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Colder air intake invention?

1.4K views 10 replies 10 participants last post by  dropthattaco  
#1 ·
i kno this might be a little crazy but what if you were to get a small hose coming from your AC runing all the way to your intake box... and im thinking of a small hose so you wont feel a difference in your car when you turn on the air... figuring this would help bring the air to a colder state when entering the engine... and why do manufactures make an intake black, doesnt black absorb more heat? and rubber... wouldnt another material other then rubber be better to stop heat? especially when the rubber piece goes slightly over the engine... a disadvantage is for those people who live in cold areas that like to turn on their heaters, but i live in Miami so I dont have that problem... but if you live in a cold area you wouldnt need to do this...
 
#3 ·
Were you planning on just running a length of tubing through the stock airbox? If so I don't think it would help much. The air would not be in contact with the "Cool" long enough. I would think you would have to have an intercooler-type set up to make a difference. Probably a lot easier to run an intake to a spot where there is (Relatively) cooler air to draw from in the first place. Also the power drain from having the compressor going would outweigh any benefits.
 
#4 ·
for the color of the intake question, it wouldnt matter much, black absorbs light, and thus the radiant heat that comes with it. Under the hood it wouldnt make any difference, if you wanted to cool everything down, then just make an airbox out of some sheet aluminum or something. Or since youre in Miami you can be like the central american guys that think theyre still in the jungle and put an intake snorkel on your daily driver. I wish I had a dollar for every range rover, montero, and pathfinder roaming these streets with a snorkel for no reason.
 
#5 ·
that's hilarious! kinda like 4wd trucks with dayton wires and low pro tires that stick out 2", or slammed 2wd with complete chrome brush guard/nerf/roll bar set up, same rims and tires, usually accompanied by every other bolt/stick on accessory from the local pep boys, auto zone, kragen, etc...
 
#6 ·
dea7hwish, on my 95 V6 taco, I removed the windshield washer bottle and extended the air intake into that area. I didn't really notice any differences. Mt inner fender wells were cutout though so maybe that's why I couldn't tell a diffrence. The intake was already getting fresh air just by sitting above the tires.

I saw a 4x4 Isuzu lifted about 6" on stock tires yesterday with a snorkel above the roof with a filter on top of it. Definately a good laugh.
 
#7 ·
i agree that it would get colder air to the engine if you would route the tube to the intake manifold/supercharger instead of the airbox. maybe right before the throttle body. but then it wont be filtered, unless there was an air filter in the a/c unit. i dont know. youve also got to consider that the power you gain by having colder air might be lessened or even not noticed because you have your a/c compressor on using hp. unless you could get a compressor setup that doesnt use hp. maybe solar...hmm...
 
#8 ·
well, i dont think that just a hose would do it, but do you remember the old safari vans with dual zone (front and rear) climate control? those vans had a conventional a/c system except for the fact that it had two seperate evaporators (one for each zone). perhaps if you wanted to do some heavy engineering, you could incorporate a second evaporator into your a/c system, except, instead of putting it in the car --like in the safari-- you could put the evaporator in your intake tube. its just a thought, but it might work. if i got too tachnical there, you will have to forgive me, but i am a mechanic..... anyway, if there is any insight on this topic, please pm me for further queries.
 
#9 ·
If your gonna do that just go ahead and inclose the coil in a custom built airbox so all the incoming air flows thru the coil. It's the same way your a/c works in your car or home. It would be alot simpler to do than it sounds.
 
#10 ·
I'm sure it has been thought of before, to use the ac to cool your intake charge. I don't think it can make much of a difference when you're talking about that much volume of air passing thru the system. It sounds great, how about using your ac as an ic? I'd say spending $600 on a propane kit and running 9.5-13 lbs of boost would be much more cost effective and realistic. $100 for egt, $200 for dyno, and $100 for smaller pulley. You could always try the AC thing, but nobody has any success stories that I've heard of.