As you should...you've done enough work. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

 

Can you use a standard MAF sensor on the pressure side without a reprograming of the ECU? It should be the same amount of air going thru the intake??
The only problem I can see is the temperature differance, but will that be an issue??

/Pete

 

The short answer is no. MAF sensors vary in their output voltages and they are calibrated for a specific intake pipe area as well as the distance from the center of the pipe. There may be other reasons.

 

John,

Hopefully you have had more seat time and are enjoying your beast. How does the idle, throttle smoothness, and daily driveability compare to stock? I know this may not seem like a fair question for such a highly modified car, but if it behaves reasonably as a daily driver then you have the Holy Grail of setups. The tuning is key, but all the components have to be just right to make good tuning possible.

Thanks, Chris

 

Hi Chris,

Unfortunately, we are in the middle of winter here, so the car is in storage for a few more weeks. I used this car as a daily driver last season with the K24/18G's, fuel system, Proto MAF, etc. and it was perfect. 15,000 miles without a worry - very reliable and drove great. The only problem was the slight hunting at idle for about 10 seconds before settling down at many stops. This was MAF related because I modified the internal shape of the V-Flow (which was modified to accept the Proto MAF) with less of a "V" before the MAF and almost completely eliminated the hunting, but a trace remained. My whole goal with this project is to stabilize the idle once and for all, which Todd seems to feel this will do (his kit was never designed to be used with V-Flow - I tried it on my own)....I'll report once I have a chance to try it out. So far, I have just started the car and it idles smoothly. Based on my experience last year, I think the 700 level is very reliable and makes a great daily driver with plenty of power on tap.

 

I saw your images
do you have a better picture of how the filter looked after you did:?

 

Is there a way you have an image of this but from the inside where you can see the filter and teh cut out you did?

 

contigo,

When I was running that set-up, I ended up just using the outer half of the two piece upper shroud like the picture below. I did not cut the inner piece, as I originally intended.

 

Tks
WAS Running that set up? did you change it or move to something else?

 

contigo,

Yea, after all that work, I undid it all and went back to a stock style intake, as it did not cure my hunting idle, like I was led to believe and hoped it would. Todd and I worked very hard datalogging and exchaging files for months, but we could just not get it to run right and I ran out of patience. I took the car to a somewhat local tuner (EPL) and it took going back to a Bosch MAF with a custom tune to settle the idle down and regain smooth OEM like driveability. My car would just not run right with the Ford MAF.

In the end, I consider it a great learning experience. I became very familiar with a lot of aspects of the car that I never knew anything about. I learned how to remove the intercoolers, change plugs, replace diverter valves, etc. and I enjoyed the project. It's just too bad it didn't work out. Putting it all back together took about 12 hours, but that was only because I installed a custom 70mm Y-pipe and hose from the IC's and it was a first time install requiring test fitting, etc.

In retrospect, after using this intake for a few months, I prefer the OEM style intake. I had concerns of the air filters falling off and never knowing it because they are out of sight. It could be months of injesting dirty air into the motor before discovering it. Additionally, the clearance on the intake pipes to the wheels is very close (about 1/2" to 1" max) and if a stick or road debris ever got kicked up in there, it would rip the intake pipe off the turbo in a heartbeat, leaving the turbo to inhale rocks, dust, whatever, until the car came to rest. These thoughts were always in the back of my mind and I never had them when I began down this road - just after seeing first hand how the entire system fit and functioned in person.

 

What did Todd have to say about this???
Could it be the 75mm TB & Plenum that wouldnt let you settle??
I hope I dont encounter this hurdles on my venture which is pretty similar to your set up, but I am doing the K24/20 and extra fuel pump per Todd suggestion for my aspirations
you have me worried now...

 

Todd was as puzzled as I was and thought if he had the car there, he could cure it. It was too far for me to tansport the car in "hopes" he could correct it. I did not want to risk the expense of shipping the car two ways and then after getting the car back still not being happy with the result. I spoke with a local tuner (EPL), who looked at it, tried to tune it for a few hours with the Ford MAF with no luck and then suggested trying a Bosch MAF and progamming. As soon as we loaded the Bosch software, the idle issues were gone...I was elated, so I went back to OEM / Bosch - it was my easiest route and I am happy with the choice. I still have a slight hunting idle if I turn the AC off, but none with the A/C on. We are going to look at that next week. I just run the car with the AC on all the time and it idles and drives beautifully. I will be glad once we get the AC off idle correct, too.

I don't think it is the 75mm TB as we have it idling fine now with Bosch programming. Also, one other car I know of went through the exact same scenario as I did only to return to OEM MAF with Bosch programming and all idle issues cleared up.

 

I always thought the Proto intake was sick . What is a ballpark cost on purchase and install (Not self-installed)?

 

Todd, of course would have loved the luxury to tune it in person as there is
NO ONE better than him in the US at this (dont even get me started with the other
followers...). John found a solution that fits his needs as John is very fussy about
things like parking lot drivability, perfect idle, etc. John also does not run very much
boost in his car.

The intake tube clearance is an issue with the Proto system which Todd has now
increased the clearance on. I have had issues with that myself.

John,
You are back to potential Bosch MAF problems, I understand and you blew one right away, correct?? For this one reason only, I would not run the system with the Bosch
MAF. My idle is not pefect right after running it hard (it hunts briefly), but my other
drivability is at or near stock perfection, and yesterday in the nice cool
air and with CLEAN air filters I put my buddy's Local Speed Gallery 700 GT2 in its place convincingly, which is part of my priorities.

This comes down to "priorites" and what if any small trade offs we are willing to make. You have gone back the the possibiltiy of buying new MAF's at any given time?? We all will be interested to see if you now
will magically break into the ten's in the quarter mile as that would be pretty great!

MK

 

Pic of fenderwell cut-out: