wonder has anybody done this.....
I did a comparison of the sucking power of OSCAI with the air scoop sealed and unsealed..

at my garage
I sealed my air scoop and ask my cousin to rev the engine to 3k. I didnt have any equipment to test the air flow but I notice the sucking power!! is much stronger than it is unsealed..I didnt have any equipment to get a statistic value but to feel it with my hands.

on the road
I took off the splash guard and went on a drive. seems to me it is more responsive when it is sealed. again, I didnt have any 0-60 or 1/4 mile since I have no place to test it. but once I put the splash guard back on.....it started to lag, especially at low end : the engine hesitated after it hit 2000rpm. btw, I didnt cut my splash guard...but drilled about 20 holes on it, and tat is prob the reason.

now my questions:
1.if I seal the scoop, will that affect the sensor readings (one located near the scoop opening, and one located inside the scoop)

2.wat do those sensors to anyways? wat are they mearsuring?

3.will sealing the scoop yield more vacuuming force to the OSCAI since it is only distributed to one end?

tell me wat u think.

thx

 

good work, we possibly have version 3.0 in the works. Maybe we can somehow restrict flow from the front scoop but not block it totaly, thereby making the oscai more effective yet keeping it water friendly.. Who wants to be the guinnea pig?? I think i will try it.. Maybe some thick foam will work..

Adam

 

hmmm.....thats interesting. I would think that the scoop+tube would give more air flow than just the tubing. But anyhow, the sensors measure temperature I think. The one up front bolted to the scoop should not be affected as well as the one that is stuck in the tube...

 

thx for the replies....but only 2 though.

wat happened to the staff researchers and professors from our university of oscai???

 

they must be on vacation...

 

Precisely! Why would anyone want to block the scoop?

 

IMO, single route of air conduction has less turbulance which was exactly how the car was designed before we install OSCAI. plus the car is fed with colder air when the scoop is blocked.

 

I guess it won't hurt to try. But, don't use foam in the scoop opening. You don't want that to get sucked in. Try some rags instead....man, this type of things totally redefines what it means to be ooglie

\

 

Perhaps, [maxi-overdose]. But I seriously doubt that blocking the scoop will provide any noticeable difference in performance. Even if it does, what you'll give up by blocking the scoop is the assurance that water won't enter the intake if the OSCAI becomes submerged . . . unless, of course, you intend to purchase and install an AEM Bypass Valve in the OSCAI.

And while I'm aware that cold air is heavier than warm air, the idea that blocking the scoop will allow the car to be fed with colder air just doesn't make sense. The distance between the OSCAI intake opening and the scoop opening . . . a matter of a couple of feet at most . . . is simply not sufficient to make a difference in the temperature of the air entering the intake. If you don't believe me, take a thermometer, hold it by the OSCAI opening and take a reading. Then raise the thermometer up to the scoop opening and take another reading. Let me know if you discover a difference in the readings.

As far as I'm concerned, blocking the scoop has little or no scientific merit, it's unsafe, and it's simply more trouble than it's worth.

 

Think about it this way, its like a vacum cleaner. When you block a vacum cleaner you hear that the "engine" of it gets really loud because he is trying to suck something but it can't, so if you do it on a car i don't think it will make the car go faster but maybe it could kind of make it slower. Also i don't understand how come when you block it, there will be colder air?

 

That's the point, 2001SE. There WON'T be colder air. And as you correctly point out, if you block the scoop, you're reducing the volume of air available to the intake. In effect, your cancelling the value of having added the OSCAI in the first place, all in the name of reducing some suspected air turbulence.

Frankly, I think that blocking the upper air scoop is a bad idea. But to those who insist on doing so, let us know how you make out.

 

[maxi-overdose]'s observation is quite right. For lower RPM range, it is more beneficial to have smaller intake opening. This prevents loss of torque. But, at higher RPM range it would be beneficial to have larger intake opening so that more air is provided to the engine.

So, at lower RPMS if the scoop is blocked the car will be more responsive and at higer RPM if the scoop is opened the engine will get the air it needs to make power. This is basically the principle of dual-stage intake. I don't know if Maxima has such a thing, but many Hondas do (Integra GSR, Prelude and Civic Si). It is quite simple to construct. You only need a buttefly valve and a connection to intake presure and two intake openings.

Also, you don't have to worry about the turbulence since air filter (K&N) is supposed take care of that before the air gets into the cylinders. And turbulence is not necesarily a bad thing. But then this is whole new topic.

 

IMHO, the blocking of the stock inlet would result in less performance. The air that comes from the stock inlet is cool. The whole idea behind the OSCAI is to make more cool air available under WOT.

 

thanks for the replies guys..
I believe oscai was made to 1.increase amount of air enter into engine, 2.increase amount of cold air into engine. Instead of air pass thru the scoop where it is located right above the radiator and its tube, now we have an alternative path.

y2kse:
I agree with you that cold air is heavier than hot air. b/c when we raised the temp, air molecules tend to bounce and expand. that means in a fix volume with varied temperature readings, lower temp environment tends to have more air molecules than that in higher temp which makes it is heavier. my concern is, instead of bringing in a mixed air from two routes (the scoop opening and oscai) I decided to collect only thru one path where the air is cooler and avoided contacting with other hot components. maybe the distance btwn the scoop and oscai doesnt make a siganificant difference. but I think air will travel faster and smoother with turbulance reduced. now the only question left is the amount of air flow into the engine, which requires some statistical data.



2001SE
in this situation, I didnt completely block entire air induction but I just made the oscai becomes the only entrance for the air. if I block both of them, then the engine will lose the air for combusion which is different than your example of vacuum cleaner where it can operate even with or without the presence of air. anyways, I want the vacuum force from the engine to be distributed directly to oscai. it is more like using the same force to suck out water thru either one single straw or two straws. thru only one straw, u might see the water travel faster but the amount of the water reaches to the destination might be lower than that of two straws. I think there is some way to maximize the volume of air into the engine with a decent traveling speed.

UMD
I thought about the material of blocking it. paper towel was my first consideration but I am affraid of it breaking apart so I just duct taped it in the end. I double checked the air filter and make sure there is nothing funky on there. thanks for your concern

thx all for the replies, they have been very helpful.

 

hmm... anyone wanna make blueprints of an oscai? my friend's dad's shop can custom crap outta different materials... thinking about customing a 2 piece OSCAI. the first part would be the standard straight down pipe with the opening facing forward. the 2nd part i would be able to attach to the first and route to the foglamp hole..

 

I think it will be easier to have another scoop in the opening below the grille. u have to go around many things if u decided to use the foglamp hole.

 

A couple of additional comments.

First, the radiator hose traps most of the heat generated by the coolant. What isn't trapped in the hose is eliminated by the shell of the scoop. So the temperature of the air passing through the scoop should be unaffected by the heat of the engine coolant circulating through the radiator hose.

Second, IMHO, no amount of reduced air turbulence is worth the risk of submerging the OSCAI with the scoop plugged up and ingesting water into the engine as a result. Unless you're planning to install an AEM Bypass Valve somewhere in the OSCAI, preferably as close to the air scoop as possible, you're just asking for trouble.

Good luck.