It was for the Throttle Position Sensor. They were telling me I had to replace my Throttle Body but I passed. I took it out and cleaned what I could with some good old carburator cleaner and viola! Havent had an issue in over 5 years.

I did have to change out my MAF sensor though, my indy mechanic said he thought the oil from the K&N was a possible culprit so after the cleaning went back to the paper filter. Keep in mind my car was still "new a the time" with under 50K miles....

 

If you blow on the Mina intakes' cone filter the mixture richens, causing a quick rise in rpm...a sign of very little inhibition of air reaching the motor= + powe and throttle response.

 

I don't understand why or how it richens - explanation?

 

Blowing air onto the cone filter actively pushes air (ram air), to the MAF sensor, causing the ECU to adjust fuel air mixture. Blow pressurized air at the opening of your stock airbox....

 

I think it shouldn't richen. It should only add as much extra fuel as any extra air needs in order to stay at the same richness.

I'm really surprised you can blow enough to achieve any kind of ram effect BTW.

 

Going to give this a go on Ronnie (2004 XJR) already running the aluminum Elbow from Qui so lets see what the Mina stuff can do.

 

jagv8, the MAF sensor measures volumne of air passing sensor. Blowing on an open air element just inches from MAF sensor raises the MAF wich must be accounted for by the ECU...with fuel. Try it...force air into your airbox.

 

As I posted, it should add fuel. It should NOT go richer. Richness means something different to adding fuel to remain at the same AFR!

 

Anyway, we're talking about an engine @ idle. What these intake mods are about is the engine @ WOT. I have read studies about all the so-called "ram air" induction systems used by American muscle cars of the 60's and 70's. Almost all of them had little to no effect on performance other than providing cooler air. That seems to be the strong poing of the new Mina intake.

For a ram air induction system to actually work, you would need on opening of a huge size, necking down to the diameter of your intake piping of a sufficient reduction ratio to actually create a positive pressure in the intake manifold due to the forward speed of the car. (think ram jet operation)

 

Dudes...I'm compelled to bring this all back to perspective: My blowing air onto the Mina open air filter element was not to conjure thoughts of "ram air" nor "richness". I simply wanted to convey that blowing a volumne of air that is involuntarily pulled in from the engine, is picked up by the MAF sensor, which will momentarirly raises the engine rpm via adding more fuel. jagv8 and I were simply jostling over semantics. Chris, could you please go outside to your STR and whilst the engine is idling, blow air (from breath) onto the Mina filter. LOL! Sorry guys, it just seems that sometimes the boys from New York and Yorkshire tangle over minute miscommunications. Otherwise, I still love you John.

 

@Bfgross

It’simportant to understand what is happening, and what you have experienced is theeffect of changing the flow over the MAF sensor. The Maf sensor is very sensitive,just changing the air filter box to a cone filter will alter the readingsas the air will flow different over the MAF unit, which it wasn’t calibratedfor. The ECU will compensate for that of course in closed loop, but it willhave its effect on open loop. You should only do a dyno run after you have drivennormally 100 miles or so to give the ECU a change to learn from the newreadings.

 

Hi Avos. I was posting that blowing air over the Mina open air cone filter element changes engine air intake metering. This fact stands behind my original point; this would be less evident with the stock (closed) air box. Simple folks!

 

Hey guys,

I guess I started all of this madness over the Mina intake, so I will jump in here.

I have heard both sides of this debate people love it people hate it... Blah blah blah... Cold air induction is certainly a good thing and we all know that all engines perform better with cold air flowing in.

I know that if I do the same as Seth has done I (blowing into the cone filter) I get the same rise in RPM. Granted the MAF is very sensitive so natuarally any increase in air flow will result in a increase in revs conversely any decrease in air flow would result in a decrease in revs.

All of the science and discussion behind us, I think the point Seth is trying to get across is there is very little restriction of air using the Mina Intake and the Q-Elbow or the Caldoofy-Elbow.

We are both early adopters of the performance intake and I can tell you it absolutely makes a difference where you want it in the pedal across the full RPM range.

The new heatshield that Chris at Mina has crafted for the STR is definitely keeping the intake from sucking in mostly heated engine bay air and allowing fresh (not saying ram or cooled air) but FRESH air to flow into the intake.

I know there has been much debate and several reports of CEL lights, Restricted Performance... I can tell you I have a 10 year old 140K mile car that has NEVER run or sounded better than it has since I bolted this on.

I dont work for Mina, and I dont care if anyone chooses to buy this performance intake or not. Seth and I have found something very cool in this $135 mod and we both had very satisfying experiences with our bolt on upgrade. We just wanted to share that with the group and let everyone know that THIS is now a very REAL and VIABLE upgrade to the stock factory cold air intake lunker.

Dyno numbers or not, I can with 100% confidence and integrity state that I can absolutely hear and feel a drastic difference in my old STR!

Now does that mean that I dont need an AVOS TS upgrade... ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! I would just about sell my soul for a TS upgrade!!

Cheers All!

 

Where still not on the same page, you are referring to more airflow, and that is not what I am talking about you experienced.

I am talking about the way the air flows past the MAF itself, which can be different even though you would have the exact same amount of air passing the tube. So slight deviations in the way it flows will give different readings, which could be more or less then the actual airflow.

 

@cbharley10
The filter still looks relatively small, but depending on how the inner part of the filter is made (i.e. with a bell house shape or not), it could flow more than a stock air box with a K&N filter.

There are 2 simple tests that will show how (and if) it works:

1 would be to test the ltft values in different speeds, but they must be compared to the stock air filter box. With that info you will know if the altered airflow path over the MAF has an influence or not (please note, I’m not saying if this is good or bad!).

Next, measure the intake vacuum (MAP sensor), then you will see if you have more airflow or not (i.e. the less vacuum the more flow).

This can all be done with a standard obdii meter.

There is no point in reading the MAF sensor as long as you are not sure how the changed airflow path will have an influence (so the check with the ltft).

Best is of course a dyno reading of a before and after situation with a/f ratios, there you can check via the a/f metering if the airflow over the maf has an effect.

So far I have not seen any if these tests, nor even a dyno tune or evidence from Mina about this.

Don’t take my points as negatives about the setup, I may even recommend it, but for that I must be sure on some parameters.

 

avos not to be off topic but how much HP with your basic twin screw kit do you think an STR will develop? cost?

i dont want to waste money and just do a pulley or do things in stages, its basically stock now and if I change it I want it all out :P

 

My STR is stock except for the Mina intake. I can say that it has definetly improved throttle response and the sound is great too. I hope to get my hands on an elbow soon for even more performance and that awesome blower whine! I'm a new member and need to get my posts up so I can pm caldoofy for one. Thanks for all the valuable insight shared here boys.

 

I ordered one and they sent me a grill and "R" badges instead. Does somebody have my intake while I have your grill and badges? I sent them 2 emails and haven't gotten a response yet...

 

Tomorrow I'll call Chris (Mina) and find out where your intake is.

 

I don't have a problem calling them, I just won't have a chance to for a couple more days as I start work before they open and end work after they close. The car isn't going anywhere anyways as it snowed yet again today.