What air filter mod is this?

[longhorn911]

I bought my 996 used and the air filter looks very different from factory. Can anyone tell me what this is? Is this a good thing?

Thanks,

Longhorn911

[longhorn911]

Here is a closeup...

[Loren]

I had one of these from EVO in Arizona. I sent it back... it sounded really good but created a flat spot between 4000 and 5000 RPM. We tried several things but the flat spot (and CEL) problems never went away. The vendor claimed that many folks had these and they were fine... not in my case though. YMMV

[longhorn911]

Thanks, Loren. Is it just a 3rd party air filter or is it more than that? It appears that a large part of the normal air intake housing has been removed and replaced with the smaller air filter.

Also - what is CEL and what kind of sound difference does the unit make? It's interesting that you found a flat spot between 4-5K, because my car pulls very hard through that range.

Sorry for all the simple questions, but I'm a Pcar newbie...

[Loren]

Thanks, Loren.  Is it just a 3rd party air filter or is it more than that?  It appears that a large part of the normal air intake housing has been removed and replaced with the smaller air filter.

Also - what is CEL and what kind of sound difference does the unit make?  It's interesting that you found a flat spot between 4-5K, because my car pulls very hard through that range.

Sorry for all the simple questions, but I'm a Pcar newbie...

Most of the after market air intake mods seek to let the engine "breath" better. That is, they try to increase the amount of air the engine can take in. So, to some degree the it is a low restriction air filter. The stock system has a baffle in the air filter housing that reduces noise and air flow somewhat and the filter is intended to keep out as much dirt as possible. So this system seeks to allow more air and less "draw" restriction. As far as performance I doubt there is more than 1-2 hp from a mod like this... but it does have a good intake sound ;)

CEL is Check Engine Light also sometimes referred to as MIL (Malfunction Indicator Light).

As I said, the vendor said "most" folks didn't have a problem. Frankly, I never understood that because it is basically a tube and different filter. My best guess (on what happened with it on my car) is that perhaps the MAF (Mass Air Flow Sensor) was not aligned properly on the tube portion (misaligned weld?) and was reading incorrect air volume readings.

Finally, the other thing that concerned me about this product is that it likely draws more warm or hot (engine) air than the stock housing. For my 2 cents -- I think a better solution is one like Fabspeed came up with that removes the stock baffle and adds a low restriction filter all while using the stock housing to draw in cool outside air.

end of :soapbox:

[Sloth]

CEL= Cash Evaporation Light :lol:

Edited January 11, 2004 by Sloth

[longhorn911]

Thanks again Loren. I'm going to contact Evolution Motorsports to ask about mine since their web site claims their current shipping model is designed to keep intake air cool.

But you've got me concerned - what are the ramifications with drawing in hot air?

[KarlS]

At highway speeds it won't be a problem but at slower speeds you'll be down a few horsepower. The SuperCup team, which use to run a similar style air filter, found they could lose as much as 5-6 HP in slow corners due to hot air. The 2004 Cup cars have corrected this by using a different style filter that is surrounded by a CF heat shield. This set up won't work on street cars however, since there is no provision for a MAF on the Cup car.

Karl