Just modded my cold air feed. Leon FR TDI

[daveyonthemove]

After spending most of last night reading about bigger cold air feeds and good results, i decided to give it a go today to see if it was worth it.

First impressions are good.
Induction noise is throatier so it sounds better.
Response is quicker, so pulling away feels smoother.
Smoke appears to be less (was never smokey to start with)
Turbo whistle sounds a bit louder.
All in all, i'm pleased i did it

 

[timbotdi]

Nicely done mate - looks a good job.

Might be worth smoothing off the airbox innards too?

T

 

[olaf]

Looks good and sounds like its worth it!

Wash that bumper though

 

[craig-pd130]

... and be careful when driving around Gloucester & Tewkesbury

 

[daveyonthemove]

I did start on smoothing out the inside of the airbox, but got bored of it so left it half done. i doubt it makes any noticable difference, so it'll stay like that for a while.
As for the bumper..... i have done over 500 miles since it was last washed!
It'll be sparkling again tomorrow

 

[air121005]

... and be careful when driving around Gloucester & Tewkesbury

if he'd of tried driving through the floods i had to ,
the placement of the intake behing the foglight would not have been a good idea!

 

[devonmikeyboy]

Sorry mate but sucking in air from such a low place is asking for trouble really. If you drive through a big puddle and suck up some water that could be the last time you hear your engine running.Can you not divert the pipe to suck in cold air from a higher position like around the headlights or radiator ?

 

[daveyonthemove]

Sorry mate but sucking in air from such a low place is asking for trouble really. If you drive through a big puddle and suck up some water that could be the last time you hear your engine running.Can you not divert the pipe to suck in cold air from a higher position like around the headlights or radiator ?

I have moved it about 3" higher since that pic was taken.
There is very little chance of picking up water from the location it's in now.

 

[jonjay]

To bring up this old thread...do you think its made a difference to performance/noise?

 

[APNess]

Thought about doing this myself to reduce the smoke at high revs (it smokes like a power station above 4k rpm, a right smokescreen. It's good not running lean, but blinding traffic behind you for 2 miles can't be right...)

Anyone comment on any potential gains? Looks like a cheap mod for £40 or so.

 

[daveyonthemove]

I've noticed better spool up and throatier induction since doing this, along with improved economy.
IMO its a mod worth doing, and with all the salt and leaves and rain on the road, i've been keeping an eye on the condition of the airbox and filter and not found any grime or moisture in there at all.
Heres a graph logged on Vagcom for airflow:

I kept the original airbox and its in the shed, so if i thought this was a waste of time or putting the engine at risk i could change it back in 10 mins, but its been on for many miles without a problem.

 

[jonjay]

Where did you get the ducting from and the mesh bit on the end of it Davey? I am in the process of modding my airbox.

Also davey you though about removing the bulb and putting the airfeed there?

 

[brad1]

was that a bumper off job??
looks good, i might think about doing this to mine soon with my standard airbox as they seem to give good results

 

[daveyonthemove]

Where did you get the ducting from and the mesh bit on the end of it Davey? I am in the process of modding my airbox.

Also davey you though about removing the bulb and putting the airfeed there?

The ducting and mesh was a complete package from Demon Tweeks. Its only 1 metre in length, but that seems to be just right for the location i have it in now.
There isn't any real need to remove the bulb as it isn't obstructing the air feed in any way, and if anything it might stop large bits of paper or bags getting as far as the air feed.

 

[daveyonthemove]

was that a bumper off job??
looks good, i might think about doing this to mine soon with my standard airbox as they seem to give good results

the bumper stayed on. Only fiddling i had to do was to remove the battery in order to get the pipe down the side of the wing, and then i put the battery in again. The plastic surround by the headlights is a pain and i had to cut a section of it away to feed the pipe down, so if you don't fancy a bit of DIY hacking then i wouldn't bother doing this. But the plastic i cut away isn't noticable from looking in the engine bay so i was happy to do it.

 

[sssstew]

looks good davey. You would need a serious amount of suck and water to get it up through the pipe and then trhough the air filter to get into the engine so i wouldnt worry about that.

 

[daveyonthemove]

its about 18" above road level. there is no way i'd be daft enough to drive through water that deep, and there are two solutions to anyone who is worried.
1) cut some holes in the ducting so if there is a puddle thats getting in the pipe, there won't be enough vacume to suck it up.
2) if your about to drive through a stupidly deep puddle, open the bonnet and raise the ducting higher and its a 1 metre high snorkel!

 

[Mackers]

i was thinking of this, but hooking it upto the grill by the headlamp on the passenger side

 

[Danny_FR]

Looks quite cool actually Dave, think that's on my "to-do" list this weekend now!

 

[jonjay]

Just finished my one...

Airbox all smooth and just needs to be sprayed up. Intake bit of it is all cut too.