cone filter on MAF people...bad idea.

[doublezero30]

in the rising costs of gas i have been trying to figure out ways to gain some MPG's. i have read that putting a cone filter on my MAF (like a lot of us have done for turbo sound) could slightly decrease fuel economy. i also thought it looked pretty cheesey like that too, so i decided to throw my stock airbox back on.

WOW.

i have only been driving with this back on for a few days, but my fuel economy has gone WAY up. with the cone filter i would usually burn 1/4 tank in about 60-70 miles. today i got to the quarter tank mark and had gone 90 miles!! thats a 20-30 mile difference. which would be almost 100 miles more per tank. thats insane. and fyi i do not drive "slow" i accelerate up to speed fast, and cruise "fast". i shift between 3-4k....usually more towards 4k.

just thought you guys might find this interesting. and in terms of turbo sound with stock box vs cone filter....i really dont notice a difference. with my DV and my FMIC i can still hear the turbo perfectly fine. (yes, im stock with an FMIC...i took it off my old car, getting chipped shortly)

[A4ringedONE8T]

I cant imagine it would make that much difference. You cant ever drive exactly the same tank to tank to tell that small of a difference. Only an average per tank obviously. If your that worried about fuel costs, perhaps you should be checking out some hybrids!

[mxrz]

Or a TDI

[doublezero30]

im really not too concerned with it, but wouldnt mind more. i enjoy driving my car, and dont let gas stop me from doing so. im just trying to get max fuel economy for my style of driving. i was averaging about 20-21mpg the past 5 months with the cone filter, about 230 miles per tank (i always fill up at 1/4 tank). and these numbers were fairly constant everytime i filled up. i have NEVER, not once, gone this many miles on 1/4 tank before. granted its only 1/4 tank though...ill update how many miles i got when i fill up again.

and please, never ever mention the word hybrid to me. lol i hate those things.

[kwimberly]

Dumb question and sorry for the thread hijack - I've never heard my "turbo sound." Bone stock - am I missing something? I always have the windows up and AC blowing. Would that mask it?

[doublezero30]

Dumb question and sorry for the thread hijack - I've never heard my "turbo sound." Bone stock - am I missing something? I always have the windows up and AC blowing. Would that mask it?

bone stock you probably wouldnt hear it much. sounds make people who dont know what they are nervous, so they made it so it didnt make much sound. if you hear a faint high pitch squeal type sound, thats your turbo spooling up.

[Exanimas]

Dumb question and sorry for the thread hijack - I've never heard my "turbo sound." Bone stock - am I missing something? I always have the windows up and AC blowing. Would that mask it?

Maybe. Bone stock you can't really hear it unless you're absolutely listening for it. Stage 1 I can't really hear mine with the AC on full blast, but when it's low I can. Next time you drive keep the windows up and the AC off, then just floor it. You should hear a light whistling noise at about 3K-4K RPMs or so.

[EmoScumBag]

OEM airbox has resonators and twists and turns in it to mask the sound of the turbo spooling, along with the noise created by the DV upon the throttle closing. Aftermarket intakes usually consist of a filter, not box, allowing the 'turbo' noises to be alot of audible.

Your day to day joe buying a higher end car, like say a 1.8T A4, does not want to hear that, and if he/she did, would think something was breaking. Turbo....whats that?

[grimlock]

I've been running a cone filter/heatshield setup on my car since the very beginning of this year and haven't experienced any fuel economy issues. I routinely get 80-90 miles on a quarter tank with mixed highway/city driving (plus I have tiptronic). Maybe you're just driving more conservatively because there's no more awesome whoosh sound .

[MikTip]

... i was averaging about 20-21mpg the past 5 months with the cone filter, about 230 miles per tank ...

21 Mpg, sounds like your cone filter setup is not functioning properly...

Heat shield?

If your cone filter setup sucks in too much hot air....

Oiled cone filter?

Maybe some of the cone filters oil has gotten onto the MAF sensor?

Put back the OEM airbox, and see if it makes any difference?

[n7plus1]

^yea that...im running one too with a heatshield and havent noticed my mpgs going down?

[doublezero30]

yea i was running matts heatshield from the classifieds. there was only about 10k miles on the filter total when i took everything out and put the stock airbox back in. im waiting to see what my MPGs will be after this tank.

[04QuattroTurbo]

A high pitched squeal? I hear it, AC on windows up...sounds almost like a whistle. It maybe like that mosquito ringer that everyone <30 is not suppose to be able to hear, I'm >30 and I hear it just fine and in most instances, I feel it too!

[kdall82]

I'm running the cone filter as well. I just filled up at a little above quarter tank left and had 248 miles on that tank. I run 80-85 on freeways.

[Capt. Obvious]

I've gotten better gas mileage with a cone filter on the MAF (not a whole lot though, like 1-2mpg).