Skunk2 CAI
 

Just ordered the Skunk2 CAI.. anyone have one? Like/dislike?

Cancel the order ASAP and get a better flowing filter for the arguably better bone stock CAI.

skunk2 airbox is VERY turbolent and requires a very different maf scaling and you ll notice lack of smoothness at normal driving
it gives something at upper rpm though

Its not a daily driver for me so I suppose there's that... but a better flowing filter? I havent been able to find explicit details on the filter itself but the filer should be interchangeable, no?

I could see that i suppose with a wider mouth in the bumper versus the stock snorkel... but then again, would turbulence in the airbox really matter? its just colder air available and its relative 'stability' is irrelevant until its passed through the filter... same as if your filter/turbo intake were exposed..? also the stock intake tube does air flow no favors with its various ribbing and uneven walls.

By better flowing filter he means something that replaces the OEM one, something like TRD, K&N, HKS, etc. The OEM box its already a CAI system in itself with the intake being in front of the hood. Unless you plan to get a tune that specifically caters every single performance part you have on the vehicle, the gains from a 300$ CAI vs a 50$ filter are negligible if nor marginal.
Edit: If you add an inlet tube from say, Perrin, which is about 70$ or so. makes for a less than 150$ CAI with the same gains as 300$ CAI. With no tune or significant MAF re-scaling.

For turbulence, imagine it like you're drinking through a straw. Near the bottom of the drink you apply suctions hoping to get a consistent flow or fluid, but since it's disrupted by air pockets (turbulence) your suction rapidly increases/decreases because the source is turbulent. Your MAF is your mouth. The source is the airbox. The car is tuned for a consistent and repeatable airflow pattern, not some random wild west shootout of " WELL, you'll probably get between this much and this much intermittently". Your ECu will say " Just throw a lot of fuel at it in case" and your car will drive hesitantly as it experiences lack of fuel ,or too much fuel, each time you press the gas.

Granted, it's not like this will mean the car drives like garbage. It'll drive like normal but you'll see subtle nuances upon acceleration that weren't there before; some stumbly, erroneous behavior.

This lean/rich pattern will also lead to fouling out your plugs early because they'll be soaked with gas

This lean/rich pattern will mean your cylinders receive more carbon deposits than usual

This lean/rich pattern can be completely avoided by using a stock air intake setup.

Gotcha, so i ordered an OFT v2 as well.. ive already got an invidia UEL uncat'd header, ucat'd overpipe, and a muffler delete with a single resonator from the overpipe back.. so it desperately needs a tune...

I agree about the tunning part, here's some critical info regarding your future OFT. Straight from the website.


Stage 2+ Hardware Requirements:

• Aftermarket CAT-LESS header. *Any exhaust modifications after the header is also compatible
• Stock Airbox (with or without aftermarket drop-in panel filter)
• Premium grade fuel

OFT does not support CAIs with their canned tunes. You would have to pay extra money for custom e-tune that would cater the Skunk2. Another route would be EcuTek with a tuner that would take into consideration all your bolt-ons.

It would seem to me that the filter itself (upsream of the MAF) is the place at which the turbulent air becomes more uniform on induction as it physically passes through the filter. So the filter itself, be it a cone or a flat filter, is going to inherently remove most of not all of the turbulence? i mean, we just simply dealing with 2 different zones in terms of pressure right? behind the filter low pressure/vacuum and pre-filter high pressure/excess air waiting to hit the filter?

the other subtle difference it the 'velocity stack' style intake tube on the skunk2... i think its 1/2-3/4" difference/taper between the filter and the throttle body.. so that could also be considered turbulence in a way.. I dont know though for sure, im not a scientist nor do i have the tools to validate any of this for certain.. its just the factory snorkel seems SOOO underwhelming and under engineered..

Awesome! yea was planning on stage2+... now the skunk2 does have an insert to nerf some of the excess air that would otherwise be there due to the larger diameter intake tubing on the filter side.. its got some baffles as well as a reduced diameter.. thats an easy insert/remove post install to compensate for a full on tune (non off the shelf), if in fact its running/performing oddly..

Right, the saving grace here is that you have a filter that's helping. That's why the car doesn't immediately drive like a turd. The filter is definitely helping to mitigate this, but it does not resolve the problem.

I'm also not a scientist, engineer, or wizard; I'm just going by what I've learned in nearly 2 decades of seeing these threads in different platforms. I have no data plots nor evidence to support what I know, so I won't be offended if you ignore me or don't take my research findings to heart.

I mean, don't get me or anyone else that suggests sticking with the OEM box wrong. The reason is mainly due to the benefits and gains from AM vs OEM+ (Filter+Tube) are marginally the same with OEM being twice as cheap. Does it make it sound nice? Yes. Does it improve the power? Yes, maybe, after custom tune and MAF rescaling, which will probably take a while to squeeze after many data logging. Does it make the engine bay look sexy? Fck yes. At the end of the day do what makes you feel right. CAIs are rather a delicate topic in these forums since they haven't really proved anything significant that would make the community support them 100%.

Honestly I agree. I think for me at least this is a big part of the journey and the learning process and im excited for it! Might go forced induction in a couple years anyway so this is really about having fun and learning. With the OFT v2, I can at least check AFRs etc and kinda live it and learn it!