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Dyno Comparisons: K&N Typhoon Intake vs Stock vs DIY Flap Mod

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Hi Guys,
Well as most of you know there is still a lot of controversy of whether any of the intakes that are avalible actually makes the advertised power gains. FIGS did some initial investigation and I decided to follow suit to see if my findings also correlated with what FIGS found; which was that the stock air box was actually made the most power.

I had the K&N Typhoon Intake for a couple of months. When I initially put it in, after about a month, I noticed some power and torque loss. I thought I regained some of the loss power by doing what I can to shield the intake from the hot engine air. It helped a bit, atleast that's what it felt like. Anyway, I got the K&N Typhoon Intake tested about 2 weeks ago. Note that my K&N Intake system is using a AEM Powerflow DRY Filter (approximately the same size and volume as the K&N Filter that it originally came with). I had driven the car without a ECU reset for a good 5000 or more miles so I was pretty confident that the ECU if it was going to compensate, had already done so and the numbers would reflect real world results...NOT inflated numbers that K&N would post by dynoing immediately after a ECU reset. Dyno runs 1-3 were with the K&N intake.

Next I put the stock intake back on; stock intake box, stock air filter, and the flap working as it would from the factory, reset the ECU, and also cleaned the MAF. Drove the car for a good 500+ miles so the ECU adjusts and dyno'ed again today. Dyno runs 4-7 were with the stock intake.

Next, I did the DIY Flap Mod ( http://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-f/383384-diy-stock-intake-mod.html ). I did this for dyno runs 8 and 9, no ECU reset because I figured the car would already have a decent learned map for the stock air box...plus it would have cost me more money to take the car off the dyno, drive it around, and the dyno it again. But nonetheless, I wanted to see if the DIY Flap Mod made any difference. For me personally, I always felt a marked difference with the DIY Flap Mod and that's what I used before I put on the K&N Intake.

Anyway, on with the results. I know the numbers are low, but I did this mainly for comparison purposes, not for peak HP, and every dyno is different. All of the results below are done on the same DynoJet, SAE Corrected, and Smoothing set to 5...I did the best I can to keep as much variables consistant as I can.

All the Dyno Runs:
Dyno Runs 1-3: K&N Intake
Dyno Runs 4-7: Stock Air Box
Dyno Runs 8-9: DIY Flap Mod



Dyno Runs 1-3: K&N Typhoon Intake


K&N Intake vs Stock Air Box with Stock Filter


Stock Air Box vs DIY Flap Mod


K&N Intake vs DIY Flap Mod


K&N vs Stock Airbox vs Flap Mod


There you go. Discuss!!...Darshana S...

PS Props to HK Motorsports in Van Nuys. Harry, the owner there was very professional and offered a great deal on the dynos. If anyone wants get their car dyno'd, call him at 818-908-9650.
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Thank you for the time and effort Darshana!

I have a couple questions,

- was the hood up or down for the tests?

- were you able to reinstall all of the black plastic beauty panels with the factory air box?

Thanks for any info!
Thank you for the time and effort Darshana!

I have a couple questions,

- was the hood up or down for the tests?

- were you able to reinstall all of the black plastic beauty panels with the factory air box?

Thanks for any info!
Hello,
Yes all the plastic pieces were back in place for all the tests. All the test were done with the hood up. I forgot that it was up during the K&N Intake testing and I figured I'd just leave it up for all of the remaining dyno's to keep that variable constant. You can assume that the K&N intake would have made LESS power with the hood down!...Darshana S...
Interesting stuff. I would have never thought that you would have gotten those numbers. I guess that is something to think about. The computer does a lot of compensation.
What type of filter was used in the 'OEM Box'?

It seems your 'original' KNN dyno pulls, kept making more power... why stop on run 3... when it was your best? What if run 4 would have continued to be more?
What type of filter was used in the 'OEM Box'?

It seems your 'original' KNN dyno pulls, kept making more power... why stop on run 3... when it was your best? What if run 4 would have continued to be more?
I used the stock filter in the stock air box. The reason the K&N kept on making more and more power with each pull was because the first pull was done to a max of 130mph, this was the max that the dyno operator does on his dyno. I convinced him to up the mph to see what the true max HP would be. He then put the max mph to 150 and did the second pull. But when he saw that the car was still climbing in HP, he did the max mph to 170 for the third pull. So each pull had a different max mph and thus a higher HP reading since it seems that the K&N made more power in the upper end.

However, this is beside the point. Look at the K&N vs Stock Air box graph...note the AREA UNDER THE CURVE. The stock air box may not have made the MAX upper end HP, but there was definately more torque and overall more area under the curve than the K&N.

I've been driving around with the stock air box, AFe dry flow filter, and JoeZ intake with the DIY Flap mod and the car feels GREAT. Much better than it did with the K&N Intake. For those with the K&N intake, if you don't believe my results above, take off your K&N intake, put the stock box back on and see for yourself how your car feels...Darshana S...
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Thanks, that makes sense...

And while 'area under the curve' is going to 'feel better' driving around town. When you're at the track... you wouldn't see RPM levels below 5,000. (Not that many people here track there cars).

That's why I was asking. :)

Now we need to do 2 passes with each Intake mod at the drag strip! :D

Thanks for sharing Darshana.
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