my custom intake using the stock airbox (lots of pictures)

[mattro]

yes, another one of those custom intakes. I don't like the looks of an open intake with a heat shield, I like when it looks stock-ish.
But I also like supercharger whine so I knew I needed to open up the stock airbox.


I taped a template on the airbox cover and started cutting. I used a hole saw (1/2" or 5/8" can't remember) on my drill for each corner and then used an oscillating tool to cut the straight lines.




smoothed out the edges and cut a piece of honeycomb grille I had in the garage to plastic weld to it








had to trim a little bit off the inside of the cover to fit the clamp for the filter.




Now for the piping part:
I found a 3.5" universal intake on ebay (yes I went there). Came with the filter with inverted cone, and a grommet kit with a bunch of sizes for the vacuum line.
I ditched the reducer from that picture though, doesn't have a smooth transition and wasn't reinforced silicone.

edit: link to intake on amazon : https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00FKYS4P4?...lnk-ca-c284-20
and another link on ebay : http://www.ebay.com/itm/Carbon-Fiber...NTNkGI&vxp=mtr







I needed to go 45 degrees and reduce from 3.5" to 3" for the throttle body so I got one of those reducers. One end is 3.5" and the other is 3" with a really smooth transition


Then had to cut a bit off of the 45 degree end of the aluminum tubing since I only really needed about 30 degrees.



And here's the final result, an intake that still look stock-ish, uses the stock connections on the airbox and lots of supercharger whine
I also cut a large opening in the front of the airbox, hard to see in the pictures.

[Jroyalty7]

Not gonna lie that's pretty badass man! Nice work on coming up with something that not only looks better than some of the major players options but is a hell of a lot cheaper too.

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[Tashfeen]

This is some artistry @mattro. It looks pretty neat and stock. I am sure you are getting the SC whine that we all love. Well done buddy


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[Thurston]

all this time i thought the inverted cone was the patented technology that made the eventuri worth over a $1000 .... ha

very nice job, like real real nice!

[PopTart]

Start selling these Intakes to forum members.

[mattro]

Not gonna lie that's pretty badass man! Nice work on coming up with something that not only looks better than some of the major players options but is a hell of a lot cheaper too.

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Thanks !
my total cost with all the fittings including the filter was about the same as just the silicone tubing from ECS. And I have a rigid 3.5" tubing intake.

[0000_S5]

Jroyalty7 described it best: Badass!!! You should make these and sell them! I'd be in on that deal....


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[DBFL]

That is quality work. Well done.

[isles1]

Very good work!

[tar]

Ya very nicely done compared to the garbage hack jobs ive seen done in b6/7 s4 section. I would also buy one if you made them.

Pretty sure I could pass smog with this if I had a xtra top cover to toss on.

[RWD2quattro]

Bad ass, good job man. Looks clean

[A5MD]

Man that's some impressive work

[Oloung1]

this is amazing

[MATHMATIXX]

Excellent work! 👍👍

[Steelerhater37]

Start selling these Intakes to forum members.

I'd buy one!


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[kpykng1]

Very nice and clean, looks factory, I'd buy one.

I almost thought it was going to be another hole in the hood, remember that one...

[uponone nogaro]

Nice

[Callandor]

Looks good! Add me to the list that would buy one.

[Gkit19986]

Very impressed dude, looks great. How the sc whine?

[mattro]

The whine probably isn't as loud as a full open element intake, but it's pretty loud. There are no local S4's with an intake where I am so I can't compare though.
On my wife's first ride with the intake I did 2nd and 3rd gear at maybe 1/3 throttle and it surprised her, she asked "what the hell is this?".

I also tested it with just the modified cover before I changed the tube. You could only hear a little bit of whine at low RPM and that was it. The stock tube does a really good job at cancelling supercharger whine.
And I assume the stock airbox with just the tube would be fairly quiet too, but I haven't tried.

[Ordie]

Very tempting to do.

[The Machine]

Wow, super nice craftsmanship there! That looks awesome!

[DufraineMK6]

That looks super clean!


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[Silver Streakin]

Looks great, but wouldn't this be a hot air intake? Without a barrier/wall closing it off, it's going to suck hot air front the engine bay.

[mattro]

I dont thik it would be an issue.
The airbox still blocks all the radiant heat from the engine, and it's fairly tight to the hood.
I also have the front of the airbox cut open so just driving around at 5mph most likely brings enough fresh air to the front of the airbox.
I took my inspiration from the RS7 which runs a similar setup:

[VeeDubbinJetta]

Looks great, but wouldn't this be a hot air intake? Without a barrier/wall closing it off, it's going to suck hot air front the engine bay.

I'm not an expert but I would bet most open element intakes let's more hot air into the filter area than this would.

I need to find me someone selling or getting rid of a stock airbox for cheap and do this myself, looks very good OP

[mattro]

I just checked under the hood and the little round bump on the top of the cover actually touches the hood fabric.
So I'd say it's probably as tight as most open element intakes at the top.

and look at a rock euro heat shield below, there's a gap around the tube and it's all open towards the shock tower. The stock airbox is completely air tight at the back.
I'd say as far as heat goes it's probably better with the modified airbox.

[jimrobbington]

Great looking job!

I'm not an expert but I would bet most open element intakes let's more hot air into the filter area than this would.

I need to find me someone selling or getting rid of a stock airbox for cheap and do this myself, looks very good OP

I've been contemplating selling my oem full airbox, hit me up if you want to make an offer.


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[Ford Prefect]

The whine probably isn't as loud as a full open element intake, but it's pretty loud. There are no local S4's with an intake where I am so I can't compare though.
On my wife's first ride with the intake I did 2nd and 3rd gear at maybe 1/3 throttle and it surprised her, she asked "what the hell is this?".

I also tested it with just the modified cover before I changed the tube. You could only hear a little bit of whine at low RPM and that was it. The stock tube does a really good job at cancelling supercharger whine.
And I assume the stock airbox with just the tube would be fairly quiet too, but I haven't tried.

Looks great! If I find a grill to use I might just do the top. I like whine but not roc-euro amount of whine.

There is no whine with tube and stock box, I just changed from the roc euro to ECS CF tube and might hear some at redline.


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[DannyDeez]

Love how the lid came out! Question though, if it sits tight at the hood, what purpose does the cutout actually serve?

[mattro]

Love how the lid came out! Question though, if it sits tight at the hood, what purpose does the cutout actually serve?

The round bump seems to touch the fabric. The rest of the lid is probably around 0.5" - 1" from it. Enough to let some more air in, but more importantly let some noise out

[AudBoost]

Awesome work! Nicely done!

[AKB6A418TQUSP]

What are you using for the mesh? If I wanted to duplicate this, what would you recommend buying for that component?

[DannyDeez]

The round bump seems to touch the fabric. The rest of the lid is probably around 0.5" - 1" from it. Enough to let some more air in, but more importantly let some noise out

Ah, the sound.. gotcha.

[SteveYem]

I think this looks great and I'm thinking of copying it. One question - how did you secure the barb fitting for the vacuum hose into the main intake tube?

[mattro]

What are you using for the mesh? If I wanted to duplicate this, what would you recommend buying for that component?

I had left over honeycomb pieces from grilles I made for an R32 bumper years ago. Now that you mention this it's kind of hard to find just the mesh. I like the one I have cause it's thick so when you're looking at an angle you don't see inside the airbox.
you could use something like this maybe, but that's a lot more than you would need:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honeycomb-Bl...1Zv7Eq&vxp=mtr

I think this looks great and I'm thinking of copying it. One question - how did you secure the barb fitting for the vacuum hose into the main intake tube?

here's the link to the intake I used. It came with a vacuum sensor adaptor kit:
https://www.amazon.ca/Universal-Diam...+3.5%22+intake

Here's the same kit if you want to buy it separately:
https://www.summitracing.com/int/par...8711/overview/
I used the small hole punch with the smaller grommets, and one of the small adapters that looks like it's the same size on both sides.
You just drill the hole in your tube, insert the grommet and insert the adapter in the grommet from the exterior. I just extended the stock vacuum line with about 8" of tubing with a barb to barb brass connector I got at home depot.

here's a picture I took of the grommet, it has a curved grove in it to fit in the pipe.

[SteveYem]

I had left over honeycomb pieces from grilles I made for an R32 bumper years ago. Now that you mention this it's kind of hard to find just the mesh. I like the one I have cause it's thick so when you're looking at an angle you don't see inside the airbox.
you could use something like this maybe, but that's a lot more than you would need:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honeycomb-Bl...1Zv7Eq&vxp=mtr




here's the link to the intake I used. It came with a vacuum sensor adaptor kit:
https://www.amazon.ca/Universal-Diam...+3.5%22+intake

Here's the same kit if you want to buy it separately:
https://www.summitracing.com/int/par...8711/overview/
I used the small hole punch with the smaller grommets, and one of the small adapters that looks like it's the same size on both sides.
You just drill the hole in your tube, insert the grommet and insert the adapter in the grommet from the exterior. I just extended the stock vacuum line with about 8" of tubing with a barb to barb brass connector I got at home depot.

here's a picture I took of the grommet, it has a curved grove in it to fit in the pipe.

Awesome, thanks for the info!

[Joker S4]

OP, did you have a relocation kit of any kind for that fuel line? Forgive me if you stated this already, but I hate reading. Looks awesome.

[mattro]

OP, did you have a relocation kit of any kind for that fuel line? Forgive me if you stated this already, but I hate reading. Looks awesome.

the fuel line still runs on top of the intake, I didn't touch it. It just hovers on top of it and doesn't touch.
The vacuum line at the back I had to extend. I bought a little piece of pipe and a little brass barb x barb adapter from home depot. Cost was around like $2 each.

[Joker S4]

the fuel line still runs on top of the intake, I didn't touch it. It just hovers on top of it and doesn't touch.
The vacuum line at the back I had to extend. I bought a little piece of pipe and a little brass barb x barb adapter from home depot. Cost was around like $2 each.

Did you buy your car used by chance? Or do you have an 8.5 that has a little different than mine. Bravo for the work and I think there's a market for something like this.