Originally Posted by AMGLover
My perspective is that Mercedes engineered the system from end to end...do you think they left resistance in the air box...that would mean lower performance, poorer fuel economy and more emissions. Please in 1998 the M112 met emission standard that the vette today does not meet.
with consideration to engine noise ... yes they would. car design is one of those processes where a group of engineers get together and make the ultimate machine they can ... then the bean counters come along and strip half its life away ... the design and testing crew choke the rest of it by imposing restrictions on how loud the engine can be under full accel ...
thats why i believe the intake design can be made better ... the intake manifold is tuned for proper length to produce the best power it can but the air cleaner assembly is tuned to restrict noise and not be too costly (hence the filters, yuck) its a delicate balance of the designers and bean counters struggling to provide the best performance for the lowest budget while maintaining a low engine noise level.
SI gained 5hp on the dyno just by taking the air cleaner assembly off ... that usually introduces a massive amount of turbulence in the intake manifold and results in high rpm losses in most cars ... so there is more than 5hp to be gained from a better design ... but also plenty of noise to be found as well (what does not sit well with me is the noise ... it has to sound right at the right times)...