Quote:
Originally Posted by ///M1
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I have been following this from a distance, and wanted to see where it went, but I just wanted to remind people of a few things before we go bashing companies / prices on first knee-jerk reaction and start getting demanding of Dynos and start incendiary posts...
1) If there were no people out there thinking "out of the box", there would be no aftermarket.
2) The cost of something has to do with much more than just the cost of material: R&D, time planning / developing / fabricating / testing cannot be given a fixed $ amount.
3) IF one wants to pass judgment, one must first do his research carefully:
"you just need to purchase those gold heat resistant foil, some plastic boards, a tool that cuts plastic boards, and some rubber seal/silicone and a glue gun and 2 intake filters. you will probably save yourself at least $1200."
There are multiple fallacies here:
A] As you can see from this picture:
there seems to be a metal ( Aluminum with TIG welding?) Box which has been cut / welded and then modified to result in their version. No plastic boards / rubber seal here.
B] "save yourself at least $1200": you don't even know the price of the kit yet... per their own words: "Will post pricing soon...but we can sell today (price today is $1,500 for complete kit, in any powder coated color), but hope to bring the price down by simplifying the kit a little, and optmizing the kit (drive out some costs), and will release in multiple forms (complete kit, or without charge pipe and BOV) and kits that can be upgraded a piece at a time." Consider they mentioned, if I read correctly, that was with Charge Pipe and BOV , and considering a SETT CP with BOV is $565 retail, the airbox itself would probably be significantly cheaper than 1500.
C]The Dinan CF intake:
is $999. No one seems to question their claim that their "cold air intake force feeds the 3 liter turbocharged inline 6 with greater volumes of cool, oxygen rich air for substantial power gains by utilizing [their] secondary carbon fiber intake.
The system is so effective that the carbon fiber inlet air temperature is a full 40 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the incoming air from the stock inlet. ". You want to prove to me that the incoming air at 60 MPH from in front of the grill is 40F higher than that at ground level? What planet would that be on?
Also, I think the claim that "Due to the increased airflow from our intake, the power-curve is extended into the higher RPM’s for a noticeable change" is accurate ( see my other posts on AFE VS DCI VS OEM Box on the Forums ) in that the stock air box has that strange squarish restriction from the post-filter area to the velocity stacks... having and additional entry point eliminates that restriction ( which the point behind this guy's work :
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...3538&highlight ) hence more pull at higher revs ( i.e. why I like the BMS DCI design) which is likely the point of the dual filter design on the ASR box. And while I applaud Mr. 5's ingenuity, having done something similar myself, the stock box and his hose are not that great at isolating from Heat and if there is no constant monitoring of what the extra tube may rub against / what may perforate it, there will always be this nagging fear that something may get sucked in through a possible generated hole behind its filter and straight down the velocity Stacks... then down to the Engine. Not likely to worry about that with AR Design's box.
4) Another alternative to the AR box is the Gruppe M Intake
which is based on the same idea ( i.e. utilize the stock pick-up from the grille) and isolated the heat / place bigger air filter ) but that will run you in the $1400-$1500 range, if you can get one, and you don't fall for the fake knock-offs that prop up on Ebay occasionally...
5) The post was not about a final product ready to sell, but obviously was to gauge interest / see if it could be sold ( feasibility study of sorts ) that given the less than positive remarks on this board probably led to consideration of canning of the project and diversion of time / effort to other projects...
I am not surprised not to see dynos as I, in the same position, would have said "forget about it" and canned the project.
I think a little more patience, a little less harassment, a little more encouragement, may lead to better response from the Tuners out there and a better chance of more innovative products for us to benefit from.
Feel free to disagree.