COBB AP and intake?

[vodoo-chile]

I have a question about intakes on our cars. I have been reading and searching and it seems that intakes are not recommended to be used with an AP becauise it will tend to lean out too much.

 

In contrast, I have also read that an intake, when properly tuned for, will make some good power over the stock intake. Most people would assume that an intake would be possibly the first thing done to a car, as the stock airbox's are typically compromised somewhat.

 

Knowing that a an intake is one of teh first mods done to a car, and that proper tuning makes good use and power with said intake, why doesn't COBB program for the use of an intake?

 

Kyle

[malfeas99]

I can surmise this may be for two reasons:

 

1) Intakes vary a great deal. A -great- deal. Tuning for various short-rams would be slightly different, let alone the guy who slaps a cold-air on his Subaru (though why he'd do that is beyond me)

 

2) Intakes (especially short rams) on Subarus (and possibly other turbo cars) are loud. They make a very audible sucking sound, the whistling from the turbo is extremely audible, and you can hear the BPF almost like it's venting to atmosphere. I guess Cobb didn't want to make the intake 'required' for their stage 1 or 2 maps, since not everyone wants that noise.

[rao]

It is not that a clod air intake allows much more air in and requires a different "tune". The problem is that it changes the airflow over the MAF (so that the ecu starts "seeing" different voltage values for a given mass of air), which causes all sorts of problems. That's why it is difficult to get a proper "tune" for a CAI, the function of mass of air to voltage changes and it is one of the key things the ecu uses.

[TSiWRX]

Knowing that a an intake is one of teh first mods done to a car...

 

Most vehicles, yes - but typically not newer turbocharged Scoobys.

 

....and that proper tuning makes good use and power with said intake, why doesn't COBB program for the use of an intake?

 

I had that same question myself, which I first tried to pose in the "ProTune" thread - the following is directly from Cobb's FAQ:

 

Q. I have XYZ intake, do you have a map for it?

 

A. We can do mapping for quite a few intakes that are predictable. We have maps for the original(black) APS, Injen, and most of the short ram hot air intakes. The Blitz is about the only short ram that is not predictable. The car may not be as smooth or might miss out on some power since we have to tune even more conservatively with most of the intakes, but it will be safe, and run better than the factory ECU. Also, let us know what specific intake you have. We have had people order the map for the APS intake when in reality they had other intakes. Needless to say the tune was far from optimal. So far the AEM is about the only intake we have seen that is not predictable. We could make a map for it that would make sure that the car runs rich rather than lean, but the benefits would be far less than that if the customer just removed the intake and used the factory unit. We even have to do that on the dyno for the AEM intake. Also, even if the intake is advertised as not needing correction, causing no errors, or factory specifications, let us know. This is not the case on the intakes that we have tuned that make this claim, they do require correction. Just because the piping that the sensor sits in is the exact factory spec does not mean that there is no turbulence to throw the sensor off. In the end if you want the smoothest running car use the factory air box. If you want the noise and slightly better spool-up, remove the silencer in the fenderwell and toss a panel filter in the stock air-box. On the stock turbo you will make the same power as you will with an aftermarket intake. If you have any questions or want to get the best map, your best bet is to give us the most information you can and let us choose the proper map for your combo.

 

I'm looking to go AP (Stage II) this late fall - now, does this above info. from Cobb mean that they have specific software for anyone who does have aftermarket intakes?

 

-A