Air boxes | filters (probably AGAIN :)

Hi guys Sorry if this has been to done to death. My car came with a K&N induction kit fitted. It makes an awesome noise but I guess I've read the comments regarding the kit taking in the warm engine air as opposed to nice cold outside air and there loosing a few ponys (probably not noticeable but nevertheless) Guess I'm curious about trying the recommended alternative which seem to be standard air box with resonator removal and after market hose? Any comments for or against be interested to here.. Or if anyone has any for sale Cheers in advance Adam :thumb:

I've got an evoms intake and it's alright, it lost me 2 bhp over a standard box but sounds better

Cool, cheers similar to K&N by the looks of Evoms on google search ? :thumb:

Nothing adds power over the standard setup, most will only deprive you of 1-5 bhp for varying amounts of money. Panel filter adds noise, cone filters add more noise. As you say you wont feel a loss of 1-5, decide if you want the extra noise.

K&N all the way Adam. Your car sounds fantastic. It's only a 15 minute job to switch to the std airbox though, so you may as well swap it one day and satisfy your own curiosity. My Mk1 GT3 sounded great with a Cup filter on. My (your) C2 sounded great too. My Mk2 GT3 with standard airbox, sounded a bit boring by comparison so I've just fitted a Cup filter to that. (Bit more involved than on a Mk1, but that's another story). It isn't actually the revelation I expected it to be though unfortunately. Just a bit more noise here and there, although the top end scream is a bit better. So this could be the first car I've ever owned where I've gone back to the standard air box. I'll see. In the case of your car though, the difference is night and day. Your K&N is a proper kit so the filter is 'shuttered" off to keep the heat out a bit. My new setup is a proper 'hot air injection kit". :grin: The car feels no different though. It still pulls like a train. It's another case of a forum big deal, having a whinge about warm air etc. Unless you're chasing every single tenth on track, then the added sound adds way more to the experience than 2 or 3bhp. You did get the standard air box off 'other Mark" didn't you?

:agree: This! My car came with a K&N "hot air induction" on it, was quite dirty since the mob that did the service the PO got done for me didn't want to touch the non standard filter. It sounded mental, but I was a bit dubious about it, seemed like something a 19 year old puts on their car. I then had the big "S-pipe" off and observed some gunge on the throttle butterfly and deduced that the filter was not filtering properly. I put the (supplied) original airbox on with a new paper filter and tried to convince myself that it sounded more refined. Meanwhile I had the throttle body and inlet plenum removed and realised that the gunge on the TB was from oil mist in the plenum, since the inside of the TB butterfly was much more dirty than the outside. So the perceived lack of filtration was probably not correct (or at least not as much as I'd thought). After a few weeks with the original airbox I just missed the noise so much that I bought a new 90mm BMC cone filter for a refresh and am going to put the K&N kit back on. IMHO it just adds so much character to the car that a few lost hp is neither here nor there. So mine will shortly have the K&N kit back on with the new BMC cone filter.

Thanks for the comments guys Mark - cheers for thoughts. It does indeed sound good and I may well stick with it. I guess I was just wondering if I'd notice a difference (ie performance/ breathing) but doesn't sound like it .. which is good Nope...don't recall getting original filter box from Mark .. If he definitely had this maybe you could ask him and I'll by all means pay post :wink: I tripped to Newcastle for the car but maybe a bit excessive for the air box :grin: :thumb: Uber996au - Again cheers for sharing your experience and by the sounds of it I'd be disappointed with the swap.. :thumbs:

For me the noise is worth the slight bhp loss!

Snap.

I've got the DesignTek induction pipe and resonator delete, which was on the car when I got it. I have a standard filter on order so that I can try a standard setup, purely for comparison's sake. You're welcome to borrow my current setup short term while I'm running the standard filter and airbox.

That's a kind offer thanks so much. Maybe an excuse for a meet up / drive out too :grin:

Mine seems to have the standard airbox, but with a K&N panel filter in it, as there's a K&N sticker saying something like, "lifelong filter, do not replace". To be honest, with the Miltek silencers, it does sound a bit loud for my liking. I take it I can replace this K&N panel filter with a standard one and not lose any power, just make it a bit quieter then?

Panel in a std box doesn't really alter much YPVS, but you can have a try and see. :thumb: Adam I'll ask Mark if he took the std box when he bought the car off me. I had two standard boxes. One off the car originally and another I got given with a pile of parts. I'll definitely have one as I saw it during my recent house move but I've got stuff at mates houses, stuff at parents house, etc etc. There'll be a one somewhere you can have though. :thumb:

Nice one thanks very much Mark :thumb: No rush at all as by the sounds of it I'll be disappointed after the K&N cone noise but if you locate, as mentioned happy to pay :thumb:

An alternative might be to source the airbox from a 997S and fit that along with a K&N or similar panel filter. This is what I've done to mine and also blocked off the Heimholtz route and removed the resonator itself 9To declutter the air path and increase the box volume). Does it add power? Probably not but it bolts straight in, looks WAY better in the engine bay and has lots of holes covered by some kind of Mylar film or something similar. Point is Porsche developed it beyond the 996 box to develop more induction noise (As near as I can tell) while still retaining the benefits of the factory cold air intake. So. Looks better, sounds better, cold air, factory parts. Winner. Oh and my car is now a 3.8. Apparently!