I was thinking about buying an MAF for my 86 n/a but not for the tiny HP increase from the n/a.
The regular OEM sensor just doesnt seem reliable. And I just like to have open air.
Is this just a waste of money? Is the regular OEM sensor going to go bad again if i get a new one now at 120K miles?

Can i put an open air filter on the OEM sensor?

Thanks for the help!
-Brett

 

A MAF seems like a huge investment for what you are wanting to. Sure the oem may fail again, in another 10 years (if you are certain yours is bad).

 

Any other good cost efficient options?
Or should i just buy a new OEM sensor?
What are you guys w/ n/a's running for intake?

 

An n/a engine is an air pump just like any other engine - with or without forced induction. Yes, you would see a performance increase.

Keep in mind that there are plenty of normally-aspirated engines out there that make decent power (Boxster comes to mind, several of the Toyota engines, etc.) Forced induction is a really good "bang-for-the-buck" way of getting big numbers, but there's a certain elegance in a well-built and well-tuned n/a engine also.

Wasn't there a post a while back about some company that did extreme tuning on the n/a 944 engines and got huge numbers (IIRC something like 250 RWHP for a base kit and 300+ for an extreme kit)? I believe it was frightfully expensive though - but it can be done.

A MAF for an n/a ain't all THAT bad of an idea - but I'd consider increasing c/r a bit (shaved head), significant porting, etc. The n/a engines really aren't all that bad. . .

 

He's right. If you want proof of a well researched and designed combustion chamber and air flow pattern, pull the intake manifold off the cylinder head. In there you will see the port size is equally matched with that of the valves. The head has already been optimized for air flow.

 

Being interested in this topic, do you have any further clues as to which keywords to feed into search to find that topic? I'd like to check it out.

 

I don't doubt that there will be a gain. How many people are willing to spend $700+ on less than 10hp? There are far less expensive ways to do that. Now if it's part of a larger plan that includes a lot of other work, sure. But as a replacement for a sensor only, I couldn't justify the cost.

 

Contact FR Wilk. He's supposed to have one out this spring. Maybe he can use your car as a test vehicle or something...

 

I was going to mention that. Also a Rennlist site sponsor called promax motorsports sells something that looks remarkably similar to what FR plans to offer, though for a few hundred dollars more:

http://www.promax.uku.co.uk/maf_kit.htm

They are out of the UK.

 

I ordered one of Promax Scivision stealth MAF kit due to arrive within the next few days. Hopefully before the weekend. Installation seems simple and supposedly plug and play. I'll post later for results and impression of the kit. They do have kits for the NA's. I bought the kit for $849.00 shipped.

 

I wonder if they make one for EARLY n/as. . . That would be trick. Note to self - need to ask about that. . . Not too many people makin' chips for those (unfortunately).

 

This is some cool stuff. Finally some cool stuff for the NA. I'll want to research this some more. Sadly the IT rules prevent me from using one, but I'm interested in what these do.

Their claims for power increase are pure horsepucky. Changing the AFM out for MAF isn't going to get you 25%. More like 2.5% at best or even 0.25%.

The real advantage of a hot wire MAF is not so much getting rid of the flapper door (although that's a great benefit). The advantage is that by using a MAF, adjustments are not necessary for changes in VE, such as adding a cam and a good header and intake. A hot wire MAF measures air mass more or less directly, while all other types of meters require additional sensors and calculations to determine air mass, and the calculations are dependent upon a set VE. With a MAF you can add cams and be good to go.

If I were to build a more powerful NA without rules restrictions, I would include the MAF, a Milledge cam, a good header, and a CAI with the filter in the wheel well. That would be a good place to start. The cam is the major restriction in making more power with the NA. There is effectively no overlap so headers and intakes do relatively little.

 

Here's the link to that thread I was thinking of earlier. . .

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...e+n%2Fa+engine

 

Here is some information about FRWilk's MAF. If its as nearly as good as his DME chip then it may be promising.

http://www.frwilk.com/944dme/hfm5.htm

 

Thanks! I'l have to read the thread when I get home.