Good post...hmmm I also have a Spoon CAI...snorkel....and a front grill.....

Filter must get dirty quicker without a grill......

Does having a front grill with a snorkel type intake keep water intake down???

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 2Ting
[B]Good post...hmmm

 

Excellent post! This is why I never got a grill. It simply stands to reason that anything occupying the open space of the big "mouth" is going to impede airflow. It's often noted that most grill users never see four bars on the temp gauge, but has anyone considered the fact that the cooling fan will simply turn on more often as the engine temps increase? So you may never see four bars, but your engine is running hotter regardless.

And how many people have actually had an air conditioner condenser failure due to insect collision? Not many I think. It's grill-free for me.

 

Suppose to rain this weekend...Im taking the car out...Ill get back to you guys to see if the filter is soaked or not.

Ive driven in pouring rain....while staying behind big riggs...(which Im not a big fan of but i couldnt pass) and my car has been fine.....hmmmm we'll see.........

 

I checked my filter after driving through that pouring storm - it was dry as far as I could tell....

 

I just ordered a cold air intake and was wondering what to do with my grill situation. The middle section I was planning on leaving as is. As for the side grill pockets.... Any good cheap solutions and some pics to go along with those ideas? Thanks, Jeff

 

I'm confident that with the aem style CAI's, there is very little difference in the power of the car with the grille on. On a black S, the car just looks lame without the front grille.

I have driven with the grille on and off and I cannot feel any difference on the butt dyno. But for those who do feel that power is being robbed by the grille, just cut out the faux side vents and that will provide more than enough flow to the filter. Just fabricate a scoop on the filter side to direct air at the filter, and fabricate a scoop on the other side so that cool air will blow at the radiator, problem solved for those who feel the motor is running hotter with the grille.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by DouglaS2000
[B]I'm confident that with the aem style CAI's, there is very little difference in the power of the car with the grille on.

 

I think cutting out a grille section directly in front of the snorkel intake and leaving the rest "grilled" is a nice compromise. Put some weather stripping around the cut to make it look nice and you might very well have the "perfect" grille...protection AND flow. As for that pic with the insects...damn, that reminds me of when I lived in Homestead, Fla. and driving towards the 'Keys. You couldn't go more than 20 miles without pulling over to wipe your windshield clean of the mess. Gotta love New England for avoiding that stuff. Damn Luft, your front end looks like a prop in an Indiana Jones movie!
I cut out my passenger-side faux brake duct and snaked some hose up into the wheel well, stopping at the entrance to the wheel well which just so happens to point inches in front of my Akimoto filter. So, I've maximized that flow path. The reason I think the car runs better without the grille probably has something to do with the coastal metals plate I installed. That plate has a cutout originally designed for the stock airbox but in my case, with the hood closed, that inlet directs air directly into the path of my filter (open). With the grille in place, the flow was restricted to the point where there simply wasn't enough air finding its way up there. With it off, at speeds of 50mph plus, the air is defenitely surging up into that plate and has nowhere to go BUT through that inlet, which pleases me greatly!
I think for those concerned about the mess, cutting out a nice round hole (or one that matches the outline of your particular snorkel) and rounding out the edges with rubber weatherstripping would look sharp. For the rest of us, grille off...air in. I swear, that stupid industrial fan experiment was like a revelation. How I could of thought those tiny holes wouldn't have made a difference in air flow is beyond me. It's definitely a winter only addition to the car, since at that point, temps are in the teens anyway and protection becomes more paramount. For summer running, it's off. To close, I don't think having the grille on is a "heat" issue, rather a "flow" one. I bet you could feel the difference holding the grille in front of your face using a house fan, let alone one of those six-footers that can damn near knock you off your feet. As stated, I don't think this is an issue for those with filters sitting adjacent to the brake duct, rather those of us who have filters up top.

 

There is a reason that the car came stock WITHOUT a grill.