[ZooZoom]

so while I had the front bumper off putting in the HIDs, I notice this little piece of plastic plugging an opening near the grill.

so I take a screwdriver and it pops right out revealing a pass-thru that's located nearly in front of the stock airbox.

so I wonder about that plastic lid with a piece of foam that's nearly choking off the stock air box's inlet side duct.

so I take the screwdriver and quickly remove it for shits & grins. okay now its wide open and can feed off that grill opening.

sure, I suppose some leaves, paper or debris might get sucked down into the airbox. who cares...its got a panel filter inside.

I realize its kinda silly and is probably worth 1.5 to maybe 2 horsepower gain......but hey its a mod.....right!

thinking about getting some mesh screen and fitting a piece over the top of the inlet tube to stop major sized crap from entering.

and sure, when you put the grill deflectors back on that feed the TMIC scoop, the one on that side covers up the opening.

but it can still get air from the lower grill opening and it's got to allow a bit more cooler ambient air to feed into the air box.

what the hell......it doesn't get any cheaper than FREE!!! :klavergreg:

 

[tuckaloe]

Nice find! IIRC, there was a Cobb write up on their forums that mentioned the fact that they were developing an airbox that took advantage of an unutilized air duct and it seems pretty likely that this is it. I suspect that pressurizing the stock air box via ram air will yield some modest but real gains.

 

[brecker]

Did Mazda change there mind have way through production or something :shock:

Is their a second turbo that is switched off hidden anywhere :lol:

Good find!!! should be interesting how this plays out..

 

[dutchie3]

excellent...I was already planning out in my mind where I was going to stick my home depot ram air.
Just like you said, throw some mesh screen on it and away you go. I have a feeling this would net more than 1-2 hp if a CAI on its own nets 20.

 

[sok07]

if I recall, that opening is the for the battery cooling duct for the Mz3. In the MS3 the battery duct is linked to the intercooler duct work.

 

[diablospeed]

that hole is pretty small... but it will draw ouside air. that in concert with the rest of the intake will help gain additional aurflow. good find.

 

[krnage]

just did this mod yesterday morning wow lol well not really wow but its simple/free and potentially a win for us if colder air is being drawn in + took 2 secs to do

 

[mattleegee]

[quote author=sok07 link=topic=71948.msg1266815#msg1266815 date=1173881929]
if I recall, that opening is the for the battery cooling duct for the Mz3. In the MS3 the battery duct is linked to the intercooler duct work.
[/quote]

Wonder if we can fit that piece on the regular mazda into our car
For us that already have CAI this would be great to blow air onto the pipeing near the motor, since it gets hot under there....

 

[dutchie3]

[quote author=Mattleegee link=topic=71948.msg1272805#msg1272805 date=1174119084]
[quote author=sok07 link=topic=71948.msg1266815#msg1266815 date=1173881929]
if I recall, that opening is the for the battery cooling duct for the Mz3. In the MS3 the battery duct is linked to the intercooler duct work.
[/quote]

Wonder if we can fit that piece on the regular mazda into our car
For us that already have CAI this would be great to blow air onto the pipeing near the motor, since it gets hot under there....
[/quote]

just fasten a couple of bendable but rigid tubes to the inlet, and direct them towards the pipe/filter.

 

[Dieseler]

Nice find! I just popped that cover off on mine. Looks like a second duct could be fashioned below the intercooler duct to force more air to the opening. Then another on the backside to the airbox.

 

[mortalrift]

I want to try this, but would this take air away from the intercooler? Florida is too hot to let the intercooler hungry for air...

 

[ZooZoom]

It won't have any negative effect on the intercooler air feed. its just a small pass-thru below (actually behind) where the IC draws air.

 

[mortalrift]

right, but it looks like the intercooler scoop has been removed to allow air to pass from the grill to the opening for the air box...if the intercooler piping stays, no air will be forced into the area that is popped out, right?

Edit:nevermind...I get it now...flame away.... :happysad: so much for making myself NOT look like a n00b...

 

[ZooZoom]

mortalrift = :wtcslap:



no prob. yeah, its really a no-big-deal-thing. it won't hurt. it won't help (very much).