Interesting discussion. I have K&N filter installed on my car and it just became annoyingly slower. Only thing I was enjoying is the sound of air going in and out.
As someone already wrote, the response speed dramatically decreased. I have to wait for a sec or more for TT to accelarate aftter stepping on full pedal.
I had been thinking of putting some kind of shield around the cone as well, even thought about putting an emptry paint can around..
Then I thought about some experiement based on the hypothesis that it's the excess air coming in which is causing the slow response.
So I taped around the bottom part of cone with heat resistant tape. About 40%of the filter surface is covered up now.
And the result is.. significantly better! It's been a while since I had the stock air intake, so I can't remember the feel of the stock response, but compared with whole cone exposed, now it's much better. I am being careful with the oil temp and everything else, so far I am noticing no problem.

If you wanna do it, do it at your own risk. If you are thinking of getting a K&N filter, don't. It's not worth what you pay for.

Regards,

KennyK

 

I have a P-flow and none of this has happened to me. It is also strange you are worried about an open element filter on a turbo. The turbo heats the air anyways when it is compressed thru the snail. A CAI vs non-CAI is not going to make a difference really, thats what the intercooler(s) are for. If you take a look at most raced/souped up turbo cars the majority of the time you WILL NOT see a CAI becuase it doesn't make much sense to use one.

From my understanding we do not gain very much power when moving to an upgraded intake. The reason being is that the stock box flows enough for the small turbo. Cincy, myself and someone else had this same discussion a while back.On my old turbo eclipse w/ a Big T28 I gained a good 7hp by moving to a larger intake and pipe. The stock box on that car was to restrictive. A larger intake with the TT only helps the turbo work less/better (spool) but from my understanding no power gains until you go big turbo.

I have always stuck with K&N's in my vehicles. I don't worry about the "you'll ruin your MAF" sky falling routine. If you take care of the filter and clean/wash/oil PROPERLY you should not be running into any issues. I haven't in the last 4 vehicles I have ran them in over the last 6 years.

Intake gains.....it's called placebo effect at least in our case.

 

Are you saying it's just my imagination?
You come over here and drive my TT with & w/o tape around the cone, then you tell me if you are dreaming or awake.

 

I can't say that for 100% because I am not there and haven't driven the car before and after and don't know the cars history/maintenance or what you have done to it. What I can go off of is past experience and I have never seen this happen. What I can say is that it has NOT happened to me using the same product on the same make car. I own a nicely modded 225 (only thing missing is BT and big brake kit) that is strictly a project car andis in tip top shape and tuned.

Best of luck and hope you get to the root of trouble..intake or not.

 

You're not the first one to think this...

I think what you did with the tape is straightened out the airflow. When you mount up a plain cone filter, the air is very likely to flow more turbulently through the intake than with the stock panel filter, making for less accurate MAF readings.

To solve this, you could use a BPI flow stack to smooth out the airflow.

 

benefits from adding a filter are going to be minimal if any as said. a pflow or ttda or any of those others are not any better than just a filter. As said it doesnt really matter how cool the air charge is going into the turbo what matter is the charge going into the engine. This is why they have intercoolers.... If you experienced a loss there is something wrong... or it could be the fact that you used a crappy paper apc filter.

just my .02

 

The problem is obviously the intake. Everything was OK before.

How do you explain the slow response after switching from stock airbox to K&N filter? And also increase in response after covering up about 40% of cone surface?
You guys don't believe it because you haven't seen it, I understand your reaction. I wish you could try it on the car that's experiencing my case.
I am sure you have heard of cars which are having same issues.

>Murderface
Interesting hypothesis. Turbulance... could be the cause. I will look into BPI flow stack, thanks.

I am going to have my car chipped in 2 days. I am concerned whether I should go with cone filter covered up 40% or take it off..
I am sure most guys would suggest to take it off, only because that's easier to suggest. Oh well, I will consult with the tuner of the issue and let him decide.

Regards,

K

 

That by far is your best choice, if you want to spend the cash. All we can do on these boards is to make an educated guess over the Internet. I haven't had the issue you are having with the intake.

Hope you get it figured out.

 

Yesterday I installed a BPI stack and a AEM dry flow filter very similar to cincy’s set up. I can understand why some people say they feel like they lost power. I don’t think it has to do with the heat becuase of intercoolers ect. My thoughts are the cone filter could be smoothing out the power band so you don’t feel that punch in power at 3000 rpm’s as much; instead it’s more gradual clime to peak boost because the turbo starts to spool sooner. I donno I could be totally wrong. I’m a noob

Layne

 

+1 on that installed the AEM dry flow instead of my shroom and it feels a little more smooth Through out the power band. I have had 4 filters now and the AEM seems like the best one.