I just installed a new cone air intake and my question is if i have to do something to get fresh air to it since its sitting where its supposed to be but i think its breathing hot air from the engine since its not boxed like the original one and getting fresh air from a vent from outside the engine area. what do you guys think?
plus i connected a computer to my car and the air temperature going through the intake was around 140 degrees at idle. and the outside temp that day was around 75 degrees. is that too hot??
any suggestion will be appriciated.

 

i was curious so i went to wolfram alpha see how much difference in oxygen density that kind of temperature difference would make.

@ 140F 1.171 kg/m cubed.
@ 70F 1.326 kg/m cubed.

that's a difference of 20% oxygen in the air.
im not sure if the decrease in air density would decrease horsepower like the effect of altitude so i googled "horsepower altitude" and came across a horsepower altitude calculator.
http://www.csgnetwork.com/relhumhpcalc.html
and for the same altitude, humidity and pressure it gave a difference of about 20% but it also said the values are for naturally aspirated engines. so i looked into why turbos would be different.
turbos still make the same horsepower at altitude because they increase the pressure inside the manifold to a desired set point. some older turbocharged cars will have extra lag at altitude but our cars have sophisticated wastegate controllers to minimize this.
however i think you may have been concerned about potential damage to your engine.
a large fmic would help bring temps down and an insulated gasket on the intake manifold will also help. watermeth injection will increase effective octane rating and prevent detonation. or you could reinstall your old intake and make about the same amount of horsepower as before but lose the sound of the turbo.

 

Personally I wouldn't install an intake on a tt. As stated above (very nicely, thanks for all that info) and many times over, it litterally does not add any hp. You actually risk more then you gain. If you used an oiled air filter, you quickly damage the MAF sensor. And a CAI could suck up water and hydro-lock your engine.

But, I think 140 degrees is just a tad bit high, maybe around 20-25 degrees. I'll check mine in the next day or so and let you know for sure. I'm sure it'll be fine, unless you live somewhere that hits 90 degrees+ often.

 

wow great info guys and thanks jakej ill be looking forward to see what ur car temp is.i mean my car runs good and i like the sound a lot. I was just curious about the temp going through the intake. its interesting im surprised I havent seen a post about this before. thanks again..

 

Increased horsepower comes from air flow.
Why do you think you have a turbocharger? All things being relative (altitude, heat etc) with better air flow, more mass and less restriction, you will gain hp. Stock air boxes are designed to be quiet. Some aftermarket air intake kits ( I happen to have one) are available with heat shields should that be an issue. Also, the newer filters require no oil, so clogging your MAF sensor is not a problem.

 

FTW http://www.modshack.info/TTDA.htm

 

I watched my air intake temps today via my liquid TT (vag-com). It was 80 degrees according to the car. I drove 40 minutes. Some 80mph hwyway, some stop and go traffic, and some downtown heavy traffic.

Max/peak temp was 113 degrees, average was around 105 with the low temp (with engine fully warm) was around 95. 98% of the time it was 105 degrees.

 

^this is pretty good,... what intake do you have? Stock / aftermarket? What was the outside air temperature?

 

Stock intake with a drop in filter. Air temp was 80 degrees F.

 

if outside air temp is 80, IATs of 105 are pretty damn good.

I have a special design for my intake that a friend with a machine shop wants to start building soon... needless to say, (it's been tested) drops IATs by almost 35 degrees!