? about Carbino and CAI's

[swoardrider]

I'm a little confused about running CAI's like the Carbino on our A4's. I understand the idea behind them, and can see their benefit on a naturally aspirated engine, but what I don't understand is how they can benefit a turbocharged car??
I've read the test results and see that the Carbino is a less restricted design, but isn't the idea of a turbo to basically "shove" air into the engine? Kind of like a Shop-Vac? Suck air in one side and push it out the other? I don't see how it is a benefit unless the turbo is starving for air. I also don't see how CAI's can offer colder air when that air is being pumped through a turbo that is glowing bright red!
Can anyone enlighten me please.

[Goped220]

I am going to dyno an Evoms Intake Intake and a Carbonio Intake soon i will let you know which has the most power and torque!

[vdubbin0.]

Intercoolers come into the mix also.... the more Fresh COOLER air
you pump in the better. They say for every 10 Deg. cooler you gain
10 HP. I think i remember reading that.
Having a 1.8T and doing mods with that I can tell it makes a difference.
Specially when you add a CAI, Larger Turbo inlet pipe & to help on the
other end a Larger more free flowing exhaust to get the gasses out faster.

[swoardrider]

I am going to dyno an Evoms Intake Intake and a Carbonio Intake soon i will let you know which has the most power and torque!

I would love to see these results. Stock vs. Carbino vs. Evoms, all with and without aftermarket chips and exhausts.

I see these things working great on old carbureted muscle cars where a CAI, headers, and jetting will get you 50 HP, but I just can't believe it will do anything to a turbo motor unless the turbo is starving for air. I guess I can see it for a bigger turbo kit where the stock air box isn't sufficient for the extra demand for air. Or maybe if an aftermarket chip is requesting more air, because of more boost, than the stock box can provide?? But that would mean a very restrictive box!
I've driven through some long stretches of farmland before where the butterflies were unreal. My black car was completely yellow on the front! A month after that and 1 track day later, I checked the pre-filter screen, and it was like a mass grave of butterflies in there. Never effected the car's performance. Not even on 100 octane at Thunderhill track in 100 degree heat.

Ater wasting money on putting K&N's on 2 previous cars, I now always give my EFI cars the redneck test. I take out the stock filter and run it for part of the day and see if it made a difference. With my last 4 cars including the Audi, it never did shit.

[swoardrider]

Intercoolers come into the mix also.... the more Fresh COOLER air
you pump in the better. They say for every 10 Deg. cooler you gain
10 HP. I think i remember reading that.
Having a 1.8T and doing mods with that I can tell it makes a difference.
Specially when you add a CAI, Larger Turbo inlet pipe & to help on the
other end a Larger more free flowing exhaust to get the gasses out faster.

Larger or more efficient intercoolers of course will help because the air is being cooled after the turbo. Aftermarket exhaust on some cars will help. In our case it doesn't do much, but a testpipe is huge, mostly because the turbo spools up quicker.
Is your 1.8T running the stock turbo? If so, have you ran it with everything mentioned above but with the stock airbox? I'd like to know if it makes a noticeable difference on a set up like yours.

[vdubbin0.]

it was an older set-up, but i know it made a difference going from stock to a CAI
you could feel it on the Butt-dyno.
I dont have the 1.8t anymore, i have a R32

[swoardrider]

it was an older set-up, but i know it made a difference going from stock to a CAI
you could feel it on the Butt-dyno.
I dont have the 1.8t anymore, i have a R32

When you had the 1.8T with mods did it have a bigger turbo?

[vdubbin0.]

nope stock turbo

[lnferno]

Dr Mike did a really nice article on the Carbonio intake:

http://mjbmotorsport.com/id82.html

[quattrotman]

I would love to see these results. Stock vs. Carbino vs. Evoms, all with and without aftermarket chips and exhausts.

I see these things working great on old carbureted muscle cars where a CAI, headers, and jetting will get you 50 HP, but I just can't believe it will do anything to a turbo motor unless the turbo is starving for air. I guess I can see it for a bigger turbo kit where the stock air box isn't sufficient for the extra demand for air. Or maybe if an aftermarket chip is requesting more air, because of more boost, than the stock box can provide?? But that would mean a very restrictive box!
I've driven through some long stretches of farmland before where the butterflies were unreal. My black car was completely yellow on the front! A month after that and 1 track day later, I checked the pre-filter screen, and it was like a mass grave of butterflies in there. Never effected the car's performance. Not even on 100 octane at Thunderhill track in 100 degree heat.

Ater wasting money on putting K&N's on 2 previous cars, I now always give my EFI cars the redneck test. I take out the stock filter and run it for part of the day and see if it made a difference. With my last 4 cars including the Audi, it never did shit.


I would tend to agree with you. I think most intakes are bullshit and for the most part they add what 'feels' or 'sounds' like more power but deliver very little. I do think that a less restrictive filter system will assist airflow to prevent the TIP from collapsing at high boost levels but otherwise, I got my carbonio because it sounds cool and really makes the engine bay look good. I noticed no power gain whatso ever.

[b6onboost]

Any air temperature reduction that may be associated with a CAI is negated because the turbo superheats the air. The turbo itself is hot from the exhaust mani and spinning so fast. Also, the outcome of compressing air is that its temperature rises. Thats why we have intercoolers.

However, if you free up the path to and from the turbo, ie intake, tip, IC, piping...the turbo will be able to breathe more efficiently and you will see power increases. Even an FMIC alone will drop your air temps and you'll notice gains. For optimal results add full exhaust...really get her breathing.

Most 'butt dyno' gains are more of 'ear' dyno gains, because the intake makes your car sound faster. My carbonio made no gains on stock programing. Once chipped 1+ i figured that with 20lbs of boost if I switched back to the factory box i'd notice a performance decrease, not the case...car felt the same, just didn't sound as cool.

[swoardrider]

Any air temperature reduction that may be associated with a CAI is negated because the turbo superheats the air. The turbo itself is hot from the exhaust mani and spinning so fast. Also, the outcome of compressing air is that its temperature rises. Thats why we have intercoolers.

However, if you free up the path to and from the turbo, ie intake, tip, IC, piping...the turbo will be able to breathe more efficiently and you will see power increases. Even an FMIC alone will drop your air temps and you'll notice gains. For optimal results add full exhaust...really get her breathing.

Intakes sound and look nice but since the stock box is pretty efficient, yeild little power increases if any.

That was exactly my point, earlier. CAI is useless, unless turbo is starving for air, because turbo negates cold intake. Cooling is done by intercooler. But maybe GoPed220's dyno testing will prove us all wrong.

Anyone notice a difference with Carbino on a KO4 setup?

[Goped220]

we will see the dyno doesnt lie! we all know!

[b6onboost]

maybe GoPed220's dyno testing will prove us all wrong.

yeah, but no 2 dyno runs are the same. even if you make 3 runs back to back...allowing time for cooling in between...you're still going to see a variance in hp/tq. so its going to be hard to pinpoint whether an extra 5hp actually comes from the intake.

but I ofcourse would love to see the data.

[Goped220]

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[DenverNoob]

Dr. Mikes writeup is great, but i feel it has one major shortcomming. that being, airflow over the MAF is registered...and just because more air is registered by a few g/s, does NOT mean there is an increase in performance. the manner in which air passes the MAF (i.e. its turbulance) can affect its reading. My opinion, FWIW, is that potentially, the Carbonio did one of two things...further streamline the airflow, or dissrupt it...either of which could have challeneged the readings as compared to stock. regardless, a few g/s will NOT have a tangible affect on power IMO.

2nd point....
I have tested the EVOMS on my b6 and found.....well......nothing! the car made approx 1.5 more WHP with the intake...not significant in the least for two different days...regardless of similar ambient conditions.

3rd point....
a dyno is a very difficult place to test any intake for a few reasons...

1: airflow is not as it would be on the street...period. it is nearly impossible to accurately duplicate the wind force (and its subsequent positive affect on intake performance) of a thrid gear pull out on the street.

2: this is forced induction...it is likewise nearly impossible to get an auccurate reading...because IATs are higher than they would be for the above mentioned reason....in this case the air flowing over the intercoolers is the issue.

3: there are many other reasons...if you want to hear them, ill be glad to visit that when im not at work.

[quattshot]

Ummm, wasnt there already a DYNO test write-up on the Carbonio already???
Wasn't the test result showing not much difference at all???
In essence, purchase an intake for the "Sound" not "performance".
Facts are the only two upgrades that give you the BIGGEST bank for the buck is the TESTPIPE & ECU FLASH. Everything else will just give really cool sounds (exhaust,intake). Not bashing, just talking outloud. lol