What brand of air intake do you suggest for S3 8V?
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The Twintake is kind of old now and the choice is going to come down to what's available and fits.
I would think you'd be looking at the APR or VWRacing intakes.
VWR is an excellent OE discreet look. Plus the airflow area is very good.
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The R600....
http://volkswagenracing.co.uk/parts/vwr-r600-cold-air-intake/
Although the Cup will also fit,but is likely to be a bit noisier is use,given it's less enclosed design.
The quoted power gains are similar for each.
Both use an ITG filter,as evidenced by their use of the ITG trademarked TriFoam filter.
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Depends on when flow limiting begins to occur with the standard intake system.
On the previous model,that began to occur between 330-360bhp,and led to misfires and incorrect lambda values.
Unless VAG have radically improved the design,it would be worth checking this at around that sort of power level.
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As S3Alex mentioned above, I believe that the flow begins being affected on the standard intake at not much over the standard HP. This is mentioned in more detail at the link S3Alex mentioned previously.
http://volkswagenracing.co.uk/parts/vwr-r600-cold-air-intake/
http://volkswagenracing.co.uk/parts/vwr-r600-cold-air-intake/
Of the ones I've seen the R600 seems to be reasonable, at least it has a good surface area, but its foam. Others have filters with a smaller total area than OEM, so you have to ask how can a smaller filter allow more air through? Because the filter media pore size is significantly bigger. I am yet to see any relative particle sizes specified for any of these aftermarket filters. It's OK saying the filter media is similar to those used in F1 but an F1 engine gets rebuilt way before particle ingress becomes a problem.
However there are inherent problems with both disposable paper air filters and foam filters. The main problem with paper air filters (OEM) is that as the pores become blocked with the filtered dirt it slowly loses its ability to allow high rates of airflow. Ideally a paper filter needs changeing at around 10,000 miles if you want to maintain high rates of airflow, so less than the manufacturer might suggest, But foam air cleaners do not have the surface area of a paper convuluted item. The surface soon gets plugged and air flow rates drop quite quickly, even more so if they are oil soaked. Higher vacuum pressures then act on the filter to drag particles into the foam reducing its ability even further, foam filters also cause turbulant air flow reducing performance.
Aftermarket units are often sold on the their appearance rather than their technical ability. Very few (in fact almost none) provide any technical data. In many cases the makes use off the shelf open cell foam.
Perhaps the best aftermarket filter media is provided by K&N which is a highly sophisticated product. However to achieve maximum performance the filter needs to be carefully maintained, something owners sadly don't do. They tend to fit it and forget it. With it being an oiled unit its vital it is regularly maintained to K&N instructions.
So if you want to maintain high airflow and protect your engine (which is why it's there in the first place) use a standard filter and change it at low but regular intervals. Next time you change an OEM filter take it to pieces and open it out, you will be amazed at the actual filter surface area, this is why they are so good.
However the OEM filter design and size is specified with many requirements in mind engine airflow being a major one. So if you tune your car at some point the air flow through the engine (at high reves) will exceed the filters ability. At that point you may want to fit an aftermarket filter which allows the increased airflow but what ever you think it will not necesarily be so efficient in keeping fine particles of abrasive dust out of your engine. Your choice.
However there are inherent problems with both disposable paper air filters and foam filters. The main problem with paper air filters (OEM) is that as the pores become blocked with the filtered dirt it slowly loses its ability to allow high rates of airflow. Ideally a paper filter needs changeing at around 10,000 miles if you want to maintain high rates of airflow, so less than the manufacturer might suggest, But foam air cleaners do not have the surface area of a paper convuluted item. The surface soon gets plugged and air flow rates drop quite quickly, even more so if they are oil soaked. Higher vacuum pressures then act on the filter to drag particles into the foam reducing its ability even further, foam filters also cause turbulant air flow reducing performance.
Aftermarket units are often sold on the their appearance rather than their technical ability. Very few (in fact almost none) provide any technical data. In many cases the makes use off the shelf open cell foam.
Perhaps the best aftermarket filter media is provided by K&N which is a highly sophisticated product. However to achieve maximum performance the filter needs to be carefully maintained, something owners sadly don't do. They tend to fit it and forget it. With it being an oiled unit its vital it is regularly maintained to K&N instructions.
So if you want to maintain high airflow and protect your engine (which is why it's there in the first place) use a standard filter and change it at low but regular intervals. Next time you change an OEM filter take it to pieces and open it out, you will be amazed at the actual filter surface area, this is why they are so good.
However the OEM filter design and size is specified with many requirements in mind engine airflow being a major one. So if you tune your car at some point the air flow through the engine (at high reves) will exceed the filters ability. At that point you may want to fit an aftermarket filter which allows the increased airflow but what ever you think it will not necesarily be so efficient in keeping fine particles of abrasive dust out of your engine. Your choice.
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^ however, yours is a special case Alex, hardly the 'average' mapped car 
Oh, and your engine has been stripped on more than one occasion
(But you're correct, there are numerous threads on this already)
I would suggest that as a rough rule of thumb - unless you're going Stage2, with new inter cooler etc., stick to the OE setup.
8V Stage 1 remap or tuning box, you will rarely see any benefit changing to aftermarket.
(apart from noise, maybe up to 3bhp ).
Oh, and your engine has been stripped on more than one occasion
(But you're correct, there are numerous threads on this already)
I would suggest that as a rough rule of thumb - unless you're going Stage2, with new inter cooler etc., stick to the OE setup.
8V Stage 1 remap or tuning box, you will rarely see any benefit changing to aftermarket.
(apart from noise, maybe up to 3bhp
).
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For all you open cone fans out there:
From:
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/induction-kits-what-one-to-get.228380/
From:
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/induction-kits-what-one-to-get.228380/
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^ however, yours is a special case Alex, hardly the 'average' mapped car
Oh, and your engine has been stripped on more than one occasion
(But you're correct, there are numerous threads on this already)
I would suggest that as a rough rule of thumb - unless you're going Stage2, with new inter cooler etc., stick to the OE setup.
8V Stage 1 remap or tuning box, you will rarely see any benefit changing to aftermarket.
(apart from noise, maybe up to 3bhp
LOL..
The point is though,that on each occasion when the engine has been in bits,all of the parts have been within OEM tolerances,and with no undue wear etc etc,so if you use a good quality aftermarket intake system,and maintain the filter correctly,it will be very unlikely to result in undue engine wear.
How about, and here's a crazy idea, if someone wants to add an air filter, no matter what the reason, we suggest options rather than telling them it's pointless?
Too much negativity towards mods at times.
I run an open cone cause I'm a child at heart and it makes a nice noise.
Keep calm and mod on
Too much negativity towards mods at times.
I run an open cone cause I'm a child at heart and it makes a nice noise.
Keep calm and mod on
