Is drilling my airbox a good idea????

[mootly]

I have just bought a ram filter (replacement element) for my Merc 190E 1992 1.8. A mate of mine told me that seeing as i have now got an uprated filter, i could drill holes in the airbox which should release a little more power. Is this a good idea, if so where do I drill them and how big??
Any help appreciated!!! :roll:

 

[Francois]

I would advise against it.

The air intake is designed in such a way that the engine does not suck in warm underbonned air. If you drill holes in the airbox, it will start sucking in warm air and performance will go down. Especially when driving in high volume traffic.

If you do drill these holes, make sure that they are on the dirty side of the filter otherwise the engine will suck in dust paritcles....

Again, I would not do it ....

 

[Arnie]

I agree with Francoise. Some airboxes also have cyclone pre-filters (similar to Dyson vacs) to remove the large particles and also have water traps. If you drill it you will compromise these features.

 

[mike65]

You could try this for more air -

Dunno if it works mind you!

Mike.

 

[mootly]

Cheers guys

 

[oggers]

I removed an factory fitted air restrictor on a Mk2 Golf GTI at the radiator intake end, and it does appear to rev more freely at the tope end. However, I too have drilled out holes in an old Suzuki motorcycle air filter housing years ago - to no avail, indeed, I would say that it ram worse, especially at low speeds.

The answer is that if you can get the engine to increase the intake air pressure and the swirl effect within the combustion chamber either by removing restictions which cause back pressure or by forcing the air in (supercharging/ram air induction sysytems) there may be a benefit - clearly the mix ratio will need to be adjusted. If you cannot increase the pressure any more than what it is at present, then leave well alone.