Is there any gain to be had by moving the air filter off the turbo?

My turbo is mounted right behind radiator, bout middle of car, so I could maybe snake a pipe more towards the side but was wondering if its worth it.

 

There will be no performance gain, but you could possibly have slightly lower IATs as a result.

 

Depends if the filter is restricting airflow... A tiny filter can be a big restriction.

 

I was wondering the same thing. Cause most people I see dont run a filter at all and while some do. I assumed that a filter would restrict a small amount of airflow but with no filter I would guess the issue would be having contaminants enter the turbo???

 

I'd suggest running the largest filter you can fit. Pop it off at the track and see if it makes a difference. If your talking about a street car, i'd always run a filter.

 

Its a big *** K&N, I am not concerned with it being a restriction.

Only sort of ask cause a metal intake will cause the turbo to be real loud on my truck, and who doesn't like a louder whistle.

 

Hmmmm......... Agreed on the suggested point!

 

Yes, I picked up 1.5mph in the 8th just by taking the filter off. For my car, it was a 35-45whp difference. If your filter is a big restriction, it could pick up more. The tune will have to be adjusted, the car will want more fuel without the filter.

Wrong

 

But how small or poor was your filter in the first place ?

 

Someone told me to take it off because I was killing HP. I woulda bet money I wasn't going to pick up anything, but I was completely wrong.

 

A 90deg bend right off the turbo is always a bad idea. Sometimes almost impossible to avoid though

Filter does look pretty small though.

Was it a single turbo, or was that one of two filters ?

 

It's a single. That's a 4" ID pipe and te filter is like 6.5" long. I didn't claim to have a 14" cone with 5" diameter. But a filter of any type will cause a restriction, it doesn't take an engineering degree to realize that. How much of a restriction? Not sure. I can only comment on how much I picked up.

 

This is my setup.


I don't need more power, but if its a simple thing like pushing the filter out more, than I can do this.

 

That elbow could maybe be more of a restriction though.

If you look at the filters Camaro Andreas used on his car, they certainly werent big, but obviously two of them.

Said it made no difference removing them

Any filter would need to be posing a large restriction for it to actually make a difference to power though

Some of the filters the R35 GTR guys are using are tiny, and some of them are making 1300hp and upwards
They have two, but it's still surprising

 

make a pass with it on, then take it off, and see if it goes faster. That's the only way to know for sure. I know my 3900lb car picked up 1.5 MPH in the 8th.

 

I won't be removing the filter, only looking if spacing it out of engine bay will help.

 

Arranging it so it can only ever draw cool air would be worth doing. As long as that doesnt create bad pipework.

Also if space permits, always nice to have a bellmouth at the filter. Although the largest filter openings Ive seen are 6", not sure what size your turbo outlet is, and whether any bellmouth at the filter is doable.

One problem with a filter in a "hot" location. When sitting about, engine running but car not moving. The filter is always drawing in hot air. Sometimes very hot. If there is an intercooler in the system...this in turn heats the intercooler up creating a heat sink.
So it can take a short distance to get rid of that heat before any cooling can actually take place.

 

I've always been freaked out by taking it off even at the track. One little.rock and my $1800 comp turbo is gone

 

There is no way I'd ever run my car with no filter. One way or another there is always room for something.

It just isnt worth the risk unless you can afford to replace turbos, blowers or motors

There is always some way to add some sort of sensible filtration.

I guess the only scenario you might consider no filter, is a car that only ever see's the 1/4 mile and is never driven anywhere else. That includes down the return road back to the pits.

 

I've never run a filter on any of my 3 turbos