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Tuning Cold air feed for standard airbox

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Tuning Cold air feed for standard airbox

robjnr

robjnr

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Since i've had the panda there has been one thing thats annoyed me and thats the lasck of air the intake pipe is getting, if you have a good look you'll see that there is no way of cold air getting to it what so ever and this can't be good on these hot days.

So today after recieving my new front grill (other one was cracked) i decided to see if i could route some sort of pipe to the end of the intake pipe and heres what i came up with

IMG_0077.jpg



IMG_0081.jpg



IMG_0083-1.jpg



The biggest pipe i could get in there was 50mm but for this size engine i think that is big enough anyway.

I've not long come in from testing it out and i noticed that it feels stronger low down the revs and the pull just stays there till 7k without any drop off in power whereas before it felt kinda limp above 5k.

Still got the standard filter in at the moment but i will replace that with a K&N replacement or similar.

I know most people go for the GSR but IMO i don't think this engine could cope with an open filter because of the lack of cold air. Tempted to go with the BMC CDA but not sure how big the filter is inside of the carbon casing,

would it be better than the standard airbox with a replacement filter and a decent cold air feed? I don't know.

But for now this feels just fine and very happy with the way it pulls, just need to get rid of that annoying vibrating sound coming from the dash above 5k
 
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panda active comes with cold air feed as standard haha, the air box is on top if the engine (like the 100hp i think) but it has a small pipe that takes its air feed directly right behind the front plastic grill
 
pandasam said:
panda active comes with cold air feed as standard haha, the air box is on top if the engine (like the 100hp i think) but it has a small pipe that takes its air feed directly right behind the front plastic grill
Click to expand...

Just like the 100HP, and just behind the grille isn't the coldest of intake points ;)
 
its not bad though :eek:

when your zooming along it must draw in reasonable temp air, but i reckon in this hot weather your unlikely to draw much if any cold air in, unless your up at 3am where you can draw in luke warm air
 
If you look at where the original cold air feed pipe is, it is completely inclosed, due to the honey combe grill at the front being solid. Also that plastic thing that I cut a hole in stops ALL air getting to the filter. Regarding water I never put my foot down going through puddles any way, and the standard pipe has a section where it catches dirt and water so it stops it getting to the filter
 
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Not hard mate but a little tricky. The trickiest bit is trying to get to the 2 screws behind the wheel arch liner on both wheels, but if you unclip the plastic trim on the side of the front bumper then it gives you a little bit more room and doesn't shread your arms as much lol. Other than that there are 4 hex type screws underneath the bumper and 4 nuts on top and then it will literally fall off. But don't forget to unclip the fog lights
 
Looks like a great solution!

I have always noticed that there seems to be a lack of air being fed to the airbox due to the construction of the front bumper.
 
My thoughts exactly, cannot be good for performace.

Can't believe how much difference it has made, it feels like a different car to drive.

I said it earlier but the response you get when you put your foot down is awsome, sport mode off now feels like it did before when sport mode was pressed (but without the jurkiness), sport mode on now feels wicked :cool:
 
I did have a good look at the air intake after seeing what you have done.

About a year ago my intake piping from the grill decided to part company, so I spent a week or two driving around with no intake piping to the filter box.

Now I know people talk about 'cold air feeds' but really it's not cold air at all, it's ambient air.

I really remain to be convinced that say if the under bonnet temperature whilst the car is moving is say 20 degrees hotter than the ambient outside temperature that it will make any discernable difference to performance. I say this due to a number of experiences testing intercooler inlet and outlet temperatures using probes years ago on a bit of a modified mr2 supercharger I had. I found that until the outlet temp of the intercooler went above 70 degrees C, it didn't seem to impact on performance. Also it's worth remembering that the air will heat up on it's journey to the engine itself, which stands to reason really.

When my intake piping fell off, I found that the car sounded better, I guess you'd call it a more rorty, but I didn't notice any real difference that I could detect in performance.

Now, coming back to the way the intake is configured, it definitely does seem odd that there isn't any obvious airflow points towards the air intake. It would seem that the plastic panel above the radiator is there to ensure airflow through the radiator. So when it comes to the intake effectively it relies on all the air gaps around the panel, around the headlights and airflow that goes between the bonnet and grill. I agree it does seem compromised, though I'm not overly convinced as to whether it is.

A more effective solution I might feel is to cut out some of the honeycombs offset to the intake (so as to prevent any water ingress). I'm a bit puzzled as to why not that is the case as standard. I'm sure on lesser models the grill is perforated and you have to wonder why it isn't on the 100hp.
 
I did this same mod to one of my - don't laugh :eek: 126 bis's, result was, it went considerably quicker and mainly being top end, so much so it went off the clock, 90 mph !!!
On private ground of course :devil:

Nuff said.
 
randysbits said:
I did this same mod to one of my - don't laugh :eek: 126 bis's, result was, it went considerably quicker and mainly being top end, so much so it went off the clock, 90 mph !!!
On private ground of course :devil:

Nuff said.
Click to expand...

OFF THE CLOCK AT 90?!?!?!?!? LMAO!!!! that is brilliant, a speedo that ends at 90 lol

ive only ever owned 2 cars, a 1.1 metro and a 1.1 panda (stick to what you know) the metro had 130 mph clocks (changed them from the 110 clocks it came with so i had a rev clock) and the panda has clocks over 100, cant remember the exact speed they go too.


what was the official top speed of your 126?
 
pandasam said:
OFF THE CLOCK AT 90?!?!?!?!? LMAO!!!! that is brilliant, a speedo that ends at 90 lol

ive only ever owned 2 cars, a 1.1 metro and a 1.1 panda (stick to what you know) the metro had 130 mph clocks (changed them from the 110 clocks it came with so i had a rev clock) and the panda has clocks over 100, cant remember the exact speed they go too.

120 on the Active ;)


what was the official top speed of your 126?
Click to expand...

Hmmm, wondering if its possibly worth doing this on the Stilo :chin:
 
This mod has created the mad, bastard child from the union of a Panda and a Dyson. It will vacuum up water, road dirt and bugs and the convoluted piping will create havoc with intake airflow.
 
trackdayqueen said:
I did have a good look at the air intake after seeing what you have done.
......

A more effective solution I might feel is to cut out some of the honeycombs offset to the intake (so as to prevent any water ingress). I'm a bit puzzled as to why not that is the case as standard. I'm sure on lesser models the grill is perforated and you have to wonder why it isn't on the 100hp.
Click to expand...

This sounds better to me - could be worth a try. The low-mounted intake brought back memories of a colleague years ago who wrecked the engine on a Sierra Cosworth when he hit a deep puddle.
 
trackdayqueen said:
I did have a good look at the air intake after seeing what you have done.

About a year ago my intake piping from the grill decided to part company, so I spent a week or two driving around with no intake piping to the filter box.

Now I know people talk about 'cold air feeds' but really it's not cold air at all, it's ambient air.

I really remain to be convinced that say if the under bonnet temperature whilst the car is moving is say 20 degrees hotter than the ambient outside temperature that it will make any discernable difference to performance. I say this due to a number of experiences testing intercooler inlet and outlet temperatures using probes years ago on a bit of a modified mr2 supercharger I had. I found that until the outlet temp of the intercooler went above 70 degrees C, it didn't seem to impact on performance. Also it's worth remembering that the air will heat up on it's journey to the engine itself, which stands to reason really.

When my intake piping fell off, I found that the car sounded better, I guess you'd call it a more rorty, but I didn't notice any real difference that I could detect in performance.

Now, coming back to the way the intake is configured, it definitely does seem odd that there isn't any obvious airflow points towards the air intake. It would seem that the plastic panel above the radiator is there to ensure airflow through the radiator. So when it comes to the intake effectively it relies on all the air gaps around the panel, around the headlights and airflow that goes between the bonnet and grill. I agree it does seem compromised, though I'm not overly convinced as to whether it is.

A more effective solution I might feel is to cut out some of the honeycombs offset to the intake (so as to prevent any water ingress). I'm a bit puzzled as to why not that is the case as standard. I'm sure on lesser models the grill is perforated and you have to wonder why it isn't on the 100hp.
Click to expand...

Before I done this mod I took the intake pipe off to see how it effected performance and although it sounded meaty it felt really sluggish, soon as I put it back on I regained the performace back.

My first idea was the cut holes in some of the honeycombe grill, i used my old grill as a trial but to make it look neat is quite difficult. Also for those of you who haven't got a spare grill handy you'd have to get it right first time.

For the people who say that I'll be sucking up water, if you look at the likes of the companys who sell enclosed induction kit they always supply you with a cold air feed, and where do you think you have to put it?.... That's right at the front of the car for best airflow.

The intake pipe comes out just below the number plate, who is stupid enough to Evan think of driving through puddles that deep?
 
pandasam said:
OFF THE CLOCK AT 90?!?!?!?!? LMAO!!!! that is brilliant, a speedo that ends at 90 lol

ive only ever owned 2 cars, a 1.1 metro and a 1.1 panda (stick to what you know) the metro had 130 mph clocks (changed them from the 110 clocks it came with so i had a rev clock) and the panda has clocks over 100, cant remember the exact speed they go too.


what was the official top speed of your 126?
Click to expand...

Cant remember what the official top speed was supposed to be, 74 maybe ??
I think the previous air-cooled model was 65mph !!! :ROFLMAO:

When it passed the max on the speedo (80mph) it was a comfortable 10 further on :eek: and this was easily gauged from the 5 mph increments.

As for sucking up water, that's pretty much a common sense thing isn't it ?
How often have you gotta drive through a ford or such like to be worried about water, i mean come on :bang: Convoluted piping is not the best ideal solution, but it can make a good pattern for a smooth item to be fitted :idea: Having said that, i had convoluted pipe on the 126, and look what happened there :rolleyes: As per robjnr, induction kits are designed for the pipe to be routed as straight toward the front as possible for best results, even if it means going a bit lower than first intended.
 
I could put it on a dyno to see the benifits with and without the cold air pipe but that will cost around £60-80. For now the bum dyno says it feels ALOT more responsive and that is good enough for me. Maybe someone who is around the Bristol area could meet up and compare what a standard panda feels like to a panda with a cold air pipe.
 
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