118mph

Hi everyone. I have an 06 civic, and while a cheap piece of crap, it can turn pretty hard and does not look bad at all (only found out about the quality later on as everything started to break, but oh well...).

I am here because I wanted to add a few extra horse power onto the car without spending a lot of money, preferably something a city dweller can do in their parking space. I thought about redirecting the intake duct to an open air sector of the car where it can feed the engine cool air, and perhaps high pressure air when moving quickly. I noticed that the current intake duct is in the corner next to the battery. Is there any particular reason why it is located there? Not only is it breathing in the hot air from the engine bay, but it is in a cramped area that should be restricting its airflow. Why would Honda do this? It looks just fine to not have a duct at all and just let the air go straight into the air filter. Perhaps they do not want the air intake right behind the fans?

Anyway, I was thinking of removing the stock air duct, and putting in a new one leading to the bottom of the car. There is a little space down there to have the duct sticking out a bit; the idea is that it would get unheated air, and when going fast enough, air would be forced into the duct at higher pressures, sort of 'naturally turbo charging the car'. I would place it far back enough behind the bumper so that it would not bottom out so easily, and it would be made out of strong flexible material anyway, so it could handle a little bit of friction every now and then. My only worry after that is stuff getting into it that normally wouldn't. I thought about dust, but it does not seem like the radiator stops that very much; the next is water, but placed down the center of the car it should not pick up the splash from the tires, and again I do not think the engine cabin is moister free either. I reasoned that the vertical climb of the conduit upwards into the filter would help prevent any large particles or water from easily making it up there.

So what do you guys think? Good or bad idea? At 80 mph it should be getting quite a pressure boost, enough to add 10 HP on methinks. I wouldn't mind breaking the 118 mile per hour max of my car either : D (tested on my local deserted farm service road, haha).

Thanks.

118mph

Alright, I did some research on this kind of stuff and apparently people like to call this a "cold air intake", kits of which are all over ebay for around $50, so I guess my idea is OK.

I do have some other crazy ideas that I dare not post here until they are installed and working, so I will get back to you guys later with any mods that I make with a report on their functionality.

Engineers do have more fun

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i remember some older pontiacs used to have true ram air systems that generated a solid 1 psi of boost at freeway speed. fairly noticable. you may want to check on how they did it.

118mph

Yea, that is basically what I am thinking of, a "Ram air system". Should have said that to begin with.

1 Psi seems reasonable enough to me.

I'll check it out, thanks.

118mph

2 Questions:

1. Is it possible to run a 3" or 4" ducting conduit to where the fog light holes are?

2. Is there any way to get the same thing in front of the front radiator, but behind the bumper grill?

I can't seem to locate any openings, but maybe I am missing something. Is taking the bumper off straight forward, or will I snap the entire thing in two like I did with my door panels? Those damn pins always break! Use screws Honda!

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

there should be some, altho the newer civics are really cramped for space. bumper shouldnt be too much trouble, just remove all the screws and clips and then yank it off carefully.

118mph

Well, guess how me and my friend got the front bumper off? We KICKED it off! Guess how we got it back on? Same way. Sad isn't it? No damage to the bumper as it was not really held on by anything besides the 2 metal bolts on the top (took those off first). I do not really think ANY part of the car should come off through brute force, and only through brute force.

Oh, and guess what we found behind the bumper? A bunch of cracked foam attached to the only aluminum in the car (besides engine block) by GAFFERS TAPE! Fascinating.

Anyway, I did find a candidate for the air duct placement. On the left side of the car looking towards the front of it, there is an opening 1 foot from the side and about 6 inches off the bottom of the car. It is right next to the radiator and has a 1" diameter plastic pipe going through it. I believe it can fit up to 2 4" pipes through it, which can then be run towards any place in the engine cabin. I am currently trying to design a system that places one or two of these ducting conduits in front of the radiator at the front grill's air intake, and diverts the air through the aforementioned opening into the air filter. My car is always in the cool zone, so I think it can handle a little less airflow into the massive front radiator. Still debating whether I should go with one duct, or two and combine them at the air filter....

I was considering using one of those "K&M" style filters, but I think it would allow the air to divert around the conduit, unlike the stock filter system where the air has no where to go but through. Do those 360 degree style filters really offer that much of an advantage? Otherwise I was just going to buy a better regular style filter. Is that even worth it?

I also just went down to my local stomping grounds and tried a little something. I thought that since the air intake conduit was placed in such an awkward corner that perhaps removing it would allow for better airflow and therefore a little more horse power. Well, guess what happens upon unhooking it from the air filter housing? My top speed went down by 4 mph!!! Instead of reaching the usual 118, I only made it to 114!!! Immediately after reattaching the conduit leading to that awkward corner, my top speed went back up to 118! In fact I reached an all time high tonight of 121; I guess I should change my forum name

I believe this has something to do with air resonance within the piping conduit. There is NO WAY that that awkward corner is getting better air flow, so the only other explanation is a resonant effect that having a pipe creates. I am surprised HONDA actually cared enough to do that; I guess they had to considering this little guy uses a 1.8 liter engine.

So then...I happen to be a bit of a hobby sound engineer, so time to bust out the old equations and design my new system under the assumption of resonant effects....probably tuned for around 7000 rpm....but it sure is not 7000 Hz by the sound of it. Hmm...this is going to be tough.

I will make my car go 130 though! I'll get back to you guys with the results of my mad scientistry

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

the best cone air filter right now is the weapon-r secret weapon SW1 foam filter. it has an open front, built in velocity stack, and flows more air than an open pipe. its an oiled foam piece with dense poly urethane foam that requires a special cleaning kit, but its the best solution if you want the highest filtration and flow. i clean mine every 6 months to keep it at max. they only make two sizes tho so youre a bit limited. but the design is the best if you want max flow and durability.

118mph

Thanks, I'll look into it.

118mph

Alright, a 4" duct will NOT fit inside the engine bay of a 2006 civic EX.

If anyone wants to run any sort of pipe/duct/hose through their car, it should be 3" or less. Time to buy a new duct.....

118mph

Alright, bought a new duct. This time a steel reinforced plastic 3" duct, called a "bilge blower". I wrapped it with a layer of duct tape, aluminum foil, and then moderately reinforced the aluminum foil with more duct tape. Slid onto the intake port on the air box, ran across the top area above the radiator into an area on the left side of the car. This spot is between the radiator, the wall of the car, and a 1" pipe connected to the radiator. From there ran the duct behind the front grill, in front of the radiator and duct taped it onto the grill fins. The duct was secured to the airbox with what else but...duct tape and string. Hey, I'm poor, I can't afford anything fancy

The results? Besides the HP not dropping off due to engine heat over time since its drawing air directly from the outside, I can also feel some boost in acceleration from 30 Mph upwards. I would say 5 Hp at 30 mph, 7 Hp at 60, and 8 at 90. Not as much as I was expecting, but really thinking about it this is the result that the physics of the system would result in.

When I gas the pedal at a stop you can really feel the air getting sucked in, and the entire duct shakes a little due to the pressure change. Lets you know that you have a good seal.

I WAS going to do a top speed test, but some random jackass cop told me to 'get out of town' while I was pulled over doing some final checks. F*ing son of a b***h. It will be a few weeks before I can attempt again since I am poor and going up there costs $$$ on gas. Well, this is the crappy world that we live in. No fun, all pain.

You can get such ducting on ebay for around $15 total. Search for 3" ducting, 3" conduit, 3" pipping, 3" tubing, or 3" hose. Wrapping it in aluminum foil keeps it nice and cool, so no worries about plastic ducting melting.

I would say its worth it and a fun project for anyone interested. Pictures to come and eventually a top speed run.

02civicsi02

How much hp where you expecting. Its just getting colder air in the motor and its with the stock airbox so you idnt gain much at all really. You might have gained 4 at the most. A short ram intake gives you 4 whp and a cold air gives you only like 6-8 whp. Intakes do not give you that much hp. When the company says that this intake gives you 15 hp then they are lying. Hell they said the whale ***** gave like 28 hp lol it only gives like 6-8 hp.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

highest ive seen was the weapon-r intake gave +30whp but that was on an srt4 most n/a cars you wont see more than 10. i wanna see pics of this setup tho

118mph

I was expecting A LOT at higher speeds, but that was an uneducated assumption. The 'compression efficiency' will go down more and more as the pressure goes up, preventing a linear performance curve from forming. Just wishful thinking : )

I will post pics in the next few days.

Devani

iTrader: (2)

flashpro will yield more power with intake....but most HP gained with just intake is around 5 if you are lucky....but I do plan to take my resonator off when I rework on my retro....

118mph

Alright, here are the pictures:

118mph

I also put another addition in after taking the pictures. Apparently if you attach a basic PVC pipe to the end of the conduit (in this case, a 90 degree bend), the horse power goes up another 30-40%. The weird thing is that with such a thing installed, I cannot feel the air going into the conduit like I used to while on idle. It must really smooth the air out, hence the HP increase. I am happy with it : )

Top speed test to come eventually....

02civicsi02

You trippin.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

it doesnt look pretty, but i guess it gets the job done. i wouldve gone with custom piping from intake companies, but its prolly alot more than what you want to spend.

118mph

Trpping in a good or bad way

That is, 30% up from the increase caused by the initial intake, at least, at lower speeds. I think the boost will now top out at around a 10 HP increase at 90+ mph.

Yea, but at least the portion in the engine bay looks ok. The pipe I put on makes the grill portion look MUCH better though. Allows me to hide more of it, and create a nice flush fit with the grill. For $20 total worth of parts, I think its a good deal.

Btw, you will need to remove some random plastic shroud in that area next to the radiator in order to run anything through there.

02civicsi02

Even after you put that pvc pipe on there it probably didnt do anything. You have probably gained like 3 whp and like 4 whp at the most thru the hole powerband. Intakes do not do very much especially on a stock civic.

118mph

Well, it is noticeably reving up faster. Works for me.

redsi

............weird....should've just removed the air box resivoir and put a cone there...and remove the filter from the box...thats a free cold air intake...instead of pimping your intake....looks like a dryer machine..

118mph

Alright, after a few weeks of heavy workload I finally got a chance to replace the old ducting (dunno if ever mentioned this, but it failed when I (stupidly) tried to test the suction, and the hose collapsed under the negative pressure).

So...I'm now using 3" black ABS pipe and some 1/2 black 1/2 clear polyethelene dust collection hose. It looks much better (gotta replace the duct tape with something more legit looking though). HOWEVER...I finally got a top speed run in, and I'm PISSED. The top speed was only 117! as opposed to my previous record of 122. My income speed to the straight was the same, air temp same, passengers same, fuel in tank same....everything equal besides the ducting. So what gives? I feel it sucking in as much air as the stock pipe...the entire thing shakes when I rev the engine due to the low pressure being created in it....my flexible ducting is meant for high velocity air and is fairly smooth, and of course the ABS pipe is dead smooth.

And shoot...it DOES accelerate faster from 0-60, but by 90 the advantage is gone and it begins to loose horse power. Why? Could it be that the mass airflow sensor is not designed to 'see' high pressure air, and freaks out? I'm at a loss here. I mean, if I had a power loss across the spectrum fine...then its my ducting; but only at high speeds when it should be functioning the best? Meh...at least it looks better now and will NEVER break. Not only did the flex ducting take my stomping on it a hundred times, but 3 hours in the engine bay while speeding, and was a pain in the *** to cut to size due to the strength.

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

I need a better facepalm emoticon for this thread

Honestly, just get a proper CAI
or build one out of pvc pipe with a filter that leads to your fender near the front tires or something

Like redsi said, looks like a freaking dryer machine

02civicsi02

Lol here you go.

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

lmfao hahaha thats perfect

lazlong

That's not "cold", it's just sucking in hot air coming off the engine. Learn to use punctuation.

118mph

Umm...as I said, I REPLACED the old ducting. It no longer looks like a "dryer"; I don't think you would like working for NASA.

The ducting now almost looks professional besides the little dings in the conduit paint I made while installing some pipe size converters. I even removed most of the duct tape today.

Went out for a test run on a more local straight away (1.3 miles and opposed to 1.8) and hit 104 from a dead stop, while as I usually only hit in the high 90's. Apparently I tore something while installing it the other night, so fixing that helped. I still have some work to do, but it looks promising so far. What I find curious though is that it almost seems to respond better to not directly taking the onward air hitting the car; tonight I had it installed right next to, instead of behind the grill. Still need to run more tests to figure out exactly what is going on.

Oh, and discovered something fascinating. Apparently despite covering up the air inlet for the air box completely, the car can still run. What the hell? When I do it I hear a hissing sound, supposedly the 2nd way in, coming from somewhere...but I cannot identify where. What is causing this? Is this some sort of intentional bypass valve to prevent the engine from stalling in case a pigeon flies into your inlet?