Alias23 Intake Kit - Exige Sport 350

[GaryF]

Hi all,

I managed to purchse one of Imran's intake kits for my Exige Sport 350. The v2 one with black crackle finish, internal air straightener and Proram filter.



I picked this up from a chap on Ebay who never got around to fitting it. He had no instructions, but I have the kit fitted all bar one query - I have the Sport 350 and have the two black vacuum pipes left with open ends (see next pic) :-

- one from the supercharger
- one from the solenoid (beside the red exhaust valve vacuum pipe coming from the same solenoid)



My query is, do I block them both off with the supplied bolts and washers, or do I connect the supercharger pipe direct to the solenoid and discard the black pipe that is already attached to the solenoid? Or something different? I have watched the YouTube vid and know the idle / run-in advice but it was only clear on the V6S what to do regaridng the vacuum pipes and not the 350.

I've dropped a note to Imran, but I know someone here wlll have done this too and I need to be able to start the car!

Look forward to testing the kit and feeding back.

Thanks in advance,
Gary

PS. Imran has more kits now for sale, and all the reviews I have read have been exceptional. The quality is very good indeed.

Edited by GaryF on Sunday 19th February 14:37

[Arun_D]

I'm not near my car, but from my phone photos the red pipe now runs to the supercharger spigot, replacing the black pipe in your photo with the anti-abrasion wrap.

[GaryF]

Hi Arun, thanks for your note. That would mean disconnecting the red pipe from the solenoid and connecting it to the supercharger. What then happens to the other solenoid black pipe and the solenoid connector that the red pipe has just been removed from? (I know you can't check just now).

Hopefully Imran will respond as I don't want to run my350 before this is resolved. If anyone has access to the original instructions, please let me know.

[micklee]

Hi Gary,

I managed to pre-order one of the latest batch for my 350, like you I've heard rave reviews from other owners. What you've said sounds correct, I've sent you a message, if you reply I'll forward the instructions I had from Imran which contains a 350-specific section.

[GaryF]

Hi Micheal - thanks for your email. Sent you a reply back. Imran has kindly sent the instructions.

For any inquiring minds, the answer is leave the red hose in situ connecting the solenoid to the exhaust valve, and connect the other solenoid port to the charger (black pipe on my car rather than red in the instructions). Looks like I can use either of the two 'hanging' pipes from my photo to achieve this, so there will be a pipe removed completely that is now surplus to requirements.

Will feedback on my findings once I've done this, run in and experienced the results

[Arun_D]

GaryF said:

Hi Micheal - thanks for your email. Sent you a reply back. Imran has kindly sent the instructions.

For any inquiring minds, the answer is leave the red hose in situ connecting the solenoid to the exhaust valve, and connect the other solenoid port to the charger (black pipe on my car rather than red in the instructions). Looks like I can use either of the two 'hanging' pipes from my photo to achieve this, so there will be a pipe removed completely that is now surplus to requirements.

Will feedback on my findings once I've done this, run in and experienced the results

Glad you got it sorted, Gary. That makes sense and explains the difference to what I did with mine.

Enjoy, it's a blast!

[GaryF]

Guess what? My car does have a supercharger

To be fair, I've always known it was in there somewhere, but now it has found its voice.

Imran's figures
Before: 326 bhp, 301.4 lb ft
After: 391.5 bhp, 327.6 lb ft

Those figures are from the Litchfield dyno charts published over on the Lotus forums. Scarcely believable, but I can report that the car feels much quicker and I found it hard not to smile when the supercharger whine kicked in. Imran's figures are with the original ITG filter, whereas my kit came with the off-the-shelf Proram filter - perhaps not quite the same performance increase, but that is pure speculation.

I'd originally been thinking about a Komo-Tec 430 upgrade, but this option is really good value for money and I think the car is plenty quick enough now for the road use it will get.

I can heartily recommend Imran's Alias23 kit for both performance and sound.

Edited by GaryF on Sunday 26th February 11:10

[Alias_23]

Just come across this thread and review. Good to hear you're happy with the intake! Im currently working on a new batch

[simonpieman]

Imran, hi.

I had one of your induction kits on my Exige v6. Excellent piece of kit.

I’ve now got a 350 with Hofmann installed SSC supercharger kit, including the SSC remap. Would your 350 induction kit work with this set up?

Ps I’ve still got your Tillet B7, and have matched it with one for passenger side.

[st33ly]

65bhp from an induction kit alone. Pigs will fly.

[JamieF78]

How else would you explain it? I’ve heard from numerous 410 owners that a 350 with an intake kit will pass them on track.

[Alias_23]

st33ly said:

65bhp from an induction kit alone. Pigs will fly.

I agree myself it's somewhat unbelievable. One of the reasons the intake has never been marketed with such power increases so that not to disappoint.

However there's multiple dyno's over the last 2-3 year which keep coming back to around 400bhp average so there is some decent gains to be had...

[Paul_M3]

JamieF78 said:

How else would you explain it? I’ve heard from numerous 410 owners that a 350 with an intake kit will pass them on track.

Not necessarily pass, but definitely keep up with. There's really nothing in it, although on very hot days the 350's can drop off a bit due to heat soak.

Alias_23 said:

st33ly said:

65bhp from an induction kit alone. Pigs will fly.

I agree myself it's somewhat unbelievable. One of the reasons the intake has never been marketed with such power increases so that not to disappoint.

However there's multiple dyno's over the last 2-3 year which keep coming back to around 400bhp average so there is some decent gains to be had...

That would seem about right based on track performance that I've observed. I know Imran has seen this, but if you watch my video from this point you can see how the car in front (350 with a Alias23 intake) basically stays exactly the same distance away on the straights when we're both at 100% throttle:

https://youtu.be/cKkcRK4v07I?si=DhUQs_7GV4YjBC6s&a...

[Alias_23]

A few other videos that may be of interest

Exige V6 + Alias23 Intake vs Performante
https://youtu.be/C8NrmOv0BMc?si=aGRq8Cr4cGTcFsUR

Exige V6 + Alias23 Intake vs 410 vs 430 Cup
https://youtu.be/NYJmfGR93nY?si=YpDP3hbAhtIOFU2b