Now, I have just spent 3 + hours reviewing the DML archives trying to
gather data about the differing air intake setups and their
merits, and I am still confused!
I will try to summarize things a bit here, and ask for the mechanics
here to enlighten my Puerto Rican arse.
FIPK: Filtercharger Injection Performance Kits eliminate both the air
box and the restriction. FIPKs vary in design because they
are application specific meaning each kit is engineered to fit a
particular make, model and year of vehicle.
FIPKs utilize a 360 degree filter design which provides increased
surface area to promote air flow. Port injected engines are
outfitted with a conical shaped filter while centralized fuel injection
systems are sized with an open element cleaner which again,
makes available all of the air the engine can physically use. ( huh??
) As I understand it, the benefits of open filter element
are: less restriction and much, much cheaper. As far as cool air, many
run a home-made hose up to it. Others, modify their hoods.
A drawback for many is that it can be pretty loud. And, someone stated:
"That reminds me, I found out after driving once off road with the K&N
that
you're supposed to use a pre filter when off road. The mechanic told me
he
cleaned some gunk out of the throttle body, hopefully I didn't cause too
much damage. If you have a K&N ( open element) and plan on driving off
the pavement, make
sure you do something with it first."
Typically either the 10 or 14 incher is used. The 14 is a tight fit,
but apparently for '99 on, it will fit.
" you can use the 14" with a 3" filter. I have just put one on my '98
yesterday.
It is a very TIGHT fit, but you can do it without damage to the hood.
It's true though that with the stock hood you'd be better off with a
2-3/4" filter. The 3" filter requires a carriage bolt that rubs against
the hood's insulation liner. It rubs through the 1st layer but never
gets to the metal...."
But does SIZE REALLY MATTER?
The Mandrel web page, which is now no longer running, stated that for
our 5.2 V8, the 10 " was more than enough.
" With the calcs, you'll find that a 10 x 3 paper air cleaner
provides almost twice the required area for the V8. The
oiled gauze provides even more. "
opinions?
For installation, I came across this:
" I don't know if you've looked yet, but this bracket covers up about
1/4 of each throttle bore (not good). This bracket is where
the
offset comes from in the stock configuration. " and on and on about
removing this and using the homemade S bolt. Is this
bracket removed for the FABM set up?
But:
"The shape of the filter is less important if
the application calls for a remote mounted filter, which
includes many late model fuel injected
models. Typically these vehicles will use a flat panel filter or a
conical or cylindrical shaped filter with a
rubber mounting flange designed to be mounted on the end
of the inlet hose. "
FABM
Fresh Air By Meldrum (K&N FIPK Clone) Tony DeAnda has a home made
set up, that is found at http://www.dakattack.com
. There are many others similar to this, all pretty much follow the path
of the stock set up.
benefits seem to be: quieter, better filtration for off road use, and
gathers cooler air, which is denser.
questions:
Why is the FABM used when it costs 100 more?
Correct me regarding the benefits and drawbacks of each.
Does cool air make THAT much of a difference? enough to get the Tony
set up, or, enough to just bother with removing the
radiator rubber 'curtains' and running some hose to the open element
filter?
Does one make you lose low end vs. the other?
thanks.
Pedro Diaz
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:13:22 EDT