Throw away that Clogged Stocked Airintake

Even driven it yet? I'd be willing to bet you get the "engine failed to start" code as well as "poor engine performance". Keep in mind, cranking sounds like a running engine.

 

KnN filters just don't have the number of square inches of fine filter that stock paper filters have. We may enjoy paved roads, but there's plenty of groady particulate out there that a paper engineered filter will gather up and a freebreathing KnN will pass on to your pistons and rings and cylinder walls and....

 

The secret is, the Prius is not 'other cars'. I doubt he can dyno a Prius so he has no chance to prove himself right. I should go gentler on him, but I dislike snake oil.

I agree one of us is not thinking, I have a 76 HP 1.5 liter ICE, that spends 95% of it's time at 1900 RPM or below. It has a small throttle valve that is usually under 25% open. No amount of noise up stream of that, (and noise is all you have to offer) will magically reduce the restriction of that throttle plate. This chrome pipe does not even offer cold air, a more plausible snake oil. One look at your exhaust pipe will convince you that no matter how easy you make it for air to get in the ICE, it is not coming out through that tiny pipe.

If you do decide to dyno it, I suggest an Echo, same basic engine, ,using the Otto cycle.

 

So you have driven it? Verified it does work? How about a video of the car running in inspection mode? Oh and you might want to tone down the attitude a bit when you are quoting a highly valued member here.

 

tf4624, you probably need to understand a few things about this board:

1. These are Toyota worshipers - to them, no one on the planet could ever improve the performance of the Toyota engineers

2, A modification that hints at Ricer is an INSULT to these people. They are the opposite of the turner crowd.

3. The Prius is not a tuner car. You may be the first person on the planet to attempt an intake.

4. Driven in total hypermiler mode, I doubt any mod will improve the mileage (since the goal is minimum use of the ICE in maximum efficiency mode).

Since I have to drive at Colorado altitudes in Colorado mountains, the ICE in my Prius is seldom NOT at full RPM (unfortunately for my mileage). Under these conditions, conventional tuning methodology might actually help me.

 

Funny you posted that, I was just saying to tf how lately PC had become full of self-important individuals with an axe to grind and a viewpoint to push on everybody.

PriusChat used to be such a nice place... These days, god help you if you have an issue with the car.

tf, send a message to http://priuschat.com/forums/members/turnerdhr.html because he's done more to the car than anyone else I've seen with the exception of the SCCA Prius.

 

Considering I may be moving out that direction soon, I may have to keep that in mind. I wonder if using one of those little eRam 1 psi electric superchargers would help make up mileage at altitude? Seems like getting to come on every time the engine does would be tough, though, and I have my doubts as to whether or not the little 12V accessory battery could handle running an e-ram for extended periods. They aren't really meant for continuous use. But something -like- an e-ram that maintains a constant sea-level pressure and takes it's signal off a pressure detector, rather than the gas pedal, would be a neat little mod.

 

Is it that unreasonable to ask for some evidence of an advantage to doing this? I think it looks good, but like many others here I don't spend much time showing my engine bay off. We're just asking for some evidence of advantage beyond the appearance improvement -- even anecdotal "before and after" video of the HSI or Scan would be better than nothing.

BTW, "ignnorant" is "ignorant" -- I've seen it displayed enough over the years to quickly identify.

 

Uh, wouldn't that be a turbocharger?

 

I keep trying to give TF4624 some kind of a break, but his people skills crush his automotive skills.

1) Under full throttle, at max RPM, it is possible for a larger (ideally smoother) air intake (ideally using cooler air) to produce more HP and/or better mileage as well as more noise. At about 2000 RPM with the throttle near 25% open (60 MPH cruise) air resistance due to plumbing is not significant. It is possible those who pulse and glide will see more benefit than those who cruise.

It will be extremely difficult to meaningful results in a chassis dynamometer as the two electric motors will overwhelm any difference (5%?) the intake may have. A much more laborious engine dyno would be needed. Overcoming the electronics failsafes to get it running on a dyno may not be trivial.

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_ram_air_intake]Short ram air intake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

I have read articles about a guy who both supercharged, then when unable to live with the noise, turbocharged his Prius. He found that the battery remained charged longer but performance did not go up much, as the computers adjusted to charge the battery more. Should this pipe have any positive impact, I would expect it to be on SOC.
A turbocharger uses a turbine in the exhaust flow to power a centrifugal supercharger, you can have centrifugal supercharger. The 'crazy scheme' I would like someone to try would be a 201 v electric supercharger, using the HV battery as a source. (12 electric superchargers are doomed by the puny 12 battery in a car. The smaller Prius 12 v battery would make that worse)

 

Ahhh, the crux of the biscuit.

For improved efficiency there's more than just ramming more air down it's gullet. A tuned exhaust system with a low restriction catalytic is in order, as well as porting and polishing. If serious, also have the engine blueprinted and balanced.

Why you would do any of this on a hybrid is beyond me, unless it's more for the Friday Night Lineup. Seems more like a Civic thing. Guess "building cars" has become just bolting on a bunch of doodads.

Not sure about the Prius, but most modern cars have a snorkel for drawing in outside air. Seems that sticking the intake on top of a hot engine would pretty much negate any benefits from increased intake, especially if the other breathing modifications are not performed.

BTW - I ran K&N's on my bikes and cars for years. Just used their stock replacement filters on the cars due to frequent dirt road use.

 

The land speed record Prius used the non-Atkinson motor from the Yaris (I believe it is). This will give better performance, but will sacrifice mileage. Also, I cannot begine to imagine the software issues (the land speed record car had Toyota engineering support). If it is performance you want, buy a Scion and add the factory approved supercharger.

 

Prius chat and members opinions. Everyone has one!!! I am still trying understand the value of several different mods. Cold air intake have been around for a while and the performance, emissons, and mpg specs are not always documented. Anyhow pcf seems to only have a select few respectfully tech savy members

 

Hi All,

Lower air intake filter restriction is always benificial.

The tubing diameter can be an issue, and has to be matched to the flow the engine requires. A too big of a diameter tube will cause the airflow in the tube to subdivide, and become non-laminar. Some of the cross section will be tumbling , and the overall effect is more noise, and more back pressure. If your climbing mountains at near full throttle daily, this might be a good thing. If your hypermiling around a flood plane metropolitan area, maybe not.

Using a Turbo-Charger tube (which is what this looks like) seems like you might have gone too big in the tubing diameter. But, maybe I do not have enough experience to say, either.

A better, albeit super custom solution, would be to design a large filter that does not require a tube, and fastens right to the throttle body.

 

As I understand the Atkinson cycle air flow, a fair amount of air/fuel mixture is going to come back up the intake past the throttle body. (one reason they get so dirty) You want (need) contain that mixture in the intake somewhere.

 

Hello all,

I've been in the tuner crowd all my life. I've just sold my turbocharged Evolution 8 that netted me a lovely 18 mpg. Generally speaking, a short ram intake usually nets you a little more low end torque but nothing more, in some cases horsepower and torque loss. It boils down to aesthetics really.

I haven't read into detail about the issue with the Prius shutting off in hot climates but I will tell you that when I had a 350z with a short ram intake the car would shut off or bog at times in the summer when you're coming to a stop because the only thing being absorbed is the atmosphere's air and the engine bay's hot air.

Why you'd want to put performance bolt-ons in a Prius beats me but I just sold my tuner cars to finally settle down with something silent, comfortable, and gets me good gas mileage .

If anything guys, a good K&N or HKS air filter replacement for the stock box would be the best solution. For the 350z guys, this modification actually gained more horsepower and torque than a short ram intake.

BTW my name is Jack, i'm 22, and am currently looking at a 2005 Prius. Hopefully a soon to be owner. Paranoid about hybrid technology but am utilizing search as much as possible.

 

:welcome: from another Evo (IX MR) owner. I'm a little surprised you were getting 18, a flash typically nets like 22-23. What mods did you have on (Newbie, PM, or OT/FHOP might be a more appropriate place for this conversation)?

In any case, a I'm thinking a CAI would probably the most optimal solution for a Prius like if you connected an intake to the hole in a C-ONE grill block.