Pod Filter Kit

[sh@un]

Anyone bought one of these Apexi pod filter kits that bolt on to the AFM and have a direct dyno comparisson to before and after, with nothing else changed other than the removal of the oe airbox and the fitting of the kit?

I'm considering buying one, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. Keen to hear of anyone's results.

[slippylotion]

Just get a K&N or similar panel filter and fit an extra cold air feed. Will out perform a pod filter.

[scotty nm35]

As Paul said, there are no gains going to a pod. Just get a dry blitz filter or similar for the stock airbox. Its good for 400kw.

[180fan]

Without a heatshield, it will cost you a tiny bit of power, with a proper heatshield and CAI it will make around the same amount of power as the airbox. The pod will make for a lot more induction noise than the airbox as well, up to you if you want that or not.

Check these vids out if you have a bit of spare time

[sh@un]

pretty much what I would have expected

std airbox and cotton panel filter is here to stay

[bjd]

Mate there are many differing opinions, however if you put a pod filter on, the air intake capacity increases. You will see no gain by simply changing from standard intake to a pod. You need to improve airflow capacity from intake through to exhaust. Meaning if you have a larger exhaust from the turbo back then a pod filter will certainly help. The stanadard airbox alone is restricting air flow.

[bjd]

The videos shown do not use turbo back exhaust.... They only use cat back so of course you will see no difference....

[scotty nm35]

Mate there are many differing opinions, however if you put a pod filter on, the air intake capacity increases. You will see no gain by simply changing from standard intake to a pod. You need to improve airflow capacity from intake through to exhaust. Meaning if you have a larger exhaust from the turbo back then a pod filter will certainly help. The stanadard airbox alone is restricting air flow.

How will it increase airflow, by sucking hot air? Not filtering dust out? Pods usually have less surface area than the stock panel filter.

My opinions are based on experience. Stock airbox/cai ftw.

[KiwiRS4T]

Mate there are many differing opinions, however if you put a pod filter on, the air intake capacity increases. You will see no gain by simply changing from standard intake to a pod. You need to improve airflow capacity from intake through to exhaust. Meaning if you have a larger exhaust from the turbo back then a pod filter will certainly help. The stanadard airbox alone is restricting air flow.

An old argument but do you have evidence for this? I am sure there is a point at which the stock airbox will become a restriction but I suspect it is somewhere way past 300kw.

[scotty nm35]

I agree Bob, I guess it will flow well over 350, I know mine can and it uses the same panel filter. Save your coin for a good alloy intake and bellmouth dump/good exhaust. The tuner will take care of the rest.

If you want more power than that you would have to look at a twin pod setup and cai like this one I made for a mate's supra, it just put down 550kw last night.

[bjd]

CES racing have proved this with substantial evidence... Its interesting how these videos of proof by mighty car mods are hardly mighty mods. They use an R34 with pod then restricted air flow from the turbo to the cat to a cat back exhaust, that right there is pure wank factor to replace an exhaust from the cat back and leave the other half chocking your airflow. Then in the other video its the blue turd, this car is running a standard exhaust of course there will be no increase in power...

Hardly proves anything... The surface area of a panel filter may be greater than a pod but the shape of a pod causes a greater turbulence thus increasing the flow... The standard airbox was designed to restrict airflow to minimise the sound levels.

Why dont you just say that a larger exhaust will do nothing as well... If you believe that the exhaust being larger will increase power it only makes sense that an unrestricted air intake will help with the flow of air...

[KiwiRS4T]

CES racing have proved this with substantial evidence... Its interesting how these videos of proof by mighty car mods are hardly mighty mods. They use an R34 with pod then restricted air flow from the turbo to the cat to a cat back exhaust, that right there is pure wank factor to replace an exhaust from the cat back and leave the other half chocking your airflow. Then in the other video its the blue turd, this car is running a standard exhaust of course there will be no increase in power...

Hardly proves anything... The surface area of a panel filter may be greater than a pod but the shape of a pod causes a greater turbulence thus increasing the flow... The standard airbox was designed to restrict airflow to minimise the sound levels.

Why dont you just say that a larger exhaust will do nothing as well... If you believe that the exhaust being larger will increase power it only makes sense that an unrestricted air intake will help with the flow of air...

Its true the above videos are not that scientific but they do represent what a lot of first time (especially Skyline) owners do - get a pod filter and a catback exhaust - closely followed by a noisy aftermarket bov.

Its not a matter of belief... its measurement that counts. There is plenty of research to show the optimum size of exhaust pipe required for different power levels. Similarly the size of air intake is important too and the restriction provided by the air filter ( I am assuming you do not advocate running with no airfilter on a street car) is minimal and the measured difference between pod and stock airfilters is even more minimal. The stock airbox and snorkel also has a small ram effect which helps with flow.

Do you have any evidence to support your assertion that "the shape of a pod causes a greater turbulence thus increasing airflow" (actually that's two assertions)?

When you are running a huge turbo that requires a 100mm or bigger intake then it can become impractical to use the stock airbox and you will need another form of cold air supply.

[scotty nm35]

The airbox is unrestricted, its the intake that thins down to 40mm and requires upgrading. (not with the stock turbo though.) As Bob said, when you decide to build the engine, run a 3.5 inch exhaust with no cat and run a 600hp turbo, then you will need to look at the airbox being a restriction.

[pipster11]

CES racing have proved this with substantial evidence... Its interesting how these videos of proof by mighty car mods are hardly mighty mods. They use an R34 with pod then restricted air flow from the turbo to the cat to a cat back exhaust, that right there is pure wank factor to replace an exhaust from the cat back and leave the other half chocking your airflow. Then in the other video its the blue turd, this car is running a standard exhaust of course there will be no increase in power...

Hardly proves anything... The surface area of a panel filter may be greater than a pod but the shape of a pod causes a greater turbulence thus increasing the flow... The standard airbox was designed to restrict airflow to minimise the sound levels.

Why dont you just say that a larger exhaust will do nothing as well... If you believe that the exhaust being larger will increase power it only makes sense that an unrestricted air intake will help with the flow of air...

turbulent air actually has higher resistance compared to laminar flow, plus you run the risk of getting an uneven air flow over the maf

know much about reynolds numbers?

[The Bogan]

Im sure my TO4Z dragging in air at 24lb would be creating a bit more turbulance than a little bit of wire in a POD, a POD is only a advantage if it has a heat shield and CAI on motors that need more unrestricted air flow, try doing a hydrometer test on the intake pipe to see any difference.

Results cannot be taken on the dyno, results need to be done whislt the car has the bonnet down on the road/track, if you want a accurate result do a hydrometer test, otherwise you are just pissing in the wind.

[Dunc]

Results cannot be taken on the dyno, results need to be done whislt the car has the bonnet down on the road/track

Why?

Close the bonnet and let the dyno fan run. The Mainline fan blows air at the car at 100km/h, which is exactly what you'd see on the road/track whilst driving at 100km/h; I dont see how its different.

[slippylotion]

A dyno fan doesn't blow the complete width of the car so it would be different.

[Jetwreck]

Lolz....this cracks me up.

Fyi.....the fastest group a r32's in the world use.....wait for it.....a panel filter in an airbox!

Sucking hot air from the engine bay is for noobs!

[Rudi_ARX-TURBO]

So true, I had nothing but trouble with mine and I had hks panel filter I went back to to paper filter had no problems since January .

[PN-Mad]

I have a HKS Mushroom Pod. I don't have a lot of choice regarding the room I have - the cooler piping runs right through the place where the stock box sat.

I also made sure that I have a large amount of fresh air feeding it- up from the fnt bar. I don't really understand the HKS specific pod bashing. There may have been ones that fell apart after X years. Thats really not a good thing. But they do have a 3 layer filtration foam, its not just that coarse layer you see from the outside, which wouldn't filter well at all. Same quality as a panel? Probably not, but its not as hopeless as people make out.

As for temps- on the freeway / moving I've been seeing 22-25 degrees measured basically at the throttle body. My AFM is after the filter/turbo/intercooler. I'd say thats pretty acceptable, and its not sucking in hot air.

However, If I had a choice, it'd be to keep the stock airbox/panel. Getting a pod for the sake of it, just not worth it.