Buying an intake SOON, choosing between 3... quick advise needed!

[EUROaleksey]

I need one now, since its time to replace my drop in K&N.. here are my options:

#1: evoMS
#2: lltek (very similar to evoMS)
#3: carbonio

#4 would be a boosted tech.. but im scared :(

I know that there are most likely no gains, maybe better throttle response... but i want the sound.... Im leaning towards 1st two honestly... ive heard issues with evoMS kit, not enough hardware to mount it..... and i heard nothing about lltek's open intake.., but it looks pretty good.. And boosted tech is what i really want but i dont want to risk it, hydrolock is scary.. and living in michigan - its very possible..

heatshield im getting from one of the AZ'ers here, proven to work.... so which intake would u recommend?

and if u'd be so kind, where's the cheapest place to get them? i found evoMS at www.supremepowerparts.com, for 270$... is that a good deal?

lltek won't negotiate and stands firm on 300$... bastards..

anyways, responses would be apreciated.... thanks guys

[Groove1797]

If you want a decrease in hp go 1 or 2 and no gains 3

[18tboost]

some say really no gain, but i like the sound of it....i think most ppl mod it here anyways one way or the other so if i were u, go with the EVO

[Smiley]

if ur gettin the heatshield, just make ur own intake then

[pfeifstudd]

Go with the EVOMS one. It looks slick and fitment is nice.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

custom FTW and y u replacing ur K&N they last 1,000,000 miles, maybe u need to clean it, but thats it it's reusable!

[fbottone]

I just did a $10 purolator filter stuck on the end of the MAF after taking out the airbox, I can't believe I didn't do this sooner...I still don't understand why people say the stock airbox is better.

Noticeably better throttle response all around and the pull is completely smooth and slightly stronger now, even almost as high as 5k. The weird pinging I had with my APR 1+ but no supporting mods around 3k is completely gone too.

It is a little ghetto, I held it on with a bungee cord (no pics yet, it just happened), but I'm not taking it off for sure. I also took the flap out of the passenger side fog light grille to get a little more air up towards there, as I don't have a heat shield yet.

The part number I used was a purolator I picked up at a local Pep Boys, #A25405

[A4 KiDD 810]

The lltek open air is nasty, my friend got a real nice deal on a used one for $100, anyway he put it on his b5 and the damn thing sounds like it has a blow off valve now lol and he has a stock diverter. Also gives the engine a more "tuned" kinda sound when he revs it and it sounds good when he's driving. I say lltek.

[A4ringedONE8T]

Carbonio or nothing

[A4 KiDD 810]

I just did a $10 purolator filter stuck on the end of the MAF after taking out the airbox, I can't believe I didn't do this sooner...I still don't understand why people say the stock airbox is better.

Noticeably better throttle response all around and the pull is completely smooth and slightly stronger now, even almost as high as 5k. The weird pinging I had with my APR 1+ but no supporting mods around 3k is completely gone too.

It is a little ghetto, I held it on with a bungee cord (no pics yet, it just happened), but I'm not taking it off for sure. I also took the flap out of the passenger side fog light grille to get a little more air up towards there, as I don't have a heat shield yet.

The part number I used was a purolator I picked up at a local Pep Boys, #A25405

So all you did was fit a cone filter onto the end of your MAF ? how hard was the airbox to get off ? What about that little thing that alot of open air intakes come with- it looks like a mini filter... I've read the DIY on doing this but it seemed alot more complicated, if its really that easy then i might actually do it.

[J-jizzle]

So all you did was fit a cone filter onto the end of your MAF ? how hard was the airbox to get off ? What about that little thing that alot of open air intakes come with- it looks like a mini filter... I've read the DIY on doing this but it seemed alot more complicated, if its really that easy then i might actually do it.

Bout as easy as changing your oil and replacing a DV. You can get the small filter at autozone or off line.

[fbottone]

Right...I got a small breather filter from pep boys too, but it didn't fit so I've left it unfiltered for now.

The airbox is really easy to take out, some phillips screws is all I remember. There are some notches in the filter that the small bungee cord I used fell into - the ends of the bungee attach to the screw holes in the MAF. (Yes, yes, I know, its rigged up pretty good). For the cost of investment (< $20 out the door), I would honestly give this a shot before spending more money.

That small hose/intake is for the Secondary Air Injection, which should only run in some cases on cold startup to help warm up the cat. Shouldn't be much air flow going through it and the amount of particles that would be trapped by the filter is little to none, since I wait for the car to warm up a bit before driving if the SAI pump is on. You can definitely hear it when the SAI pump is running and the engine is idling.

I don't see how the Carbonio is much different than the stock airbox, but I had a K&N drop in panel filter (came with the car) and recently switched to an AEM Dryflow panel filter, which is synthetic media thats just like paper but you wash it with dish soap to clean. No oiling necessary.

I don't need a dyno to tell me that the performance is better now than it was with the stock airbox. I was having problems where I needed to run the APR 91 program otherwise I would get a TON of pinging around 3k if I gave it too much throttle, even though I was using 93 octane...either VPower or Mobil. This was not over the course of one or two tanks either, this was for a few months, and it still did it a little running the 91 program. I have been waiting to save up for an intercooler, thinking that would really help my issue - but this *completely* got rid of all the pinging there, and the added increase in performance that goes along with that is readily noticeable.

Just my 0.02.

[A4 KiDD 810]

^pmed you

[FireWire]

Carbonio or nothing

^^

[grimlock]

Bout as easy as changing your oil and replacing a DV. You can get the small filter at autozone or off line.

Sorry to threadjack, but do you by any chance know what the appropriate size for this filter is? When I took off my airbox I just left this thing open. I know, not a great idea, and fortunately it hasn't caused any issues yet (KoW) but I need to fix it.

[A4 KiDD 810]

^x2 the diameter or whatever of the filter would be good so we know what size and we can just buy any brand

[fbottone]

I don't know off hand what the size of the breather tube is. I got one locally but it was a bit too small, I'll have to check the store to see what the diameter was as I have already tossed the packaging.

[A4 KiDD 810]

I cant get the freaking airbox off. I cant get that plastic tube for the secondary air intake off, and I cant get the big tube that goes into the MAF off.

[fbottone]

You'll have to use some force to break the seal for the intake tube itself (the bigger one).

Be careful with the smaller one, you need to squeeze two pinch points (they are ribbed) to release the clips, but you will break it if you pull too hard.

[grimlock]

I cant get the freaking airbox off. I cant get that plastic tube for the secondary air intake off, and I cant get the big tube that goes into the MAF off.

This is a dumb question, but I assumed you've removed all the screws right?

[B6driver]

what size of the innder diameter of the small filter you used?

[pondside36]

I went with the Evoms... and I noticed the same throttle response increase as Fbottone... it gives it that little bit of sound you hear on other turbo cars if you are looking for that. It looks smooth too...

[pondside36]

Also remember to grab the two little rubber bushings off the bottom of the old air box to secure the supplied heat shield to the frame rail... this messed me up

[mattman]

EvoMS stopped making those "Cold Air" intakes for us.

[Colt556]

I went with Carbonio. It was a little tricky to fit and the hardware they sent wasn't quite the right size but I like it. It sounds good, throttle respones is better and looks pretty good in the engine bay.

[micdabizzle]

is there really no cold air intake for b6??? is hard to install??

[pondside36]

EvoMS stopped making those "Cold Air" intakes for us.

I only bought mine about a month ago and it is the revised edition, the one before had the u-bend adaptor...

[AudiA4Turbo22]

so what are the effects of leaving the secondary air pump unfiltered? right now i'm using a breather that i wrapped with some black tape and smashed in there, tell u the truth when i had it off it had more boost! maybe i'm loosin it!

[fbottone]

You shouldn't really notice a difference in boost, no air should go through there (it is unmetered = not going through the main tube with the MAF sensor).

99% of the air going into the engine while you are on the road is through the main inlet tube, but in the morning under certain conditions when you start up your car, the SAI pump will run for the first few minutes because the cat is cold. This is the only time unfiltered air will be reaching your engine and usually you are not on the road yet for dirt/debris to get in. Once it shuts off, you are getting filtered air again.

I don't plan on leaving it like this way, I'll fix it today now that I have time, but I'm about to do the same deal as you with the electrical tape to make it fit.

I will let you know if I notice any changes from that, but I wouldn't expect it to.

[pondside36]

My evoms came with the breather filter.. I've heard you can purchase one from autozone or what not, but what I did was cut the hard plastic piece with the elbow attachment off and then pushed the breather filter in with a hose clamp to secure..

[AudiA4Turbo22]

thanx dude!

[KPC1.8TQuat]

Just clean your K&N and use the stock air box. It's the one thing Audi got right with this car.

[fbottone]

Just clean your K&N and use the stock air box. It's the one thing Audi got right with this car.

You really can't say that unless you've tried something else - see my above posts (I've tried several drop in panel filter upgrades).

Its probably right for a car thats boosting 10psi but if you start to mod, think about ditching the airbox....

[KPC1.8TQuat]

You really can't say that unless you've tried something else - see my above posts (I've tried several drop in panel filter upgrades).

Its probably right for a car thats boosting 10psi but if you start to mod, think about ditching the airbox....

Well the guys at the shop I go to (east coast european in Greenland, NH) are known for building 500+ awhp S4's and they use stock air boxes with K&N filters. The only after market air box they would even consider using is a Carbonio.

To each his own, but you are probably just going to break even in power and throttle response going from stock to something else with regard to the OE air box. Actually, you might suck up more dust/dirt/road crap, so you got that going for you.

[EBG 18T]

You really can't say that unless you've tried something else - see my above posts (I've tried several drop in panel filter upgrades).

Its probably right for a car thats boosting 10psi but if you start to mod, think about ditching the airbox....

When the stage 3 cars runing GT series turbo's are not seeing measurable gains with the addition of the intake (vs the stock airbox) it can summarized that almost anyone on a k03/04 turbo isn't going to gain much. My data logs showed i gained ~5-10g/ml of airflow at the MAF with the carbonio vs the oem intake. If you consider 5-10g's a big deal then great. But otherwise it doesn't really do much, and yes i have the carbonio. Some cars have seen an increase in intake temps with the aftermarket intakes vs oem air box. An increase in air temp is never a good thing in this situation.

[KPC1.8TQuat]

^^^ couldn't have said it better myself. Stock air box is the way to go.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

remember 400HPA4 on this forum always says the stock boxes are good for up to 400HP! plus they do a great job at deterring turbo heat from the airbox!

[vdubstreets]

Carbonio or nothing

yea i just hate how they fade :(

[fbottone]

When the stage 3 cars runing GT series turbo's are not seeing measurable gains with the addition of the intake (vs the stock airbox) it can summarized that almost anyone on a k03/04 turbo isn't going to gain much. My data logs showed i gained ~5-10g/ml of airflow at the MAF with the carbonio vs the oem intake. If you consider 5-10g's a big deal then great. But otherwise it doesn't really do much, and yes i have the carbonio. Some cars have seen an increase in intake temps with the aftermarket intakes vs oem air box. An increase in air temp is never a good thing in this situation.

I agree, but how exactly does one measure throttle response on a dyno? The MAF should still see the same amount of air, because the N75 is going to leave the wastegate open longer to build up the boost that that the MAP sensor is looking for...

I just don't understand how people are telling me that because a high HP car used the stock airbox is saying that I didn't actually feel the gains that I did - it just doesn't make sense. I had originally listened to the advice, but got bored and started messing around since it is so cheap - if I knew it made this much of a difference I would have done it as soon as I got the car. Not trying to make any arguments here, but I *did* notice a pretty big difference (improvement) over the stock airbox...