Project Evo X GSR- Testing the K&N Typhoon Cold Air Intake
By Mike Kojima
Our latest addition to the MotoIQ Project Car Posse is the second Project Evo X in our test fleet. Our first Project Evo X is an MR model with the SST dual clutch transmission. The owner of that Evo is reluctant to venture beyond very simple engine bolt ons due to the nature of the transmission. He has already experienced overheating and limp mode with just a few laps around a track and even when we installed auxiliary cooling he was shocked to see how badly hammered the transmission fluid on the car was after just a few miles.
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| The K&N Typhoon Cold Air Intake is a high quality piece. The kit was complete down to the last bit of hardware. |
Since the car is his daily driver, he was reluctant to modify the engine beyond some simple stuff so we had to find another Project Evo X to showcase some more parts in the engine department. Our new Evo X is a five speed GSR model owned by KW Tech Chris Marion who we work with quite a bit in the Formula D and road race world.
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| Due to the EVO X's penchant for being difficult with Cold Air Intakes, mostly due to altered MAF readings causing A/F drift, we enlisted the help of an experienced tuner, Naji Dahi of Looney Tuning to help us do a more complete and thorough evaluation of the intake. Here Naji is reflashing the ECU so EvoScan, a data logging software that is especially for Evolutions can be used. |
We have a bunch of mods planned for Chris’s car, the first being a Typhoon cold air intake by K&N. The Intake worked so well that we decided to make it our first MotoIQ Certified Legit evaluation. The K&N Typhoon intake came with a dyno sheet that proudly proclaimed guaranteed power. Glancing at the dyno sheet we could see that the intake increased power by 20 hp near peak RPM. That seemed like a big gain so we had our concerns, this was a lot for just an intake, was it true or BS? We were going to find out with testing that was a little more in depth than just strapping the car to a dyno for a few quick pulls.
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| To monitor the A/F ratio we used an Innovate Motorsports KM-2 air/ fuel ratio meter. We ran the sensor in the exhaust since the stock exhaust didn't have a bung to mount the Bosch wideband sensor. Naji told us he sees comparable results using a tailpipe mount sensor to one in the downpipe although he prefers that the sensor be located in the downpipe. |
The stock airbox and intake on the Evo X is pretty restrictive. The stock ECU programming is also very rich. Depending on the year of the car, the Evo X tends to run an air fuel ratio of 9.5:1 or richer in stock condition. This is exceedingly rich, so rich that the car is surfing right on the limit of rich knock, where a super rich mixture can actually contribute to detonation. The Evo X responds well to air intakes as they relieve the restriction and also tend to make the car run leaner.
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| The K&N Typhoon air intake comes with a set of excellent instructions with clear pictures which of course we didn't read until after we were done and noticed a few extra parts, duh. |
