Keeping the stock airbox or using stock style drop in filters will only be holding you back.

Unless your state requires due to emission law to keep the air box (think CA), you will do much better with a mendral bent exhaust pipe with a cone K&N style filter on the end of it.

Oddly enough K&N advertises their cone filters as a performance mod, NOT their drop in filters (which they advertise as a money saver since you never have to throw out the filter).

 

I agree with you. If I was interested in the work required to put a mandrel bent pipe down lower by the washer bottle, I would. I believe thier would be some benefit. I still own an a 89 turbo caravan, and had a turbocharged 240sx, so I not too high on n/a mods. There's a lot more effort than gain.

 

it doesnt have to be alot of work, many places such as JC Whitney sell prebent mendral bent exhaust pipes of varrious sizes, bends, etc. But it is all a matter of how much you want to do.

 

I completely agree. The CAI I built for a previous car and the exhaust on my turbovan are made from prebent mandrel pieces and welded together.

 

Yeah, whatever.

--The 3 1/4" hose from the intake to the airbox is much larger than the actual throttle body opening (plate size). This does not present a noticeable restriction.
--The drop-in filter in the airbox is actually quite large. With a K&N, this represents no real restriction for a little 3.3.
--The biggest restriction, now, is the intake to the bottom of the airbox. You won't overcome this with a mandrel-bent pipe. This size is dictated by the hole in the sheet metal below, and I assume you don't want to cut a larger hole here. I don't.

In any fluid dynamics class, you'll find out that the length of the pipe is every bit as important as its diameter. If you run a long pipe way down by the windshield washer bottle, the losses from that length of pipe will outweigh its benefit--even from cold air.

What I gave you here is th cheeapest, easiest option you will find. Simply delete the restrictive snorkel, and drop in a $35 K&N. You can spend a lot more time and money, but I'd really like to see what it actually bought you in terms of HP. I sincerely doubt it will be much.

No, I'm not doing any dyno runs on this. However, I will report back on gas mileage.

Marasch

 

Hey, don't get me wrong- I am not saying the keeping the airbox method won't work or its stupid or anything like that.

In fact K&N just came out with a cone filter that comes with its own airbox (shaped more like a cone than a box but same concept).

 

I thought you all would find this interesting, it is related:

Well, for one I can say I have learned one thing about cone air filters.

The APC brand ones are CRAP.

Mine isnt very old, not that it matters- they advertise them as reusiable.

I reoil it every 3 to 6 months as per/beyond instructions.

And it has literally fallen apart:





As you can see, the cotton fiter element has literally decomposed! It is riddled with holes big enough to let most debris in.

And as if that was not bad enough, to add insult to injury- the top part of the filter fell off while I was driving recently and got lost onto the road as the liter/garbage it is.


Look at this, you can clearly see that there is no cover anymore to the unit. The so called glue they use (looks like wood glue) couldn't hold the thing together. So now the Dynasty effectively has a mendral bent, no airfilter intake... just great.

Moral of the story, if you are going to get a cone filter- get a real one like from K&N, the ricer brands and generic brands are utterly worthless.

AND they do not stand behind their product. I've emailed APC "oh but do you have the recept?"

Like I would have the recept? I buy all my car parts in cash. I have the original box in storage, its not like I don't have their product.

And I dont know how long I have driven the car like this, needless to say the unit wasnt FUBAR last time I checked (I would have noticed the top of the filter being missing). But again, should I have had to worry about my cone airfilter disintergrating? I think not.

I am off to get a K&N.

 

drop in K&N can make a difference, some make a big difference others may not, it the filter is already a good size, the engine may not need the extra airflow

i noticed before my van became mine, i had bought a drop in K&N, 33-2006 i believe if i remember right, now i already had the restrictor out of the airbox, put the K&N in & i noticed a big jump in response & power, it spun the tires further & longer, & at speed it just went

then about 1/2 year before it was mine, i cut open the inlet side of the box a little bigger, that helped

when it became mine, i put a stainless mesh APC dual funnel filter in the stock location, another maybe horse

then i bought a big 3" Ractive intake for god knows what off the wall at the local speed shop, I trimmed it to fit, still short ram, & that picked up even more!

then i made a true cold air intake that went between the left headlight & battery, & down into the fenderwell, but i never drove it with this, cuz i had to take it all apart for the trans (i made the intake while the van waited for parts) & i just put my short ram back on, since it was quick & easy, eventully i'll put the cold air back on



i had to trim the battery tray excessivly, & even the headlight socket, it was that tight of a fit!


-greg

 

I think an 01 3.3 would dyno higher with the stock airbox and filter than your van. I have found that oem tested horsepower is better than many mods. I applaud your ingenuity and follow through with creating a a true cai.

 

well yes it would since it has 18 more factory rated horsepower then mine, yus i have alot of mods, but i also have alot of miles (203K miles), plus its not driven lightly, i predict 145 at the wheels at the most

tho newer vans are heavier, have taller tires, & i can beat them, lol

-greg