Well I bit the bullet and got an open element. It was only $24.00 so I said "why not."

So if I can get to the track I will get some times with an open element and compare to my 16.488 with my dual snorkel.

So we will see!!!!

 

Get a cowl induction hood and you will really feel it at higher speeds.

 

Nah. Don't like cowl induction. Ugly!

 

guys, dont hate me........ whats open element ? confused:


<--noob:

 

AZ, I bet you run faster with the dual snorkle than the open element. If chevy puts a 48mm tb (same as on a stock 305tpi) on their 502 Ram Jet and make 502hp I don't see how an open element will help over a dual snorkle air cleaner, with cold air to boot.

AJ, an open element is just that, all you have is a top and bottom with a filter in the middle. The aif filter is exposed all the way around and can be seen from any angle.

Steve

 

Steve,

You are probably right. But the debate always seems to come up every now and then. This time we'll get some hard numbers to support claims for or against one or the other.

 

AJ,

This is an open element.

 

And this is a dual snorkel.

 

Yea, this is true. I'm going to try and go to the track friday night and see if my punny mods have help me any. My best et stock was a 16.8 in the 1/4 and 11.0 in the 1/8. I have only run the 1/8 sense I did the ult tbi mods, converted my frp to an afpr and cut the resticktion out of the snorck on the air filter assm, it ran a 10.56 so I know it has helped some. I'll play with the fuel pressure the try taking the whole air cleaner assm off and see what happens.

Steve

 

Steve,

Where do you run out there?

 

Hey, still want that dual snorkel?

But seriously, the dual snorkel is a good cleaner, and I personally know people that run mid 13's through it with full body car. The open element may help in that the temperature difference of the air coming in may affect fueling but other then that, it probably wont affect things too much. The only reason I have an open element is that its the only thing that will fit. Its a tiny *** 10 in. air cleaner with an early model honda accord air filter element (tallest one that will still clear the hood).

 

I actually have two choices, Bristol Tn or London Ky. There both about the same distance (about 120mi.) but London is not as crowded. If I want to run the 1/8 I can go to Knoxville, it's only about 30mi. from the house.

Steve

 

Dimented,

I'm gonna hang on to it for shows and stuff. It looks pretty awesome.

Steve,

I grew up not far from you in Cleveland. Great place to grow up. Loved it there.

 

I lived in Texas for about four years, couldn't wait to get back. You'll come home one day, it's in your orange blood.

Steve

 

My blood runs deep orange!!!

 

Id personally just use it all the time, its not much of a restriction. If you still have your stock TBI unit, that will be your main restriction.

 

You guys should put a cold air intake on the TBI like this

 

Cold air intake??

Looks like it's getting engine compartment air to me!!!!

 

lol but it looks good!!! might i add just about anything w/ chrome in an engine compartment looks good. i dont mean chrome painted stuff either thats an import tuners cheap trick.

Im interested to see/hear the difference it makes if any, so hurry up and try it out.

 

thats not a cold-air setup. the dual snorkel is ugly, just buy a open element and be done with it.


i think its funny that guys with 15 and 16 second cars always debating what type of air filter to use. hmmmm, sound familiar......

due to weather and other factors you wont be able to get a real good comparison, now if you brought both setups to the track thats different...

 

Rocky Top, you'll always be home sweet home, to me!

 

I personally couldnt care less what it looks like, the dual snorkel is better then an open element in a car with a stock hood, especially with uncoated headers. In a sealed up engine compartment the temps will get pretty hot and it hurts performance since less timing can be run.

 

ahh i see now, what are the pros and cons of open element ?

 

Open element flows great but takes in warm air from the engine compartment. The warmer the air the less dense it is.

Dual snorkels take air from in front of the car that has not been warmed by the engine.

The cooler the air the more dense it is, creating a better detonation in your cylinder.

 

bwhahahahahahahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

 

BTW Brody, I love your sig line, to whom can I attribute that to?

 

Atleast this isn't your stock air cleaner.

 

Well the final numbers are in!!!!!


1/4 with dual snorkel - 16.448 @ 83.7 mph

1/4 with open element - 16.210 @ 88 mph


Looks like the results are too close to call.

Both were similar nights. Both warm, dry and low humidity.

However I must add that with the open element I got bolder about letting the rpm's go past redline before shifting. That is probably where the increase came from.

 

Watch it!

 

You got 4.3 mph from it, that's fairly substantial! 88mph is good for low 15's

 

You need to take both to the track with you and run 'em back to back, same day.

 

ITS NOT A SIGNIFICANT POWER IMPROVER IF YOUR ENGINE ONLY HAS 180HP TO BEGIN WITH.....

POWER INCREASES SHOULD ALWAYS BE LOOKED AT IN PERCENTAGES... IF YOU HAVE 300HP, GO FROM A RESTIRICTIVE AIR FILTER TO ONE THAT ISNT, YOULL GET BIG HP GAINS (compared to if you had 150 to start with)....

If you have a 1000hp, and increase airflow by 2%, its a big #gain, not a big percentage.... following everyone...

do the open el, or dual snorkle, or weird looking truck intake that WOULD be a cold air if it went into the fender of a truck like mine, its not a cold air intake on a camaro under the hood, but i bet it flows more than stock... IN ANY CASE, JUST TAKE OFF THE DAMN RESTRICTIVE STOCK AIRCLEANER SETUP AND REPLACE IT. IT SHOULD BE THE FIRST THING YOU DID TO YOUR CAR WHEN YOU BROUGHT IT HOME FOR THE FIRST TIME.

sorry, im in a rant mood -

 

Well said

Just about anything is better than the stock setup!

 

:werd:

 

Tony,

I meant ofcourse unless it's on a Pruple Haze car.

 

My results are in too. I went to the track Friday nite and here is what I got.

These runs were with the stock air cleaner on. Temps were in the mid 80's, humidity was high and the elevation is about 1200ft at London Dragway in London,Ky.

First run
1.277 r/t
2.515 60ft
7.142 330ft
10.930 1/8 @ 64.84
17.017 1/4 @ 80.31

Second run
0.875 r/t
2.385 60ft
7.014 330ft
10.775 1/8 @ 65.6
Got screwed, 1/4mi not timed.

Third run
0.871 r/t
2.384 60ft
7.139 330ft
10.989 1/8 @ 64.10
17.044 1/4 @ 81.68

Forth run
1.009 r/t
2.384 60ft
7.120 330ft
10.911 1/8 @ 65.31
16.937 1/4 @ 80.91

This one run is with the air cleaner off and the iat up at the windshield base. The temp had cooled down to low 70's, 9:10pm, the sun was down and favorable for making good power.

Fifth run
0.814 r/t
2.323 60ft
6.930 330ft
10.670 1/8 @ 65.88
16.633 1/4 @ 81.94

For my last run I reinstalled the air cleaner and ran everything stock, just like I started at the first run.

Sixth run
0.778 r/t
2.313 60ft
6.992 330ft
10.777 1/8 @ 65.24
16.761 1/4 @ 82.30

I still need a lot of work to find the right shift points.

Steve

 

From a book I have read. "Parliament of ******" by P. J. O'Rourke. It is a humerous book about the government. Gets you thinking while making you laugh at the same time. A damn good read IMO.

 

I ran a test a while back using 3 air cleaner housings using the same filter. I had a vacuum gauge attached to the filter housing above the carb and below the filter. I am going to comment that with the above air filter I ran the slowest. Obviously.

1983 Chevy Van stock filter=16.2s @ 82 @ 7 in/hg
1983 Chevy Van 10X3.5 open = 15.3 @ 90 @ 2 in/hg
1987 Chevy van stock cold air filter= 15.5 @ 88 @ 4 in/hg

I found that the open works best at the track but the later model TBI filter works better in daily driver because it has the carb air preheater and the cold air helps mileage and warmup driveability. The open filter works better at the track because of a lower restriction, but after a couple of miles of slow city driving you can feel the engine is down on power until several seconds of moving down the road again (I think the built up heat is dissapated and the air/fuel charge becomes denser as the vehicle accelerates).

 

What kinda engine do you have?

 

I guess I forgot to mention that the car I was running is my daily driver, 91RS 305tbi. I was also going to compare the before and after and after (stock air cleaner vs no air cleaner vs stock air cleaner) runs. The last two runs were at cooler temps so there really the best to compare. Looks like no air cleaner was worth .13sec, so I don't think on a stock engine it is really a big improvement.

Steve

 

Hell yeah!! I lived in Knoxville, TN for 17 years and am just waiting until I can move back!! AWESOME place to grow up.

 

Agreed. Everyone seems to think that the dual snorkel is better because it supposedly gets cooler air. But in reality the air it gets is only slightly cooler.

As your car is moving down the road air is constantly rushing through the engine compartment, it doesn't have time to get heated up. So the air that is sucked in by the open element is pretty close in temperature to the air sucked in by a dual snorkel.
Add that to the fact that the dual snorkel assembly flows pretty badly, and I'll garantee the open element out performs the dual snorkel any day of the week. (At least on our cars anyways)

The only time a dual snorkel really get cooler air is when the car is at idle, becuase there is no air rushing through the engine bay.

 

Ya beat me to it. I would say for that first .3 seconds of moving, the duel snorkel would be beneficial, but after moving all of the hot air is being pushed out of the engine bay.