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Weapon R S2000 intake and shift light, HEAVY on pics
After a year of research and tinkering with the idea of flow vs. cooler air, short ram vs. long-tubed, etc., I believe I have finally (deep breath here) found a system I can be happy with. All the benefits of a short-ram (better flow #'s, throttle response, etc) with the plus' of a long-tubed system (cooler air). For those with a mouse in one hand and a frosty libation in the other, feel free to continue...this will be lengthy simply because it might make for a good reference in the archives down the road for someone who might stumble on some of these pics and wonder "what kind of intake is that?"
After nearly 18 months of modifying six assorted intakes in search of the "perfect" kit for me, I settled on five principal elements of intake design I felt neccessary for me to be satisfied:: 1. It had to be a short ram (better CFM #'s)
2. It had to offer a way to get air from the front of the car directly into the filter
3. It had to be a high quality, well designed foam filter, no more paper filters that filter better with age thus losing power from the first day of install.
4. I needed to have the ability to shut off air flow in front of the car in case of standing water or excessive rain.
See above ram air kit pic (covered).
When I first began compiling S2000 intake info, I had seen only one other S2000 with the Weapon R intake and I don't think the owner had the option (at that time) of utilizing their ducting kit because I don't think Weapon R even had it on the market at that time (but don't quote me on that). I passed on the kit because a year ago, I couldn't nail down an engine block heat shield I felt was a REQUIREMENT for a short ram. So, I went with the "filter in a canister" PRM and subsequently spent the next six months modifying it to a degree that I felt was as far as I could advance it. It was a very nice intake but for me, it still lacked elements #2-4 above. Well, to push this thread forward, while browsing in a local tuner shop, I came across a simple Weapon R intake accessory ducting kit with a rectangular air entry box (again, see above pic). I made a mental note, went home and proceeded to spend two weeks learning as much as I could about Weapon R's approach to intake/filter design and browsed various forums where enthusiastic owners were raving about the 3-piece kit (if ordered all at once)...that being the CAI kit itself, coupled with the air director ducting and filter heat shield. Once I was satisfied this intake had met all of my elements above (1-4), I began to trace how I could attach the ducting to the front of the car and make it look ok. Most any experienced tuner will tell you for the most efficient intake, you've got to get as much cooler air as possible into the filter, no matter where the location. I personally feel short ram intakes with the ability to draw air from the front of the car are a better choice than long-tubed intakes which place the filter in a vulnerable position down low. This is just my own opinion and not meant to imply those systems are not well thought out and executed. With a short ram, you get the flow #'s they're most noted for, but in turn (in most cases anyway), those positive flow #'s are offset by the location of the filter atop the engine bay. Not good. It's like wiping your ass while holding your toothbrush.
So, to DECREASE the negatives of the short ram system you have to address its two fundamental flaws...positioning which creates heat soak and distance away from a cool air source. With a heat shield around the filter
AND ducting in a GREAT location (not good location....good isn't enough) a short ram now
becomes a marriage of both worlds. With the ZTEC industries heat shield (Rick's Accessories), those nasty
engine block temps are beaten back by as much as 65-ambient degrees. This shield is literally a MUST have if you plan on going the short ram route. You can literally feel the climate change from one side of it to the
other just by waving your hand across the shield. I chose kevlar (Spoon style).
I'd like to take the time to go over the pics with you to explain the stages.
I chose polished tubing because frankly speaking, I don't like candy coated pipes in my engine bay. I once saw a Grand National with polished everything and just about crapped my pants it looked so good. Ever since then, I think an engine bay looks best when pipes look like pipes and not licorice sticks. Anyways, the hoses all fit as one would expect and I took the time to add an additional bracket to support the filter but did NOT tighten it enough so to prevent the entire assembly from moving with the engine. Definitely
a no-no to have an intake pipe which doesn't move.
The filter is a foam filter and I'm telling you what...I will NEVER go back to a K&N style filter. This is another topic altogether, but a year or two ago it dawned on me while browsing through about 100 tuner mags that it seemed like every highly tuned car from a Japanese tuner utilized a foam intake. So, heading back to the internet, I spent a month or two researching the pros and cons of the debate and finally decided when done RIGHT, a foam filter is superior to a K&N style filter. To be fair, I plan on buying a new filter once/year so once I made up my mind about that, going with the filter which offers the greatest flow AND filtration was a no-brainer. Again, if you're going short-ram, you've got to isolate the filter and that's where the clear (in this case, they offer colors) heat shield comes into play.
This shield TOTALLY encompasses the filter. After a quick 15 minute ride (Tazzo runs, info to follow), I pulled over, opened the hood and did some temp readings. The shield was significantly warmer than the filter area within. Nice work.
From the shield, we have the beginning of the ducting. It snakes down into the wheel well (had to remove the bumper). There is a middle section in the frame, a thin piece that (to me) appeared to have no structural necessity, so I cut it to make room for the ducting (without crimping). From that point, I snaked it down to the plastic underbody and dremeled a hole just large enough for the ducting to pass through.
From there, it ends in front of the reinstalled Grille Tech grille which I cut to fit the rectangular box of the Weapon R. I modified the box so it sits on the front side of the grille which allowed me to utilize the grille itself as a fly barrier. This is what I would normally call the "normal" position but when in "racing" mode, that grille section will be removed for totally clear access to the air box.
Will it make a difference? You better believe it. Before I installed the assembly, I created a test to measure the difference between having the air box
without a grille and having it in place. A thin piece of paper attached to a piece of tape was placed in front of the top part of the ducting (intake side). When air was blown through the ducting at the entrance point (grille side) with the grille section in place, the paper bent to a 5 o'clock position. When I took the grille insert away from the air box, and recommenced the test, the paper immediately went to the 3 o'clock position with a slight bend towards 2 o'clock...it was quite clear not having the insert grille in place is the most efficient way to get as much air into the intake as possible. IOW, this would be the ideal "street racing" or drag-strip set-up. Most other times, having the insert grille in place would be a normal operating condition.
What does it sound like? A notch more aggressive than my previous system but then again, I run dual Supertrapps (12 discs)
and my sound is NOT for the stealthies. It's a sound that at VTEC, clearly will turn heads (and ears) which probably mean it's the kind of combo that would only appeal to one out of every six or seven S2000 owners. VERY aggressive. It snarls and has a very deep burble around 3-4,000 rpms. Once you get past 6K, it growls all the way to redline. Very nice.
Gains? Early 30-70 3rd gear Tazzo runs (four, two in each direction) showed .14 over my previous system which was the best I've had to date but it might be higher than that since the runs were done in temps of 88-degrees with more humidity than my baselines. As is, that equates to about a 6-hp gain over the previous intake. Mind you, this is at speed, not a dyno comparo. I'm not interested in comparing intakes at speed to those on strapped-down automobiles. I attribute the increase in performance mainly to the ducting but the foam filter definitely helps. At higher speeds (80-110, etc) the results should be even better.
OK, so what happens when it rains? Heck, I just reach into the secret compartment and take out the Weapon R cover and change from the grille insert to the protective water shield. A 30-second job.
All total, this three-piece set-up cost me around $225. Intake, shield and ducting. I didn't like the ducting I had from the brake duct because 1) I had no means to prevent water ingestion...there was no cover correctly sized to fit the brake duct (suppose I could of made one though) and 2) I feel the front of
the car provides a better air charge.
Now, the second stage of today's work was the install of my Proform shift light.
I need a shift light because the carbon fiber steering wheel, though it frees up loads of legroom, cuts my line of sight to digital redline. I ordered a much smaller Harlan shift light but he's backed up in production by about six weeks (will offer that for sale when it finally arrives, PM me). After doing yet more research because I couldn't wait any longer, I liked Proform's approach to RPM activation. Completely dial-up, no stupid pills or dip switches to mess with. Just turn the dial to the desired RPM point...that's it.
I had it set to 8K just to test it (and work flawlessly) so after the pic, I dialed it it to 8800 rpms and again, it worked without a hitch. The light is 5-inches in length so it couldn't go on the steering hub assembly (like the Harlan) so I figured if I was going to put it anywhere, I wanted it out of my line of sight (direct) and off to the side. It fit nicely in that area adjacent to my Autometer gauges. Bear in mind, the angle of the camera makes it look like everything is facing up but it's not. The light is right there, plain to see without having to look at it directly. A nice bright yellow and clearly visible, even in direct sunlight.
I decided to velcro it as opposed to drilling into the dash and also set the connectors for easy removal so when leaving the car with the top down, I can simply remove the connectors and pull the unit off the Velcro and stick it under my seat. No mess, no fuss. Reconnect 'em when I return.
As you can tell, I'm not a pretty boy when it comes to my car. I don't mind drilling this, removing that. I subscribe to function first, form second. The car needs guages so it has 'em, it needed a shift light (well, after the wheel anyways) so it now has that. I just got my Muz mats today (thanks Muz!)
so they'll be in soon enough. The ducting was needed so I modified the engine bay as necessary to fit it properly. I removed the radiator plastic covering piece because I have a Coastal Metals plate and felt the plastic OEM piece was redundant.
Many may not like this set-up but I can tell you the car runs like a raped ape and is pretty damn quick for a non-forced induction S2K. I really can't think of any reason to tinker with the intake scheme anymore. I've finally got what I wanted. Flow, cool air AND protection against the H20.
Next up...carbon fiber hood and then 4.77's. From that point, maybe I'll just sit back and finally start to appreciate the car without adding more doo-dads.
Then again, a good stock run and I'm in for a hardtop, I'm thinking OEM black, not blue.
Hope this thread will help somebody down the road.
A few questions...
- Does this intake pull air from the filter area as well?
- Have you considered placing the induction plate on the bottom side of the inner bumper trim to pull air from underneath the car?
- Does placing the plate in that particular area give you a "Ram-Air" effect?
I've got wav files coming from my Olympus digital recorder but no way to host them. If I don't get to it by Saturday, it'll be awhile before anyone hears from me since I'm moving to Miami on Monday. The shift light wires went into the ECU.
I'm not thread hijacking here but I wanted to quickly explain something about throttle response.
On cars with a MAS that is not connected to the intake plenum like the S2000, the farther the MAS is away from the plenum, the worse the throttle response will be. But, since the S2000 has the MAS connected to the throttle body, a longer intake tube as little to no effect on throttle response.
Why? Throttle response is controled by the Mass Airflow Sensor. It reads the amount of air that flows past it. When it first reads a change in air (ie. pedal to the metal), it starts injecting more fuel to match the incomming air, then the O2 sensor makes adjustments from there by reading what's coming out, unless it is hard coded in to inject "X" amount of fuel at WOT.
This is what decides throttle response.
Ok, done with that, on with the Weapon R discussion.
Ben, this is true but my reasoning for preferring short rams is a historical one and not necessarily one that relates to the S2000. I've had short rams on every car I've owned since 1991. I've tried long tubed intakes, but never were happy with them and you're right, in those cases, the location of the MAF (as I call them) was a consideration. However, I do take issue with the term "no effect" on throttle response. I noticed a definite increase in such with the Comptech tube which I believe was a result of the increase in air volume from the enlarged chamber diameter. The engine does not have to suck through filter straight away - causing negative over rich fuel mixture. Does that sound right? Then again, that didn't particularly happen as a result of the LENGTH of the CAI tube so we're back to square one.
Essentially we're on the same page, just wanted you to know my reference on short-rams was a general one.
08-21-2003, 05:10 PM
Weapon R S2000 intake and shift light, HEAVY on pics
