996 MGF

I notice stronger pull above 4K with the Autothority chip. Expect more at lower RPM with Unichip dyno tuned.

DonW-Cape Cod

Does the new fabspeed airbox void any factory warantees? Don Watson

MKW

Installed my Fabspeed box with a BMC F1 filter and blocked off the hot air intake ( lower right of bottom part of air box) with ABS plastic sheeting. Drove the car hard for 150 miles for computer relearn. Before mod, I got 3rd gear 60-100 ( Tiptronic) in 7.8 - 8.0 seconds. Now it's 6.8 seconds ,about 7-9 car lenghths . Two way average , several runs. The intake sound takes on a deeper,loder, growly honk above 4500 rpm , especially between 5300-5800 rpm. I have the stock exhaust.

Graham

Hard to say as I've had so much done to my car now that it's unrecognizable compared to stock. I went from base to a config with Fabspeed headers/exhaust and a new engine mgmt & tip mgmt chip plus with the F1 filter. This was a huge difference in drivability.

The new airbox and bits went on a couple of weeks ago and I'd say that you notice a different intake noise (growl/whine) and it does seem to have a faster take up at the top end.

Not very scientific I'm afraid.

Graham

Indeed I do ... Mass Air Flow sensor. The grill on the sensor is normally used to straighten air flow but I think in this instance it's removed and the new lip on the sensor improves breathing.

Not unusual to do this.

Graham

996FLT6

Graham did u use Fabspeed headers and exhaust and if u did was the header section took more time to do compared to the exhaust. Ive been thinking about it and talking with Joe and I'm pretty sure I like to get it done just want to know how complicated it is to install. take care. mike

996FLT6

Hi there and good evening!!! Sorry for the delay in the update but with the Holidays coming up I finally installed the Fabspeed cold air airflow unit. Took about an hour for me to install it. Results(early)- I do notice a different sound emitting when it hits 4200 rpm and up. Sounds like massive amounts of air being forced in kinda like a spooling sound and prolonged(my best way to describe which maybe different then others). And definitely there is more throttle response after 4,000 rpm. I'm pretty happy with the results and i'll more then likely get into the next stage beginning of next year on the exhaust/header combo. In terms of installation the instructions given werent too detailed but if u take your time its fairly straight forward. All u need is a phillips screwdriver and regular one. For those who want to try themselves this is how i did it:
1) remove clamp from the hose on the left with the yellow cap and set it away from working field
2) there are two clamps for the other cable on the rt side which u just spread open and to remove the cable link to the airbox just pinch the sides and itll disengage then set that aside away from working field
3) then with the regular screwdriver loosen up the clamps(one on each side) to the big airhose and the smaller one then gradually remove it
4) next is the airbox cover itself- use a philips screwdriver to remove the screws(there are seven of them to my memory) and then remove the aircover and set it on the table so u can work on removing the MAF(black round screen) and unscrewing the airbox muffler(has three screws). It was easy removing the airbox muffler but the MAF took some time(its all plastic too much force u may break it)- u have to loosen the screw and gently rock it rt to left and vice versa and it gradually loosen up.
4) then its just a matter of screwing the carbon fiber plug(only need 2 screws instead of the three that was with the original airbox muffler) and placing the carbon fiber ring in place of the MAF
5) Now the air box cover is ready to be installed back so just litely screw the seven screws into place
6) Now with the red hose place the clamps(2) on each side and then work it into the airbox cover and the other end making sure its sealed before u titen the screw on the clamp
7) then reclamp the hose(yellow cap) and then insert the cable linkage into socket and the close the other two clamps
8) then start the car and look at the engine bay making sure nothing is loose
9) then drive and enjoy. I hope this will help u make it easier. Hope to hear your responses if u decide to get it installed. I welcome neone else offering tips to install the unit since some may differ then me but in the end same result. Take care all and Happy Holidays!!!
Mike
'99 996 coupe
red/black
b&m shifter
fabspeed airflow
ruf pedals
next project: fabspeed exhaust/header/euro m030 suspension/wheels next year ..... : )

Graham

I have both. Unfortunately I can't say how easy or difficult they were to fit because RennSport Systems here in Portland did all the work for me. The hardest bit for me was writing the cheque.

Graham
(I'm a software guy, this is a hardware problem )

Dennis

Thanks for the installation help everyone provided. The installation by the way is about as simple as changing oil. No problems whatsover and I do recommend gluing the smoothing ring into place. I would be very surprised if it stayed put over any sustained period of time if you don,t.

I finally got a chance to drive the car on Saturday night as the weather finally cleared in my area. WOW, thats about all I can say. I am fairly experienced in modifying cars and on many, many occassions I have done something "simple" like this and the results were very hard to detect if anything at all. I was more than surprised at the increased throttle response from Idle on up! I bought my 2001 with 7K miles on it and the previous owner(a guy I knew) had already installed a Gemballa exhaust. The exhaust sounds awesome in my opinion but I always noticed a "flat spot" in the throttle response right off idle. Just bliping the pedal would produce nothing in terms of rev's. That is gone and the car is much more responsive everywhere. I drove the car quite a bit yesterday and I CAN feel the differnce and the sound is "jet like" over 4500rpms. I am impressed.

My only mind bender here is the air filter. When I took the airbox apart to install the kit I removed the stock air filter in lieu of a BMC-1 unit. The factory unit was VERY dirty, much worse than I would have ever expected on a car with 9K miles. So, I am not sure how much the air filter change alone would have accomplished but I sense that at least some of the improvement is due to a clean air filter, BMC-1 improvment not withstanding.

I will be installing a set of Gemballa headers and high flow cats this week. I will let you know how that goes under a seperate post. I cannot play with the ECU as this car will be Club Raced in stock class so I will not be doing anthing further to the engine system.

SICAONE

Dennis, I am picking mine up tomorrow. What kind of glue did you use to fasten the smoothing ring?

996FLT6

With respect to the MAF replacement ring i just inserted it in wo glueing simply at some point if I plan to sell the car or trade in i can take it off easier then if glueed but i do understand it may dislodge due to vibration and air forces. Neway is there ne advantage/disadvantage of not having the ring altogether becuase all it does is make the area smooth. I almost want just to not have the ring on. I welcome ne comments. thanks

Dennis

I just used a two stage epoxy as that is probably the strongest thing available. I think that possibility of the ring being disloged and subsequently banging around to the point where it begins to break-up and possibly enter the intake in small particles is not comforting. If I sold the car, I would leave it in.

I would agree that the ring probably contributes very little to any performance gain and the key elements to the kit are the smooth hose and increased airbox volume created by removing that baffle piece.

Coincidently, this is the first item I have ordered from Fabspeed and I have had good luck. I am not sure if I will by purchasing anything further from them. Becausue of the relatively low cost of this item I took a chace. I really cannot understand how a shop could sell something that they have NOT dyno'ed or tested for performance gains. Not laying good groundwork for future sales so to speak. If it increases performance, it was a pretty good roll of the dice.

I really am impressed this works.

996FLT6

Hey Dennis. From a cost standpoint u are correct its the best bang for the buck and another is the B&M shifter which I had installed. You may like to inquire about that unless u had it done already. I had posts on the b&m so check it out what i thought of it. I plan to sometime next year get into the fabspeed exhaust/header combo. If u havent heard of the how the exhaust sounds its pretty awesome. One of the posts by STYX has a sound bite that u download(wo headers). Take care. mike

MKW

Look carefully at your dirty paper filters: it is mostly if not all from the crud that is sucked up from the bottom of the engine via all those hot air holes in the lower right corner of the bottom pan of the air box. The reason I sealed that area was to get pure cold air into the engine and to keep a cleaner stream of intake air coming in. ( I suspect those "hot air" holes are a failsafe for engine intake air in case a big rat crawls into the cold air intake inlet !!)
Also, I didn't bother with the smoothing ring- it will never stay on and I'm not keen on having bits of glue coming off and being sucked into the MAF wires.

MKW

I mean , this is partly a "Cold air" mod right? So to me, it's not complete 'til 'ya block off the hot air intake. I recall that every 10 degrees cooler intake air equals 1% ( 3hp for 996) more power. That means a 300 hp 996 makes 290 hp on 100 deg day, but 310 hp on 40 deg day - a 20 hp delta - assuming you aren't sucking in VERY hot air from the bottom .