IPD Short Air RAM intake on C70 MY1999 - Review

[Wobbly Dave]

On Saturday, I went up to HLM to pick up the SR5T - freshly out of IPD (via UPS) in the USA. (enough acronyms?)

Hamish has been somewhat derisory of the intake since he learned that I got it. "Don't believe the hype" - well too late - I have and went and bought it.

We took my C70 out and used the Autologic to collect the intake temps for the ITG panel in the stock box. The sensor is just before the inlet manifold (post Turbo).


The photo shows the baseline temp after a short time of idling in the car park on a relatively cool day (as shown by the ambient of just under 10 degrees) - as measured from the ODBII port.

We took the car out on the Redditch dual carriageway. The charge temp (Air Intake Temp) a bit higher if the 19T is run longer - a bit lower for shorter runs, but over all I saw max temps of about 40 and modal values of about 32.
When cruising - 70 mph in 4th temps descend to 19 degrees.

There was absolutely no difference once the Short Ram was fitted. Ambient remained about 10.5 degrees (it took about 90 mins to get back out with the SR5T fitted). We did very similar runs in 3rd and 4th gear. Car is still mental but the SR5T made no difference. So Hamish has been born out by what he said. (WD hangs his head in shame :cry: ).

Don't get me wrong it looks nice - although I am not completely hooked on the "Darth Vader sucking a fishermans friend" noise and it make no difference as far as I can tell, from the temps seen.

Temp in the air box as featured in the video are not replicated at the point where it matters i.e. Charge temps were not significantly improved. Spool up seems a little quicker but I have no evidence to support that claim. We didnt bother with the dyno as we both agreed there was nothing to test.

I am not convince it is worth importing given the carriage and duty costs. I am also a bit old to want the sucky PSST noise though the engine seems to roar a bit more (which I quiet like)??

Another upside - I was prompted to clean the engine bay again. For those wishing to know - I use Carlack 68 Special Degreaser - the best I have found to date and dressed it with 303 Aerospace Protectant...

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/engine-amp-exterior/cat_20.html

On balance if you want the look and the noise - buy one - it will probably better than a standard paper filter - but it wont help if you already have a panel alternative.

Total costs:
$189.95 - SR5T
$179.65 - Shipping
71 GBP - Duty

Total = Ouch!

All comments (including how shiny the engine bay looks would be appreciated)

[S70T5Chris]

Good job WD. I'd say that is a good result. You've proven that a cone filter with a decent heat shield doesn't lose you performance. And, personally, I love the noise you get from a cone filter! Good to see some testing on a product for a change, well done for that. But at that price it's so not worth the money! I can't see it performing any/much better than the BSR Optiflow kit.

On my T5 I didn't notice a change in performance either way, however on my T4 when I changed to the BSR Optiflow the car definately felt more lively.

On a side note:- For the love of god put some sort of cover around your battery terminals! That stainless cover on the battery makes me nervous!

[Wobbly Dave]

I hadnt thought of it that way, however I fear the noise may get on my t1ts after a while.

I think that the choice of filter brand is much of a muchness.

I forgot to say that the heat sheilding design is good and installation was easy - with plain, well-written instructions.

The shipping may have been less if I hadnt ordered the IPD droplinks.

And as for the battery cover - the picture deceives - the clearance is more than adequate, but I may look to get some terminal covers. Least then you wont get the jitters.

[Wobbly Dave]

At least they have the balls to publish my review - I thought they would shy away so credit to IPD for coming back on this.

http://www.ipdusa.com/Volvo-C70-1998-2005/Performance/Short-Ram-Intake/p-75-636-3560/

[wegal]

I dont think altering the air intake on a modern car is ever going to achieve very much to be honest. If the car was 25 years old and still taking air off the top of the exhaust manifold then fair play, these filters would have worked back then, today however its just a bling tuning mod that serves no useful purpose, the s60 draws its air fron the front of the car so you get clean cold air that at speed will have some ram effect added.

Its always worth a go but dont expect major improvements.

[woz]

Question - How did u go about the data logging? There is no point doing a tunning mod with out before and after data - so good on you and thanks for the excellent writeup. Is it just a question of ringing the 0845 number in the first pic and asking them? Or did Hamish provide it?
Cheers
Warwick
p.s my thinking is to try out some ideas along these lines..
http://autospeed.com/A_2159/cms/article.html
but I have to be able to measure the charge and under bonnet temps and pressures to see if any changes identified are worthwhile. Any advice welcome on this.

[Wobbly Dave]

We didn't log the data persay. I was watching the numbers and along with the rev counter (and the old 3..2..1..GO!).
And we did do a before and after (within an hour or so) - which is why I said the IGT/charge was not different - which for my money is where it counts. As for the spool up - it is not possible to say, at least not empirically. The distance to turbo has not been reduced.

The 0845 number is the support number for the autologic hardware/software and not a Hamish Hotline.

One other thing. I am having trouble keeping the intake pipe in situ - but I still havent gone back to standard - so maybe that's one thing.

[woz]

Thanks - so you got the hardware for data "display" from Autologoc? Is it good?

By the way - NICE shiny engine bay!!
;>)
W

[Wobbly Dave]

Is what good?

I think there is some misinterpretation. The autologic is the big blue thing that plugs into the ODBII port and reads telemetry from the car. Hamish also uses this device to upload remaps and diagnositcs. Tis a very powerful tool and costs an arm and a leg (maybe even 2)

Oh yeah and thanks for the comment on the bay. I used the carlack degreaser to remove the dirt - rised it with low pressure water, dried it and then dressed it with Aerospace 808 - all available from Tim at cleanyourcar dot com.