Top Mount For N/A Subaru's?

[foohfooh]

Has anyone seen this yet?

http://www.gorillaoffroadcompany.com/

if its been posted before mods delete

but i think the gains would be small? Nasoic guys alrdy dismissed a group buy a while ago.

[Asphalt Art]

In all I will raise the questionability flag deep in this one. The intake system is already very efficient in N/A models, and there are a list of other issues I would have with this half-brained design. Dyno sheets or stop claiming any significant gains.

1) 6061 is pretty overkill, and being a former aviation employee I have to laugh that it was so important to include the series of metal but forget the hardening sequence number. If it is "0" 6061 there is no point, if it is T6 it won't handle a lot of vibration well as it is brittle. You aren't going to bend 6061T6 at those angles without it cracking. I would doubt they have an oven to properly do it, so I also assume it isn't heat treated.

2) The filter is going to be soaking wet the second it rains. I have yet to see the interior of the box, but I can only also assume no drain holes since they say it is a one piece box. The picture shows that it is obviously 2 pieces already though. Brilliant.

3) That price is nuts for the material they are using.

4) If the poorly fitted Pzus fasteners and warped metal are any testament to the build quality, no price point would steer me near it.


If this is a product of a member here, I don't apologize. There are some serious design issues that need addressed.

[Wiscon_Mark]

I agree, that's crazy expensive. Also, I don't trust their claim that it will fit MAF cars, as they don't show you how it would work with the sensor, which is not located in the throttle body like the MAP sensor.

[foohfooh]

here is the nasoic thread.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?p=40225364

went back and found it.


basically they arrived at the same conclusion.... just... in typical nasioc fashion

"because most n/a Subaru owners want to rice out the car but not do any real modification/tuning because it actually costs a significant amount of $ or requires special skills."

:smt117 impreza owner stereotype

[Matty2Hotty]

Pretty sure I came up with a design similar and had a handful built years ago, not sure how many are still around... Rare item I guess

[Asphalt Art]

Without going into too much detail the shop that created these went into great detail to debunk the criticism regarding water issues. A few videos are available on YouTube, and I even found a dyno graph posted claiming 13whp gains. I am still quite suspicious of these claims, and I do realize they are not required to appease me directly in the same breath.

There were no drain holes in any picture I found of it, although I have not looked at Nabisco because I am not much of a fan of the membership input there.

[rougeben83]

Yeah, this idea has been around for at least 8 years now. Nothing new. I think people found the throttle response to be better, but that was pretty much it.

Its too much money for what it is.

[r3v_v3ng3]

I've also seen a setup where they used the wrx top mount intercooler and blocked off the bpv and had the y pipe connect to an intake setup

[Wiscon_Mark]

I'm sure the 13whp is only at when you're driving at 120MPH...

Cold air isn't what's giving any gains, it's probably ram air, which isn't much of a factor at lower speeds.

[GTDrifter]

I've seen someone make one of these while I was in college. Pretty good design but Idk if it actually works

on a side note, about the filter getting soaked, its a cold air intake and they all soak the filter. My gt wouldn't want to run when it rained so I ripped it off and gave it away.

I've also seen someone mouont their filter where a fmic would be....

[Asphalt Art]

I'm sure the 13whp is only at when you're driving at 120MPH...

Cold air isn't what's giving any gains, it's probably ram air, which isn't much of a factor at lower speeds.

Which still wouldn't be true ram-air, as it is being slowed by the filter to engine vacuum speeds, and doing a complete 180 in direction. Any noticeable increase is going to be throttle response as previously stated, but that is because of the large plenum (aka large air volume) available. Sadly, this concept of a large plenum will have a ceiling based on the actual CFM capabilities of the intake manifold runners and intake ports regardless.

Flip the intake port/throttle body to the front, run a real ram-air system without a filter, and it still wouldn't produce daily driver usable gains worth the work on a external bolt-on NA engine. Sad but true. The game would change with [headwork/cams/sheetmetal intake/larger throttle body/2.7 stroker] though.

[anothernord]

It's mostly a novelty. Plus, it will only work for MAP-based engines.

Mods for NA Subarus are best done in the suspension category.

[lord flashheart]

Word.
I had a discussion with someone forever ago about this, you would need a seal around the filter. .
Cold air inductions are kind of a joke in my opinion. Many don't even have a baffle to seperate the air. Exactly what your engine wants...hot dirty air.

[Asphalt Art]

Word.
I had a discussion with someone forever ago about this, you would need a seal around the filter. .
Cold air inductions are kind of a joke in my opinion. Many don't even have a baffle to seperate the air. Exactly what your engine wants...hot dirty air.


That is 100% right. The design of the top mount in general (including intercoolers) isn't going to work as well due to the lack of the seal, and aerodynamic tendancies that would cause any air pressure to move around the filter to the (usually) lower pressure engine bay. Add the seal, and you just exacerbated the water issue by placing the air filter in that location.

I am not a fan in general of cold-water intakes down here in GA, as it is constantly raining and creating a lot of standing water on the roadways. Track only use I can understand, but are the gains really worth the hassle?