Developing a MAF sensor housing for custom air intakes

[91cavgt]

interested in air intake solution.

Honestly, I want to splice those cables and relocate the maf, but that's just me.

I am in the same boat, but before I cut and splice, I want to peal the covering back on the engine wire harness. It is possible that there is already plenty of length in the stock MAF sensor wires, we just need to undo some of the factory harness to see it. Keep in mind that when you cut and splice, unless you do a VERY good job at it, you will more than likely introduce more resistance in the wires. This extra resistance can slightly alter the reading of the MAF sensor. So it could make it run slightly richer than stock, or slightly leaner.

[Daox]

Alright, parts have started to come in! I got the filter today. It is an AEM dryflow filter. The part number is 21-2201DK. Its their only filter with a 2" diameter intake flange, so we avoid using a larger pipe and an adapter. This avoids unnecessary complexity and cost.







The flange is offset, and its at a 10° angle. It'll be interesting to see how that fits into the Mirage engine bay.





The rest of the parts are supposed to arrive later today.

[Daox]

Most of the rest of the materials came in.

Here we have a bunch of stuff, including the 2" stainless tube that'll be cut to size. I chose stainless over aluminum because it absorbs less engine heat, and its also slightly less expensive.





And some stainless steel hose clamps (with stainless screw, not zinc plated). These are smooth bore clamps, so they don't tear up the rubber they clamp on.





And here we have some 2" hose. It'll be cut to size to make couplings out of. This makes for very economical couplings. A main focus of this design was keeping the cost down to deliver an affordable intake kit.

[btavish]

Projected release date?

[Daox]

Ball parking it, I'd hope for about a month and a half from now. However, the release date will highly depend on how the testing goes. Once I get the kit all put together I'll be shipping it off for testing. Our tester will get it installed and we'll see how things go together, and how they hold up over a few weeks. If there are issues, it'll take longer.

[GrnBn]

Will you be able to secure dyno results for the intake? Saying this in the nicest possible way, I'd be even more interested in this if you could demonstrate some gainz, bro.

EDIT: Do you have a price point in mind?

[Ares]

Gains:
Would surely knock off the ugly ass airbox.
Would surely stop some noise coming from the airbox.
Would surely give a better intake sound.

[GrnBn]

Gains as in positive measurable differences in torque and/or horsepower. Many cars engineered close to their limits see losses when switching to a generic CAI or WAI. The Honda S2000 and Maxda RX-8 immediately come to mind. Not that our little 3-pot is comparable in terms of sportiness, but hopefully you get my point.

[91cavgt]

Gains as in positive measurable differences in torque and/or horsepower. Many cars engineered close to their limits see losses when switching to a generic CAI or WAI. The Honda S2000 and Maxda RX-8 immediately come to mind. Not that our little 3-pot is comparable in terms of sportiness, but hopefully you get my point.

The engine in both the S2000 (high compression, high rpm 2.0L) and in the RX-8 (high rpm 1.3L rotary) were designed primarily to put out a good amount of power at high rpm, so all of the engine components(exhaust and air intake included) had to be designed to be optimal at those high rpms.

The engine in our Mirage is a low power output motor designed to produce good mid range torque and be reliable for years. The only way you can design a motor to put out a good amount of useable torque in the mid rpm areas is to design the motor to have a high velocity of air going into and out of the engine at those mid rpm areas.

So to improve the horsepower on our cars we need to find the bottle neck in the motor, then replace that part with a better flowing part. What we don't know yet is where that bottle neck is. It would be the intake, it could be the throttle body, it could be the intake manifold, it could be the cylinder head ports, it could be the intake valves, it could be the exhaust valves, it could be the exhaust manifold, or it could be the exhaust. What we can't do is just throw some kind of parts on the car and see what happens. This is just about a guaranteed way of decreasing power. Like throwing on a press bent 2" exhaust on the car is a way to decrease exhaust velocity, so it will in turn decrease power.


What we need to do is just what Daox is doing. Design parts that flow smoothly and, hopefully, better than the stock parts. The downside to this is that the process takes time. The first parts that come out for a new vehicle typically don't increase power because manufactures are just catering to the "gotta have it now" mentality that some people have. Because of this, I like Daox's slow and methodical approach.

[Daox]

Will you be able to secure dyno results for the intake? Saying this in the nicest possible way, I'd be even more interested in this if you could demonstrate some gainz, bro.

EDIT: Do you have a price point in mind?

Excuse me not replying earlier, but I was contacting my tester, Kiwi, to see if this is possible. Sadly, I don't have a Mirage to test the parts on myself. Anyways, I suggested getting the torque pro app for his smart phone since he has a bluetooth OBDII adapter. It can generate a hp and torque chart. He'll be providing before and after runs to share with us.

I have a price in mind, but I know its going to change depending on what the testing shows, so I'd rather not say at this point. I am trying to keep it as low as possible while still providing something that works well.