power gains to be had from setting the AF ratio to run a bit leaner at full bore.
http://www.halltechsystems.com/
Aftermarket Induction Systems abound in the marketplace - no matter what brand of car you drive, someone will make 'Foghorn Mk2' kit which will claim to give you another 200 bhp, for only ten minutes work with a screwdriver - wish it was so easy!
There's lots of smoke and mirrors around with regard to the efficacy of aftermarket induction systems, primarily, because it is the first and perhaps the only mod most owners will make, so the market is competitive on account of the fact that there is much money to be made - the Chinese will make you kits by the bucketload for a few Yuan, and you can sell them for Megabucks down at your local Halfrauds.
OEM air intake system are usually pretty well designed for general all round use - their main design constraints will be noise related, rather than power related, so there may well be a few extra BHP to be had with a more power focused design.
Katech - a reliable source of Corvette information concerning what works and what doesn't - fit 'Killer Bees' to their cars. They seem to think the product works or for sure they would not use it.
I have used one, but as to how much extra power it liberates I could not say, because I've never tested it in isolation - it works 'OK' shall I say, and I never had any problems as a consequence of fitting it.
Fitting it is an easy 15 min job.
You can get the unit sprayed in the colour of your car and it looks quite stylish - lots of US aftermarket vendors sell Killer Bees for various discounted prices.
Try Keith at Eurovettes for top class service!
Halltech also sell a contraption called a 'Bee Hive' - oh the marketing! - which is basically a shroud which fits forward of the radiator, enclosing the filter element and isolating it to some extent from the heat generated in the engine bay - thus reducing the temp of the intake air in some circumstances.
This is quite a good idea because the car management is set to be quite sensitive to Intake Air Temp - it pulls the timing quite sharply as the Intake Air Temp Rises
If you are, say, sitting stationary for a while on the strip, then, if 'things get hot',you will be quite a few BHP down at launch, as a consequence of timing pull - so the quicker you can draw down the IAT the better for your ETs
If you just use the car to cruise down to Tesco's of a Saturday, then this fact may not bother you too much!
One final point - if you see claims of 25+ BHP power increases from fitting filter kits, then be sure that a lot of this purported increase actually come from remapping the car's ECU, in conjunction with fitting the filter kit.
The standard engine map is set to run very rich ex works, and there are good power gains to be had from setting the AF ratio to run a bit leaner at full bore.
Edited by songman3 on Monday 1st November 08:17
In which case a tune without an intake will also get you most of your gains...
There are 2 benefits of a CAI
1. Lower intake temps (pV=nRT)
2. Less intake restriction (difference between barometric and intake pressure at WOT)
T in the formula above is in *K (ie) 273 is zero So if we are talking 6*C difference then at 20*C thats 303 vs 297 so 2%
Given barometric is usually 100kpa then if your intake is restricted and only allowing 95kpa, then thats pretty much also a 5% gain in airmass
So when finding the best CAI the above 2 points are the most important.
Temp is more a function of the intake material and where it picks up air. The corvette has a nice straight shot into the TB over a short distance. Avoiding metal intakes is a good start. Finding something that doesnt heatsoak much is ideal.
Restriction wise, bigger is better, you cant really go too big on the filter area or intake tract. Packing is the problem usually.
Ideally you want ambient temperature air at barometric pressure hitting the throttle. Anything less than that isnt ideal.
There are 2 benefits of a CAI
1. Lower intake temps (pV=nRT)
2. Less intake restriction (difference between barometric and intake pressure at WOT)
T in the formula above is in *K (ie) 273 is zero So if we are talking 6*C difference then at 20*C thats 303 vs 297 so 2%
Given barometric is usually 100kpa then if your intake is restricted and only allowing 95kpa, then thats pretty much also a 5% gain in airmass
So when finding the best CAI the above 2 points are the most important.
Temp is more a function of the intake material and where it picks up air. The corvette has a nice straight shot into the TB over a short distance. Avoiding metal intakes is a good start. Finding something that doesnt heatsoak much is ideal.
Restriction wise, bigger is better, you cant really go too big on the filter area or intake tract. Packing is the problem usually.
Ideally you want ambient temperature air at barometric pressure hitting the throttle. Anything less than that isnt ideal.
True Richard - but in think the man may have a Warranty to worry about - or is the word Guarantee!
Heck! - I was almost going to recommend one of those cool trick filters - you know those dinky little ones that some folks fit downstream of the TB!!
Ah - the tricks of the trade LOL !
Heck! - I was almost going to recommend one of those cool trick filters - you know those dinky little ones that some folks fit downstream of the TB!!
Ah - the tricks of the trade LOL !
Edited by songman3 on Monday 1st November 10:05
vetteheadracer said:
I had a Breathless Performance ram air system on my C6 Z06 but that did mean cutting the plastic shroud were the airbox bolts onto the stock piece.
I have one of these on mine, reason being cutting the shroud puts the air feed directly from the grill in the front bumper and looked to me like it would feed more cold air to the intake.I've had no problem with water getting in it as some naysayers on the US forums mentioned, not sure if I can tell the difference in power though...
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