The great intake debate!

[camelll]

Bye!, and thanks for your comments.

[camelll]

Originally Posted by mikenacarato

camelll must be supmets brother...

well here is my two cents...did you know a cold air intake causes the air to be more dense and combust better...IE more fuel is burned off and less emissions are created. Ill say it one more time so you understand... the more complete the burn..the less emissions you will have. CAIs help this process.

this brings me to my next point...how come they are called airbox silencers? because their primary function is to reduce cabin noise.

Well glad to see that you agree with me on the fact that a CAI will in fact change emissions. Congrats on realizing what the debate is about. Noise reduction is a secondary advantage of the stock boxes.

Originally Posted by fmicle

I feel like giving up. If you don't understand that 20% is the same as 20% I can't debate you anymore.

20% of 1,000,000 = 200,000 and not 20 ppm. I have a math degree and your statements make me shake my head in disbelief.

The smog checks percentage of pollutants in exhaust, so unless the percentage changes, the smog results are the same, no matter how much are you're pushing through the engine.

To make it easy for you to understand: about 20% of air is oxygen, alright? Whether it's a room full of air or a small bag, it's still 20%. Just because a room has more air it doesn't mean the air is cleaner than in a smaller space!

I understand that 20 percent is 20 percent, I used the pph and ppm as an example not as a fact that 20 percent of 1,000,000 is so many ppm. There is a a lot less air to go around in the smaller space, you may still have the same composition, but it takes a lot less to change the composition of the smaller space.

Originally Posted by fmicle

Here is how the smog check is done - I honestly don't understand how you can even argue with me when you don't know how the smog test is done. You're telling me I am wrong and at the same time you say you don't know how the smog is done! How ridiculous is that?

3. Emissions Test:
So what exactly is the sniffer measuring?

HCs are essentially unburned fuel. When you hear about octane it's often a reference to the anti-knock index at the pump (87 etc) but it is also a reference to the chemical composition of fuel, part of which is made from C8H18 (eight carbon atoms and 18 hydrogen atoms; hence octane). HC is measured in parts per million (ppm) by the sniffer.

When fuel (HC) and air (O2 + N2) are combusted the ideal product would be energy and water vapor (H20). Because the combustion process is imperfect, CO is one of the byproducts produced. CO is measured as a percentage of the exhaust gas. It is a colorless odorless gas and if you breath it, it will combine with the hemoglobin in your blood and make you sick or kill you in larger doses. Running your engine in the garage is a great way to pass out and possibly die.

CO is also used as an indicator of fuel mixture ratio. An ideal percentage of excess CO would be zero. In practice the %CO measured is a few percentage points: a fuel ratio the VW engine can burn efficiently in all climates, temperatures and conditions. For example, 1-2% would be a relatively lean fuel ratio for a VW especially fuel injected models; 10% very rich (so much so that you can smell the unburned fuel from the exhaust pipe).

NOx is produced when combustion chamber temperatures are high. It was once viewed as the #1 enemy and responsible for the smog in the LA basin. At that time emission reducing devices were geared towards reducing it at the expense of other emissions. That was 20 years ago and since then scientists have come to understand that all the emissions are destructive especially CO2 (a harmful greenhouse gas).

Unfortunately on a VW there is no simple way to minimize all three emissions at once like a modern car is able to do. Lower the HC and CO by leaning out the engine and you produce too much NOx and vice versa. Plus, the catalytic converter (which few models are equipped with) can only do its job at the near perfect fuel ratio (theoretically ideal) which isn't the best ratio for long life of an air-cooled engine.

Well I assumed it was done reading part per million or parts per billion, and obviously it is if any part of of there figures are in ppm or pbm. As to how they determine what percentage is acceptable has yet to be provided. Glad you found something on a vw forum about smog testing. Post me something from the carb board that shows testing is done in percentages and not PPM or PPB. Why is your intake not carb legal? Oh because it does not do anything to emissions. You still may be able to pass smog but it certainly changes the amount, for good or bad.

Originally Posted by fmicle

Not much longer, this is hopeless, because you don't know what you're talking about, you just like to argue.

You have not posted one single thing that shows otherwise that air intakes change emissions.

Originally Posted by Tamago

i'm not gonna waste time quoting but the "more air = more emissions" comment cracks me up. yes, you are physically moving more air in and out of your engine using a less-restrictive intake, but in what way does that make it "bad" emissions? more emissions generally means more BAD air, not just more air in general. if this were the case then a V8 would automatically not pass the sniff test simply because it moves more "emissions" (lol) at idle than a yaris.




i'm officially leaving this thread. people are trying to be too smart for their own good. yet another fine example of overthinking the pointless debate.

Typical tamago post, this kind of reminds me of the crank pulley. Show me something that can prove otherwise. Your v8 analogy is not accurate either because of intake design, catalytic converters and other emissions components. A 5.0 liter emissions control system is designed for a 5.0 liter, just as a 1.5 is designed for a 1.5.

Originally Posted by fmicle

+1

AGAIN, IF A CAI DOES NOT CHANGE EMISSIONS OR FUEL ECONOMY WHY DOES CARB EVEN DEAL WITH IT? WHY WOULD THEY WANT THE HEADACHE? WHY WOULD TOYOTA NOT MAKE A CAI STOCK? PLEASE DON'T SAY BECAUSE OF COST, I AM PRETTY SURE THEY COULD MAKE CAI'S JUST AS CHEAP. WHY DO MANUFACTURERS OF MOST SRI'S AND CAI'S STATE THEY ARE FOR OFF ROAD USE ONLY? PLEASE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.

[camelll]

I have a CAI, thank you very much.