Hi all,

I recently purchased an SL 55 intake setup, complete with K&N's, airboxes, y pipe, and tubing. I decided to go this route because a) I read a few posts mentioning that performance was similar to the single CAI and b) I want to minimize the supercharger whine the best I can.

I noticed many of the SL 55 intake owners are running with TVT tubes and NW devils horns. The tubes apparently to help the air flow better and the horns to collect more of the air coming in the front of the car, potentially "forcing" it in at higher speeds.

I have gotten a few opinions from some running the setup. Everyone recommends them, but nobody really has any detailed information as to if these things really do help. I have priced the tubes and horns to be a whopping $300 extra on top of the $400 I paid for the intake setup. This makes it pretty close the price of a NW dual (which I'm hesitant to get because of the terrible supercharger whine).

So, question 1: theoretically, I'm sure this setup *probably* helps for the reasons I listed above. But for the experts out there, are we talking about a minuscule gain, or something closer to the performance of the dual CAI? And question 2: will the supercharger whine be more pronounced with this straighter aluminum tubing and horns?

I realize people wouldn't have had something like this dyno'ed (and wouldn't tell the whole story either), I'm just trying to get a feel for it. If I'm only going to gain 2 rwhp from $300 worth of "mods", then it isn't worth it.

Thanks for any and all feedback.

 

In order to get rid of the "terrible lol" supercharger whine you'll probably have to use something that's going to restrict the airflow. I do not have the 55 intake, but everyone tells me it's damn near equal to the gains the n/w cai.

 

Thirteen, I guess terrible is a bit strong... I don't mind a little whine but I'd like to suppress it as much as I can without being overly detrimental to performance. This is the main reason why I didn't go with the dual.

And yes, I've heard and read that the SL 55 is nearly idential to the single CAI... but again that is not including the tvt tubes or devils horns. My question is if they help substantially, or not much at all.

 

Ah my mistake, I misunderstood your question. Personally I don't thing the TVT tubes would make a bit a difference over any othere ss or aluminum tube you might want to use. I believe the Devil Horns are definately required for this application though.

I've riden with Steve (32Krazy) and I didn't notice much of a whine from his CAI.

 

I have them, can't say if they add any HP over the plastic ones, but they sure look good. And you are correct, you will not even hear a hint of supercharger whine....I miss it!!!

 

BLKFIN, that setup looks great... did you get the mounting brackets from TVT as well? Every weekend I tell myself that I'm going to install this intake setup and I still haven't because I can't figure out how to mount those airboxes properly... Sometimes I wish there was a detailed setup floating around out there in forumland...

 

No, I did not. 240M3SRT made them. I think there is a thread somewhere on here with a "how too" . I know MikeR and BrianBrave made brackets at some point, you may want to check their galleries and PM them.

 

Another thing to add to the list of questions... can you see the devils horns through the stock grill if you're looking at the car head-on? Or do they poke out a little on the sides?

 

Nope, they are hidden. I trimmed my stock grill slightly to open up air flow in the area that the devil horns are. You would not see it unless I pointed it out. Hang tight, I will shoot a quick picture and post it.

 

Thanks BLKFIN for the pic. You're right, they're hardly visible at all.

NW has a choice between teflon coated and just plain aluminum for the devils horns. Hmm, I wonder...

 

Since I have both the SL55 with TVT tubes and devil horns and the NW Dual CAI, I can give you a couple of performance comparisons....

I was running the stock SL55 intake on the Aero for quite a while and it did very good..... I got the Aero down to 12.06sec @ 114mph last year with that and my other mods.... could not really hear the SC whine with this setup.......

Then NW came out with the Dual CAI and I swtiched over..... I got to try it at the track at the end of the season and ran 11.96sec @ 113.9 on back to back runs... .... you can hear the SC whine with this setup.....

I installed the SL55 with TVT tubes and NW devil horns on the stock SSB and ran a 12.8sec @ 109.7mph two weeks ago.... I never ran it stock at the track so cant tell you what improvement it was... no SC whine, but definite increase in power.....

I like them both. The NW Dual is a better performer, from my expierence, but you will be happy with the SL55 intake.... you can always add the TVT tubes and devil horns later....(like I did).....

 

Excellent feedback Mike. So in your opinion, did the tubes/horns help substantially? Can you feel any difference at all compared to the stock sl55 setup? It seems that you noticed no difference in sound/whine between the stock sl55 and the sl55 w/tvt tubes... is this true?

If it does provide even a little bit on the butt dyno, I might as well just buy the tubes/horns and install everything at once, rather than waiting. Hence, my questions...

 

Even though mine is not supercharged, I plan on doing the devil-horns before too long.

My current setup puts the TVT intake tubes *just* behind the core support (maybe 1/2"), but with no straight shot to the outside air. Once the car gets moving, there is more than enough cool air coming in and the gap becomes moot.

Having said all of that, I plan on installing them simply to complete the job. At a standstill, there is potential for the intake tubes I'm using to suck in a wisp or two of hot air from the radiator area... DH's would eliminate that and prodive an uninhibited path to cool clean air.

As for dyno #'s, I can't imagine them giving you much of an increase when you're strapped to the rollers with no REAL air ramming into the front.

At 120mph, however, I'm sure the funneling effect would realize significant gains.

 

Ah, ram air is it a hit or a myth? There is a long thread on it and you would be wise read it and see if the horns help. I will give you a hint, no.
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...t-ram-air.html

 

In Ontario, they don't even let you drive fast enough to enjoy the effects of ram-air, LOL.

If cold air is cold air, and ram air is bunk, then why do SN95 Mustang owners upgrade to a shaker-style intake and notice huge gains? The intake manifold stays the same, so the only variable is the inlet gulping in copious amounts of clean, high-speed air.

It's interesting that so many automotive corporations have invested billions in R&D to incorporate inlets, scoops and louvres into their hoods, if ram-air was indeed such a farce. After all, if it was only about "cool" air, companies would have just run a refridgerant line through the intake. To wit, most end up running a line from the radiator, effectively heating the intake charge. So you can't tell me that the desire to suck wind from the front is all in folly.

 

I imagine ram air as being similar to scooping up table tennis ***** with a big scoop, sure some go into the funnel but most just roll of one another and pass by the scoop. In real life the "*****" are smaller and weigh next to nothing and do not like to be compressed or make a vacuum, they just roll of one another and bypass the scoop.
Franc still has not posted the definitive rule, "Francs Ram Air Rule" (FRAR) and has all but conceded defeat on it, read his last posts in the thread.
As to scoops on car hoods, they look neat and cost a pretty penny as options, if I paid that much for one then my wallet would be x amount lighter and I would expect it or convince myself that it was worthwhile. Remember in some cases in the good old days these were CAI's replacing the round can on top of the engine and many not functional at all. The development that went into them was in the accounting department "how much can we rip the customer off for this?
F1 cars in all the eras (S/C or na) had small scoops, surely we would have seen scoops with defined funnels if it did any good.
A devils horn would work if you were scooping up corn but for air its a waste of time, it serves as a waste of energy (weight) rather than creating more. By the time air has got to the opening its rolled of the side.
Franc's max boost was about .2 lb/ sq in you can get that difference on a 400 foot hill from top to bottom.
I really like your setup and I would like to get one just like it in the near future, Beaner thinks it's great as well.
I cannot see spending good money on something that is not proven, but if you insist I will sell you a chip that boosts horse power and gas mileage by 25- 75% for $15 ( Paypal accepted) and that's a lot cheaper than your add on kit and it works, trust me.

 

i have the devil horns (cost110$) and built my own tubes cost (20$) . doubt i would spend 300$ for the setup.

 

Mike it would be a treat of you installed the dual NW intake on your stock SSB, then did a run I wonder if it will make a difference? Personally I think it'l be identical, meaning the SL55 intake is equally as good

 

 

Well, I'm kinda mixed now. I read the thread about the ram air myth, and it does seem to make sense. When you think about it though, it seems counterintuitive... you'd think funneling the air and allowing the air to flow into the tubes at a faster rate you'd help the supercharger suck up more air in the process. It seems that this isn't the case.

For the high price of the tubes and the horns, I think I will not go with them after all. If we were talking $50-100, I would do it even if it was pseudoscience... but not for a penny more than that. TVT wants $130 for the tubes alone.

Thanks to all for the input.