DIY: Fang Vents: Forced fresh air to your airbox
 

Lots of us have looked at the block off plates by the fangs and wondered why. They are a perfect high pressure area to tap for some cooling. It's not hard, takes about $75 in parts and a few hours of your time. Why run fresh air to your airbox? For one reason, the cooler the air and the lower the IAT's (Intake air temps which are sampled at the MAf), the more timing advance the ecu will allow and more performance will result. Notice how your car feels sluggish when it's hot? That's because, on a 90 degree day, sitting at a redlight for a few minutes, your IAT's may rise to 150 degrees or more. The hotter the air the greater tendency for detonation so the ECU dials things back. Forcing some cool air in there brings temps down quickly and effectively. Here's how to do it:

Remove the front bumper
Remove the blanking plates:
http://images109.fotki.com/v1537/pho...MG_1878-vi.jpg

Mount 1 pair of 2.5" aluminum flanges over the holes:
http://images50.fotki.com/v1528/phot...MG_1881-vi.jpg

Mount a second pair of flanges to the Airbox pass through:
http://images114.fotki.com/v648/phot...MG_1887-vi.jpg

You can see my custom airbox through the pass throughs:
http://images53.fotki.com/v443/photo...MG_1884-vi.jpg

Route your hoses on bothe sides:
http://images44.fotki.com/v1535/phot...MG_1885-vi.jpg

Hook the flanges together with your hose:
http://images50.fotki.com/v1514/phot...MG_1894-vi.jpg

http://images19.fotki.com/v285/photo...MG_2344-vi.jpg

Bolt it all back together. I need to tidy up the hoses a bit but you get the idea!:
http://images115.fotki.com/v688/phot...MG_1897-vi.jpg

http://images50.fotki.com/v1514/phot...MG_1896-vi.jpg


Results: I've noticed as it gets hotter this summer, it is more difficult to keep the IAT's down. They typically run 15-20 degrees hotter than ambient in average driving at this time of the year. With the forced air set-up I'm seeing pretty consistant 6-10 degrees over ambient for a solid 10 degree improvement. It will probably be better in cooler weather and come very close to ambient. IAT's also cool down within seconds of the car starting to move after sitting in traffic. I've always maintained, cool is good. Today on average, my car ran at 180 degrees water, 195 degrees Oil, and 92 degrees IAT's on an 86 degree day. Not to shabby. I also have an oil cooler as well as a sump cooler in place..She's a COOL cucumber...

This mod will be particularly helpful for those of you running an open element filter (Tanabe, Nismo, Stillen G2 etc) as the filter will be bathed in forced outside air. Stock airboxes will get a direct shot, and Stillen G3 guys can re-rout the feed hoses a bit to point at the filters.

BTW, I use a Scangauge for all this data reporting (more on that in my albums). Showing here, Horsepower, Long term fuel trims, Intake temps and water temps. A Very handy tool!
http://images44.fotki.com/v1471/phot...MG_1438-vi.jpg

There is a parts list in the Fang vent album as well as more pics for those interested. Throw me a rep point if you found this helpful!

More pics of this, part numbers and sources in the Fang Vent album : Here!

Nice work!

Mod, shouldn't you put a filter or something in front of that? Is it safe to just leave that open?

filter isn't necessary. i've done this in the past with many cars. water will never make it up there. at the rate of speed that will actually pose a threat, bugs and other debris will get caught in the bends and not make it up to the engine bay as well. great diy btw!

??Why? all a filter or screen will do is restrict flow. Your airflter is still in place. You will just have to clean it a little more frequently as air down low coming off the road is a little dirtier......

Good job mate. You would really have to stare to know that isn't something that came stock.

Thats crazy

This might also work for those wanting to get some more air to the brakes. Is there an easy way to run these to the brakes without getting caught in the wheel/suspension linkages?

That seems pretty easy to do, in my head anyway.

That might be a little difficult with the routing clearances and plastic/metal in the way, but here are some other ideas that would work for a track setup using the same hoses and flanges and a few Shop vac parts...:tup:: These were installed on my Audi TT but the concept would be similar..

http://images112.fotki.com/v580/phot...SCF0131-vi.jpg

http://images112.fotki.com/v586/phot...SCF0064-vi.jpg

http://images25.fotki.com/v948/photo...SCF0061-vi.jpg

very neat idea..... +1 to this

Mod, I actually might be using this concept in the future. Thank you for the DIY!

That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking of:tup:

I think this would be a great cheap mod for track rats. Especially if you already have a Stillen GIII
But like you said. clearances and routing will be the biggest problem.

This is a great DIY :tup: rep points are coming your way!!

great great write up!


"The hotter the air the greater tendency for detonation so the ECU dials things back. Forcing some cool air in there brings temps down quickly and effectively."

however, i think the reason for the detonation of colder air is better since its denser, not to cool the engine (although its a good side affect). In hot air, molecules tend to be excited and loosely packed (as in vibrating and bumping into each other, leaving spaces in between the molecules), while colder air leaves molecules tightly formed. This means denser and richer air, which ultimately means more fuel will be allowed to burn.