ive had a look in the tech section and can’t find what I am looking for, so here goes.
my 1.8 NA has had a K&N cone air filter fitted, however I don’t think I’m getting the best from it as it is mounted directly above the exhaust manifold, other than the standard tin plate manifold cover there is no heat protection for the filter what so ever, so I am wondering what to do to get cooler air through the filter.
is there a cool side induction kit for the MK1
i am toying with adding a home made heat shield between exhaust and air filter,
Would exhaust wrap help and where would I get some,
any comments or suggestions welcome, must be easy on the pocket, as I’m skint!
If you do a search for ‘induction kit’ you’ll find a lot of discussions. I did a home made kit which puts the filter up in the corner by the bulkhead, if you look for my posts…
I thought about it, but you would be forever pulling leaves and twigs out of your cold air pipe, since they collect there anyway. Better is the cold feed from the front of the car, you can even use a ram too there. Or one of the ubiquitous vented barn doors if you have a mk1.
Well, assuming it works (ie the cold air gets to the filter) then it will certainly work. Colder air is more dense, so more oxygen, so more fuel can be burned. However, I’m fairly sure you’ll find the effects are fairly minor overall.
The standard OEM induction is actually extremely good, and already has a cold air feed. I’d say most induction kits fitted probably reduce power over standard, and cold air feeds probably bring it back up to roughly where it was before. They do sound good though.
Any improvement you make by fiddling with the airintake will hardly be measurable, the car will feel as if it’s faster, but that’s the hole in your wallet telling you it’s faster
I did a personal test between the standard box and aftermarket on my own MK 1 1.8 and a MK 2 1.8 over a month and found that I did not use as much fuel even though I was putting my fast foot down more to hear the note, which was mainly motorway driving, pick up was better also, I was never a lover of them until I did this test, now they all wear them, you will need to fit a shield and a cold air feed if pos what I will say is it is ether one or the other, I am not a lover of this drilling the standard air box.<o:p></o:p>
The set up in AT’s pic is good, note the heat shield and then curved off to the cold air intake on the head light lid.<o:p></o:p>
There are plenty of ways to do this correct and filters to use but stick with the well know jobbies, not e-bay specials for £7, but also be aware that some are well over priced.
Sorry geoff but i don’t get this from you , and i find it hipocritical has you have a turbo fitted, so the cost of buying that ,fitting and running is far more than a aftermarket air filter will ever be, and why would i lie about a personal test on my own?
I have a Mk2 here that is going to be fitted with a super charger, but is and will not be an eveyday roadster and is being fettled for shows only, so i understand the benifit of the extra power in these roadsters.
And yes it is our money,just like you have spent on yours, i do not waste my money,and will not let others do the same, thats why i am here.
Mazda’s M2-1028 used basically a standard 125hp, fitted with a 4-branch manifold and a K&N-type filter.
This set-up is rated at 130bhp, 5hp over standard. The impact of the filter is pretty marginal. Sports Compact Car confirmed this with their MX5 1.8 intake shootout.
Nice info AT, can you find any more on the other different filters that can be fitted, Apexi, K &N’s Other HKS’s like the one on the white MK 2, and so on.
Practically all induction kits without a cold air feed will suffer it. The filter is a few inches above the manifold in most cases. Even those with one will to a lesser extent.
But, why suppose and guess? As you nearly say…what’s the point in these figures with no benchmark? 102HP doesn’t seem too great to me, with 115HP as standard, so these figures are meaningless without a back to back test on the same car in the same conditions with the same equipment using the OEM airbox and cold feed.
