Heat Shield for an SPT Intake?

[blue2.5gt]

I have an 05 legacy gt, and I just bought an SPT intake for it. I wanted to hear the turbo more, i know its really not going to give me any noticeable gains. Is a tune necessary, and is the spt heatshield necessary? For the heatshield they say it seperates the cold air from the warm air of the engine, I don't know if I really buy that because our cars have a hood scoop that puts fresh air into the engine bay (especially the intercooler).

[icrnk]

Would probably help if driving in traffic where the hood scoop may not be doing much. My car came with the heat shield but if I didn't I probably would have bought. Someone here is selling one: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/spt-air-intake-heat-shield-sale-145462.html

[xcitebike]

I'm trying to figure this intake thing out myself. I'm new to subaru and turbos, but I just assumed the first thing I'd do is put an intake on. From what I have seen and read though that may not be such a good idea. Everyone seems to agree that if you get a new intake you should do a tune for it. I've seen several say to only get a aftermarket drop in filter, and others say that you should leave the stock air box and filter until you get close to pushing 400 rwhp.

 

condensed version.

 

if you use the intake I would also get the heatshield and do a tune for it. ANYONE WITH MORE EXPERIENCE THAT CAN ADD SOME INSIGHT???

[ruggerheist]

intake should come with its own heatshield, the SPT heatshield is for the turbo and unless you are doing a DP then its not really worth it, stock is just fine

[blue2.5gt]

thanks for the responses, i mean the reason i went with the spt intake is that it doesnt void the warranty. its also made by subaru, so i would think you wouldnt need a tune for it? it will pull a lot more air in than the stock air box, so maybe i should reset the ecu by unplugging the battery when i get it? im having it done at ecs performance in windsor locks, ct. if a tune is necessary, how much do tunes cost? i have an automatic so i really dont want to up the power too much. thoughts?

[blue2.5gt]

also the spt intake doesnt come with the heatshield, it has to be purchased seperately for an additional 90 bucks.

 

in addition, my car is an automatic 5eat, and its stock

[jyax]

No tune necessary. You will probably run a little lean with the intake tho.

 

Heat shield isn't necessary either.

[05legGT]

I made the mistake of buying an spt intake and heat shield without doing my homework on it. I had it on the car for 3 days and then I found out the hard way it wasnt the best decision. Check out cobbtuning.com and search the forums. They did a test with this intake and heatshield and the results were that the stock intake and airbox is the best way to go. The spt intake temps were drastically higher than the stock numbers and the intake itself has very bad heat soak issues especially when sitting in traffic or driving around in town. This intake is also very hard to tune for being that it has a curved shape and no air straighteners to direct the air. It will make your car run lean. The MAF will get false readings and you will gain no power at all. It does sound nice, much more audible turbo and blow off sound. I have never seen anyone say this intake ruined their car or anything like that, but I talked to a few different tuners personally and all of them said stick with the stock intake. If you would like to hear your turbo,you could always remove your intake silencer.

[ruggerheist]

K&N typhoon is what i have, no heat soak, has its own heatshield that fits very tightly in the engine bay and sounds amazing. a little more pricey but you get what you pay for, and for my car, unfortunately, i live by that creedo.

[m sprank]

SPT should make you run rich, not lean. that is how Subaru designed it, and that is why they warranty it. Rich is safer in their minds.

 

It also comes with some nice wildly swinging MAF reading. Design of tube and location of MAF sensor is crap IMHO.

 

Even with heatshield it is prone to enormous heat soak. Without heatshield it is awful. No matter what one of the worst intakes made for the LGT. Even with a tune. Still hard to tune because of swinging MAF readings.

 

No power. Some noise. Generally makes car run worse.

[blue2.5gt]

alright now im starting to get worried. i bought the intake with the assumption that since subaru warrantied it, it wouldnt cause any problems. should i return it r something? the guys at ecs performance said it wont cause problems, what should i do? also whats heatsoak?

[ruggerheist]

IMO, return it, there are many better ones out there than SPT for the same cost, if not a few bucks more. I gave up on my warranty, but legally a dealer cant "void" a warranty. all they can do is associate a mod to causing an issue therefor nullifying the warranty on the problem. an intake shouldnt do that, but then again...

[m sprank]

alright now im starting to get worried. i bought the intake with the assumption that since subaru warrantied it, it wouldnt cause any problems. should i return it r something? the guys at ecs performance said it wont cause problems, what should i do? also whats heatsoak?

 

 

Might not cause any "problems" but it sure wont make any more power.

 

For those in the "know", we would say it is a problem child of an intake.

 

If you can return it for a refund, do. If you like the noise an intake makes, there are better choices for less.

 

Heatsoak. Run the car for a bit. Pop the hood. Place your hand on that gray/silver tube from the SPT filter to the OEM inlet. The SPT metal intake tube. Tell me how bad it burns your hand. First lesson in heatsoak. If the metal is that hot, what is it doing to the air inside the tube?

[blue2.5gt]

thanks for the responses, i did however come across this thread:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/long-term-results-spt-intakei-110781p2.html

 

seems like people have had them on for 40k+ miles without issue. i do want to hear the turbo a lot more, not make more power, imo the car is plenty quick as it is. if its not going to cause any problems, then i might stick with it because i dont want to mess with the warranty. i live in connecticut, so right now the air is really cold as it is, maybe i could get a used heatshield and put it on later when it starts to heat up.

[blue2.5gt]

would that be an okay idea, it wont cause any damage to the engine will it?

[LieutenantDan]

Read post #13 again. And listen to what he says. For he is all-knowing and wise. That's no bs either

 

EDIT: So to flog a horse, that if not dead is at this point in mortal danger of expiring, use it and maybe suffer a slight decrease in performance and not worry about it, get a different one, or stick with your stock one and get one of those cool VTA BOV's

[m sprank]

Thanks Dan.

 

OP, if you like your SPT than rock that biatch. Its your car. For s***s and giggles, why not at least grab a heatshield.

[ruggerheist]

Read post #13 again. And listen to what he says. For he is all-knowing and wise. That's no bs either

 

agreed, i trust his opinion over most on here

[blue2.5gt]

alright thanks a lot for the responses, ill definitely post after its installed to let you know how it goes. i was wondering would it help to reset the ecu after i get the intake? that way maybe it will learn with the added air the new intake brings in vs the stock airbox?

[m sprank]

You should reset the ECU, yes. But it wont help too much. The MAF location is too close tothe filter, it is also too close to a bend. The turbulent air will cause skewed MAF readings. Also, the inlet tube of the SPT is smaller than OEM. So, the ECU can not compensate for the change in tubing size when it calculates air volume. This is what leads to the rich condition. Less air than the ECU thinks.

 

No matter what it is a POS. But, its your car. So enjoy the annoying sound with no extra power, LOL.

 

The sound is not annoying when it adds power.