Ok so I was sick and tired of using my K&N cold air intake. My area floods alot when the rain comes in and the MPG in the city was KILLING my wallet.

So I decided to crack open the stock intake box and what do you know...

It has a secondary filter...LOL so I gutted it out with an exacto knife and it has little charcoal ***** sandwiched together with white plastic mesh and some flimsy filter.

I took that out and gave it a shot..all stock. No significant butt dyno improvement. I tried the snorkel delete, but my torque when byebye on the low end and the engine heat was definitely affecting me after 10 miles of full A/C - stop light traffic.

Then after re-opening the stock box I realized another thing...there is a tube prior to the MAF that elongates toward the back of the box restricting airflow. Now the funny thing (really its kind of funny) is without the snorkel, without this elongated tube, and without the "secondary" filter when the car idles it sounds like a vaccum/ radiator fan is on.

So I got tired of that sound and decided to go to a local hardware store and get a 3inch to 2 1/2" adapter and a HVAC self pivoting/adjusting tube of about 6 inches in length fully bent. Now the thing is the 3inch was actually bigger than 3 inches BUT it still clamps fine to the little amount of tube that sticks out from the bottom of the stock airbox with the snorkel removed.

So It followed the same shape as the snorkel but just did not reach where it would have reached normally. I restarted the ecu and it seemed to muffle the vaccum/fan sound from the air box. This was only $9.90 at a local hardware store.

So it seemed to pull harder than stock between 3.3k till 6k. It lost a little bit of torque from 1k to 3.2k but it didnt bother me much. Then I drove it through the city and I realized how much I needed that band to put around. The metal tube seemed to get hot but not as hot as the Throttle body so I was not to worried since when I did a blip test with the throttle the air was cool going in. No cold but cool.

I still got 34mpg on the highway (little lower than stock) and around 27 city. The 27 bothered me more, and the fact that it was going to rain soon. So I poped open the hood and brought the stock snorkel with me just to f around, trying to use it to channel air from the inlet on the front bumper. It seemed to complex so I went what If it fits in the tube so I can go river crossing/driving in flooded roads. It turned out to work PERFECT.

It makes the tube do a complete 180 all the way towards the MAF sensor facing the drivers side. I did not bother to reset the ecu and I gave it a shot. The snorkel has a little inlet in it and it "clamped" onto the screw that clamps the TB tube onto the box prior to the MAF.

So I immediately went for a wot run for about 10 miles, and slowly but surely it got louder, and pulled harder. Now it pulls harder than stock in the entire RPM band. I was shocked. I was just f'n around and I figured something out.

Now while it is not as loud as a CAI (about half the loudness) it does pull harder in the lower rpm range and about the same in the mid and in 2nd and 3rd it pulls harder from 4.2k till redline.

I think it is because I made the intake so much longer that it increased the torque everywhere. I only have to shift at 2.3k in the city to get the same butt dyno results as shifting at 2.8k with the stock snorkel. It dosnt bog when I shift as long as I dont go WOT at low rpm, but once I hit 3.2k it just goes, period.

I will see if I can take a cellphone picture to show you guys what I mean. It look relatively stock, doesn't look ghetto and provides good results, and is semi-loud for those of you who want the sound. Without the new purolator drop-in filter I bought this should only cost 11 bucks, including a pantyhose type filter at the end of the stock snorkel.

For those of you who just bought an exhaust and want more intake power for 11 bucks, and NO fear of water EVER getting into the intake as well as cool/luke warm air being pulled in I think this is a no brainer.

Pictures below:

Ok so for the first 3 pictures...all that stuff is in the stock intake not including the actual air filter. That charcoal filter looking thing must be soo restrictive. I am running a OEM spec purolator as of now, been wondering if a K&N oil drop in filter would actually help considering all the air flow I free'd up in the stock box. hmmm


OOoo and that little metal thing is a new pcv valve...just put it there to show you the actual size of these parts.

 

Ya really, I want to see what this crazy sounding thing looks like.

 

You had your [img] tags crossed and the images are not located on a public server viewable from an outside source. Use photobucket, flickr, picassa, or your own paid hosting service. Then post the direct image link here.

 

Lol it isnt as crazy as it sounds. It just sounds nuts cuz of all the stuff scion "engineered" in our stock air box.

Its just a simple "extender" that attaches to the stock airbox to extend the stock snorkel to prevent hydrolock in very floody areas and the air isnt as warm/hot as the stock location.

Lol

 

Upload your pics to photobucket and use the IMG link to post pictures here, I'd like to see the pics.

 

I have stock exhaust on but I have realized it is louder. Does this mean my setup actually works? I remember with my cai since it was so loud I coudnt hear my exhaust, but it is deffinetely louder than just the stock setup (stock airbox=no removing of anything inside)

Ohh and to anyone who is scared of removing that inner plastic pipe, it snaps right back it...I tried it myself. I tried removing the honeycomb mesh it had on the oposing end, thats why there is still little bits of plastic at the end of the inner tube.

But in conclusion it shifts smoother, it rev's smoother, it downshifts smoother, and it has better low end torque.

Maybe the extender pipe is not necessary but for those looking for smoother shifting, remove all that crap inside, leave in your drop in filter, put the snorkel back on and it will smooth out your driveterain out for sure.

 

Ok so I took the hydroshield out to see it if would add power...it didnt's if anything I lost torque.

I can't figure out why but I put a fresh one back on and the torque/smoothness is back.

This is the hydroshield from the K&N typhoon. I kinda cut it up into little peices haha so I could extra if ever it started to get a coating of some sort.

Anyone want a K&N filter? Or a CAI pipe + Filter + PCV tube? I'm down to part it out, dont care for how much 50 dollars would be awesome. I only have one screw for the maf though...I lost the other one, I'll go buy one at Home depot or something.

 

It's certainly interesting.

 

Lol I mean in my eyes its awesome. And im not lying about the low end and how smooth it revs.

I dont care if it actually lost power, it just feels like a much better car now. For 10 bucks, I went from frustrated at my car to in love once again. haha

And the fact that I figured out it would work by complete accident is what makes me happy. It just fit and there was no arguing. I have some Hvac tubing to route colder to it when it doesn't rain. Cant wait to see if there are any gains especially at higher speeds.

 

wow 230 views (give or take a few) and no one is amazed at the fact that the stock airbox has all that stuff I posted pics of?

You guys have no clue huh. 10 minutes of your time and you can make your engine rev smoother, shift smoother, and pull a lil harder (not a whole lol). You don't even have to get the extension I made.

Just the fact that all that stuff is in the intake restricts ALOT of airflow.

Oo well.

 

Are you sure the air is cooler there? It's closer to the motor now. Seems like it would be warmer.

 

heh idk bout you but i got better mpg with every back to stock exhaust for my cat back cause i didn't keep that even my header is back to stock...

one thing is for sure with my sri(hai) its the same with my stock air box, temp wise

and HAI is better for improved mpg's...

i for one believe toyota knew wtf they were doing when they designed the system and they been doing this since 1937

 

gnarly

 

Well I will fill up tommorow and try my best to hypermile and see what MPG figures I get.

While it might be closer to the engine bay it is higher up (further away from heat) and it is facing outward towards the wheel well. Now the thing is I dont really care about MPG but what I do realize is that it is smoother throughout the entire RPM band.

Appreciate your concerns, I am just looking to get better torque without spending money for a CAI.
I got my CAI for free (birthday present) and I loved it for the first month and then it started raining.

I like this intake more and I am currently getting better agressive driving MPG than my CAI for sure. I get 29+ in the city flooring it all the time. And that was during the ECU reset tank and having a bottle of techron in the tank to clean the valves and fuel system a bit.

Otherwise I don't see why anyone should do this or shoudnt take out the restrictive stuff inside.

I agree that toyota knows wtf they are doing, but MPG on the highway isnt my concern, it is city and I am already getting better city MPG so I am happy.

in good regards,

Regis

 

i get 33-37 mpg for city driving

 

wow thats really good. Like I said I am about to do "normal"/hypermile driving to see what I get compared to my aggressive driving.

Not to be a douche but do you read my posts? I said I get 29 mpg driving like I stole it....

But that is impressive, wow.

 

go stock and just do a k&n drop in filteR? instead of cold air?

 

So I just did a MPG check and I drove 120 miles on 2.8 gallons...50% city %50 highway at 70mph...

Just saying maybe im onto something here muhaha

Thats 42.8mpg btw

 

just to let you know , that "filter" you took out of your air box is part ,a nessary part according to the federal smog laws(EPA). Many people have taken them out ,that is why you can't find a "legal" aftermarket intake system for your year box. Just a warning , don't get caught cause you have now tampered with a smog control device.

And that is pretty good gas mileage,I get that plus,if I drive like a hypermiler ( every so often)

 

No hypermiler ..but I get around 33-34 mpg in summer and 31-33 in the winter( i chalk this up to gas formulas) with a sri and mostly hwy driving and 113,XXX miles