Air Filter Snorkel??????

[sonic113]

Ok Fellas

I was doing a little general maintenance on the car and was taking a look at the Air box and how the car draws in air. I was thinking that the snorkel restricts the airflow a bit and thought that by removing it the car would get a lot better air flow if it was directed straight at the input of the air box itself.

I have been driving it for a week now with this removed and haven't noticed any MAJOR improvements but I think the mpg as improved a slight bit as has acceleration response especially on hills its seems a lot smoother. So my question is does this has a real purpose or it is safe to leave of and do you guys think better air flow is achieved with this off. I know I could change the air filter ect but I probably will stick with ford original filters for now.

 

Here are some pics

 

The green arrows is the original air intakes (which I thought were a little small and restricting??)

The  red show the part (snorkel) I removed

 

The red shows the way the intake is now.

 

 

any advice/input welcomed,

 

Thanks in advanced.

[alexp999]

This is one of the first things I'd do on a Mk2/2.5.

They don't even bother with it on the Mk3 (ST at least).

[sonic113]

so is the Mk3 air intake just direct to the air box itself? I guess I wuld be better to leave it off, I originally thought maybe ot was to divert any water that maybe got splashed up but I dont think it is 

[alexp999]

Yeah Mk3 is basically like yours is now with it removed.

The airbox just has a short feed through the chassis and then it's open under the slam panel.

[sonic113]

Thanks Alex

I guess I will just leave it off.

 

[south_bound]

Won't you get all the water spray and other crap going straight into the air box lif it is left open and front facing like that?  The Mk 2 snorkel is different and goes downwards from the air box but I haven't followed it to the open end yet - I'll take a look when I get a chance. 

[Dee_82]

Or, try something a little more extreme! lol

I took some inspiration from someone on here who posted a rather nice mk3 RS airbox, I mean yeah it doesn't have the cool RS honeycomb but not bad either

She now growls, now it might be me getting a bit more carried away with the noise but it "feels" like she has more pull, something I have noticed is that I can kick the balls out of it and yet the average MPG just keeps on rising. :D

Excuse the mess, id been a little busy, she's as clean as a whistle now ;)

[sonic113]

I was thinking that maybe the snorkel was to stop water spray amd other crap  getting in ? not sure what the mk3 looks like but maybe if i reconnect the snorkel but drill more holes along the top of it the same size as it has but  next to the two circle areas it might let that wee bit more air in while keeping the spray out.

 

Dee i like what you did my friend but I dont think im brave enough to mod the actual air box just yet lol!

[Dee_82]

lol, it works fine, granted it gets dirty quicker but you can see how bad It gets so that's another benefit, just whip the lid off and attack it with compressed air, doing a proper clean every 6k as normal,

There is very little water getting around there, the thing with this filter is that its big enough to deliver enough air for a 350hp RS, even if the front gets damp there is such a massive surface area it makes no difference.  the bonnet actually sits on the rubber so the actual hole is only the first part on the front, which sits behind a large cross beam.

As much as I would like it to make a real work difference to power, it probably isn't, but it does sound good and my MPG is rising so that's gotta go in the win column! :) 

The deciding thought I had before cutting it open was that if its good enough for an RS, its good enough for me :D

[sonic113]

it would be interesting to see what way the mk3 has the intake? if anyone has any pics please do post.

[alexp999]

Been trying to find pics, seems it might only be the ST they leave the snorkel off, but plenty of mk3 owners take theirs off anyway. I would have done on my previous cars had I known it was there, lol.

[sonic113]

I thinking maybe if the job of the snorkal is to keep water spray to a minimun then if I drilled some holes in the snorkel and refit it might be a better job than just leaving it off completly. My idea would look something like this......

 

The black holes I have inserted would be the newly drilled holes. This way at least the snorkel is still doing whatever job ford had for it but its allowing that bit more air to be drawn into the filter box. Especially when the guard goes over the whole lot as I think it help deflect the air to this area where the original and my newly drilled holes will be.

 

What you guys think?

 

 

[alexp999]

Should definitely improve airflow.

I had a look at my car and there is a plastic shroud at the front grille to guide air towards the radiator with gaps in it to let air under the slam panel to the airbox.

So it doesn't have the snorkel, but there is no direct path for water spray to enter the airbox due to the shroud.

If the Mk2 doesn't have a shroud and you can see your airbox inlet through the grille, then it is probably worth keeping something there.

[TomsFocus]

Don't forget, a non-turbo needs a long intact tract, that snorkel will be part of it, as well as reducing the possibility of water getting in.  They also usually give a ram-air effect but I can't understand why there would be air holes there at all though, any air that's getting forced through under ram-air would be forced out of those holes lol, so drilling a few more shouldn't hurt, I don't think you'll see any difference other than placebo though.

With a turbo it won't matter...  But I'm not sure I'd go with an RS style box as the lid on mine is always covered in water marks and mud splashes.  

[sonic113]

 

so what's the idea of the holes marks in the yellow circles? I take it that the part I have marked in the green square is the main intake area.

 

So if air is constantly being drawn in at the filter area,  would the suction force not draw more air in from these little holes rather than bring it in at the main green square and put it back out (escapes)  at these? I cant see any air getting lost through these due to the constant suction of air along the snorkel.

My idea was to add a few more hole to better the air flow but maybe if Tom is right and air is lost at these air holes( circled yellow) then if they where closed up and the snorkel just had the one opening (green square area) then would the air flow be stronger/Better?

 

very exciting stuff lol! 

[TomsFocus]

I honestly don't know why those holes are there...goes against what I expect of an intake duct lol.

There are 2 things going on here though.  When stationary, vacuum will be sucking through both the large rectangle and the holes.  

But at speed there's say 70mph air being forced into the rectangle...  but to me, it looks like that 70mph air will be forced in through the rectangle and then straight out through those holes lol.

I don't want to over complicate it but basically, I wouldn't remove the duct altogether.  I wouldn't usually recommend drilling holes either but as there are already some, I can't see that adding a few more would be a problem.

[sonic113]

2 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I honestly don't know why those holes are there...goes against what I expect of an intake duct lol.

There are 2 things going on here though.  When stationary, vacuum will be sucking through both the large rectangle and the holes.  

But at speed there's say 70mph air being forced into the rectangle...  but to me, it looks like that 70mph air will be forced in through the rectangle and then straight out through those holes lol.

I don't want to over complicate it but basically, I wouldn't remove the duct altogether.  I wouldn't usually recommend drilling holes either but as there are already some, I can't see that adding a few more would be a problem.

Thanks Tom,

I'm confused as well to what those holes are for and why they are there but they must have some purpose lol! I think I will give the snorkel a good clean and leave it as is, although I can see how adding a few extra hole could be of harm but first I will see if I cant look at the mk3 to see how that airflow is set up.

[Dee_82]

aye, water will get anywhere it wants but even after a long wet drive in something no less than a monsoon on a motorway today!  The box is largely dry, top front and sides, I had placed a paper filter in do see if it was soaked and it was mostly fine, ill put the normal lid back on and see if its any better but If people can install pod filters in here without issue I don't think you will have any issues at all modifying the snorkel or airbox :)

[James_H]

On 5/17/2016 at 9:35 AM, Dee_82 said:

Or, try something a little more extreme! lol

I took some inspiration from someone on here who posted a rather nice mk3 RS airbox, I mean yeah it doesn't have the cool RS honeycomb but not bad either

She now growls, now it might be me getting a bit more carried away with the noise but it "feels" like she has more pull, something I have noticed is that I can kick the balls out of it and yet the average MPG just keeps on rising. 😄

Excuse the mess, id been a little busy, she's as clean as a whistle now 😉

Did you do the snorkel delete as well as nodding the airbox? Or is the snorkel still there?

[Hooded]

12 hours ago, James_H said:

Did you do the snorkel delete as well as nodding the airbox? Or is the snorkel still there?

I purchased a 2011 MK2.5 1.6 Petrol back in April which had the snorkel removed and just a short straight air intake directly to the front of the car. The previous owner had also modified the air filter box by cutting holes in the lid.  
 

The car sounded more throaty and sporty than standard but I didn’t like the idea of the engine sucking in hotter air from the engine bay so taped up the air filter box lid with gaffer tape.  The car sounds more like standard again now but I’ve just left the modified shorter straight air intake pipe as it is. 
 

The previous owner reckons the MPG improved for him after he removed the snorkel etc, but I can’t vouch for whether or not that is true.