Its been a minute......but I didnt know restricting the intake was good.?.?.?.?

Fish

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So I really dont want to mod the Veloster. However, I also really want to hear the spool when at WOT. Who wouldnt? I was googling ways to modify the stock airbox since after seeing pictures, it has a "ram air" type intake near the hook that shoots down into a box that I assume is an intake muffler/resonator then up to the real box with the filter, then into the intake. Ive read a few posts on the Veloster forums and some people swear by the stock airbox modifications and some are opposed and say it can hurt more than help. Yes, you might not get ambient air. However, your short ram intake isnt getting ambient air either sitting in the engine bay. :rofl:

Then I saw this link. I decided to click and read it since I am older and want to see other opinions and thoughts on matters. After reading it, I was seriously scratching my head.


What Does an Air Intake Resonator Do?

To the average hot-rodder, intake resonators go on the same pile as smog pumps, catalytic converters, exhaust gas recirculation valves and charcoal canisters. But imagine which pile the resonator would end up in if that same customizer knew it was more than a plastic muffler -- it's actually an important part of the engine's intake system, and may add a fairly significant amount of horsepower.

Design and Construction
The resonator itself couldn't be simpler in design; it's basically just an expansion chamber or wide spot in the otherwise-smooth intake pipe. It may or may not contain some kind of baffle or plate, depending upon the design and the intent of the designers. Resonators come in two types: In-line resonators are open chambers that sit in the intake tube, while side-branch resonators are chambers that sit next to the tube and are connected to it via a small duct or channel.
The Common Misconception
Most hot-rodders and car enthusiasts think of intake resonators as simple mufflers in the intake tube, devices designed to siphon all the awesomeness out of a car's sound track to appease soccer moms and senior citizens. That makes it a prime candidate for the "chuck-it" school of auto modification. After all, it's basically just a plastic tumor growing off of a tube that should by definition be as smooth and blemish free as possible. While sound control is indeed part of the resonator's job, the sound control itself is really more of a side effect of its primary purpose.
Pressure Wave Harmonics
Air flowing into your cylinder head's intake port doesn't move in a straight line while the valve is open, then politely stop in its tracks to await another valve opening. When the valve closes, the moving column of air slams into it, then compresses and bounces back like a spring. This pressure wave travels backward at the speed of sound until the intake runner opens up or it hits something, and then it bounces back toward the cylinder. This is the "first harmonic." The pressure wave actually bounces back and forth two or three more times before the intake valve opens again.
Intake Tube Pulses
The resonator in your intake is technically known as a Helmholz resonator, an acoustic device used to control pressure wave harmonics. Air bouncing back out of your engine and into the intake tube doesn't do it in a single pulse the way it would in a single intake runner; the multiple pistons put out pressure waves at their own intervals, and some of those are going to try to bounce back in while others are going out. The result is a "clog" or high pressure area in your intake tube that ultimately limits airflow through almost the entire rpm spectrum.
The Resonator
Adding an expansion chamber to the intake tube forces air coming back out of the engine to slow down to fill the cavity, thus expending a great deal of its energy and slowing the pressure wave reversion. This slowdown allows fresh air to flow toward the engine without fighting pressure reversion waves the entire way, thus aiding in cylinder filling. Since these pressure waves are essentially sound, giving them a place to expend their energy before exiting the air filter box ends up dampening the intake noise and quieting the engine. Thus, the resonator helps to make the engine paradoxically quieter and more powerful.

So here are some pics of the Veloster resonator in the airbox.

1620400357822.png


1620400383380.png


Here it is removed.

1620400405626.png


Here is the link talking about it. People are even saying they are losing up to 5MPG removing it.


Am I missing something, going nuts, or just too dumb to even comprehend whats going on?
 

CMNTMXR57

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I wonder if it has something to do with even air flow distribution for the MAF.

I have a similar issue with the Caddy. If I take the air filter off it runs like shit, stumbling/idle, etc... Put the air filter back on and it runs silky smooth. The MAF is kinda like the turdy-8-hundreds in that it is a drop in cartridge, and with no filter, it doesn't focus the airflow to the MAF properly.
 

Fish

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I wonder if it has something to do with even air flow distribution for the MAF.

I have a similar issue with the Caddy. If I take the air filter off it runs like shit, stumbling/idle, etc... Put the air filter back on and it runs silky smooth. The MAF is kinda like the turdy-8-hundreds in that it is a drop in cartridge, and with no filter, it doesn't focus the airflow to the MAF properly.

Maybe? I remember people talking about removing the MAF screens back in the day for the 3800 and it was a debate as well as far as flow vs stability for the MAF sensor. That article made it sound like the air was going all the way back out the intake, through the throttle body, and back into the intake box. I mean.......maybe? But it then has to fight the incoming air to get out. So.............maybe I am dumb?
 

10sec

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Air boxes used to be filter housings and had a decent bit of engineering behind them, now they are engineered to not only quiet the noises for the driver but to be extremely efficient at the same time. The days of putting an open cone filter on the intake and gaining 30hp are pretty much gonezo.
 
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Fish

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Air boxes used to be filter housings and had a decent bit of engineering behind them, now they are engineered to not only quiet the noises for the driver but to be extremely efficient at the same time. The days of putting an open cone filter on the intake and gaining 30hp are pretty much gonezo.

ohh I don’t doubt it. I think I need to really look under the hood and gauge what’s going on. In my mind, I just don’t see how a resonator is going to make air more straight, when it’s being blown through a turbo. Unless it’s being routed another way? Like I said. I should probably see what’s going on

Almost everything is geared towards ensuring laminar flow across the maf sensor filament.
They need precise measurements of the air mass

Yeah, I had scans before and after and my car ran better with the maf screen in for sure, and looking back, that makes sense. The screen was right in front of the maf to straighten the air out before going into the TB then forced down by the blower.
 

1quick

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I turned my air intake into a ram air type set up on my mustang and it made the air too turbulent for the maf sensor and made it surge pretty bad at part throttle, it worked well at the track though, so i made a baffle to block the air from the grill that i could pull out at the track
 

Thirdgen89GTA

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Everything the article says is true. Intake pulse tuning is just as real as exhaust pulse tuning.

GM TPI, along with the Yamaha SHO intake.

the baffle performs the same function as a hammer arrester for a pipe flowing liquid.

however, often times the overall intake flow is still a bottneck. So a larger diameter intake and better filter contribute to a power increase.

the aftermarket intake is less efficient but hasincreased flow and that compensates so it’s a net gain.
 
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