Quote:
Originally Posted by Ilma
So out of curiousity I put my stock air box back on today and replaced the DCI's.
So now I am basically running a low boost tune at 12 psi, stock air box, and an aftermarket intercooler.
Ambient temps were 79F.
Based on past datalogs of the DCI's, my observed intake temperature is usually about 25-30F higher than ambient.
With the stock box, it was 19F higher than ambient.
So looks like the cooler air dropped my intake temps almost 10 degrees.  |
Just a follow up on this testing for those interested....
I found one of my datalogs with the DCI's on.
Weather Conditions were pretty close with ambients at 73F for the DCI's versus 79F with the stock box.
With DCI's the intake temperature measured at 96.6F showing a rise of 23F.
The stock box showed a better rise of 19F (even at a slightly higher ambient temperature).
But I was running 14 psi of boost with the DCI's versus 12psi with the stock box......so I would expect intake temps for the DCI test to be a little hotter due to the additional boost.
In any case, sorry I couldn't replicate the conditions exactly, but it seems that there is only about a 5F difference in intake temps between the stock box and the DCI's (23F rise vs 19F).
The DCI's do run a bit hotter, but the duty cycles on them are lower, so the turbos spin a bit easier.
Seat of the pants tells me that the stock airbox does feel subjectively torquier (not much though), but the DCI's give better throttle response and the turbos seem to ramp up faster with them. So to me the car feels more responsive with the DCI's. With the stock airbox, the pull is there, but it feels a little duller throughout.
Overall, I don't think a difference of 5F is going to have much impact on engine performance, but I do think it's better for the turbos not to have to compensate for the intake restriction that comes into play as you increase boost.