Those are good questions, bud. But who would a dirty filter affect more?



To clarify the other flowbench issue, I'm pretty sure Hector used typical flow rates that our intakes see, not the max it'* capable of. He was looking for the most efficient laminar flow for the intake setup without a MAF screen.

Sooooo his flowbench tested for laminar flow too?

Not his flowbench. Laminar flow would be indicated partially by dyno results, and also by MAF readings with and without the screen. That'* how I'd do it.

Say for instance you had two identical pipes.....one 3" and the other 3.5" in diameter, same length. If the MAF sensor read less air passing from the 3.5" than the 3", it would be indicative of turbulent air.

Make sense? I'm not saying this is the way Hector did it, but if I had the time and resources, I would look at flowbench, dyno, and MAF data with several different pipe setups. Varying diameter, length, and bend radius, and duplicate all setups with and without the MAF screen.

To me that would be a horrible way to tell..I mean if the MAF read an extremely steady reading maybe you could use it like that but it changes so much...bleh

So where did the flowbench come into play?

It would read less air because it'* the same CFM spread out over a larger footprinted pipe. Same volume of air, but since it'* in a larger chamber it will flow slower.

A jumpy sensor reading would indicate non-laminar flow right?

I wasn't sitting there looking over his shoulder. Hector poured his soul into many things we only talked about. For the love of the car. I respect him for that, and trust his findings. He'* the only person besides Scott Cook that'* tried to characterize 3800 specific stuff.

Hector'* goal with the intakes was to find the most efficient design to achieve a performance intake that would work without the MAF screen. He achieved it using several tools.

I personally won't question Hector'* findings or methods until I disprove him with practical application.

I'm not questioning the product at all. I'm just trying to make some sense from this. :?

It is getting kinda confusing.

Will, you should get into politics

I'm also trying to figure out how this was done. We saw from the link that k&n is capable of nearly 3000cfm and an open 3.5" tube will probably flow more if anything. So I'm really curious the actual workings of how this was done. I'm not saying its not possible but with what I'm looking at its hard to understand how it is.


K&N Filtercharger 14x3 - Approximate Airflow Capacity: 2,988 cfm
Purolator 14x3 Premium Plus - Approximate Airflow Capacity: 2,518 cfm

Super Flow'* top of the line model is the SF-1200 capable of a maximum of, you guessed it, 1200cfm. Now thats their TOP model, most places probably don't have it. I've read that the more popular one is the SF-600. Super Flow even calls it "The Professional'* Standard Flowbench." This one, as the name would imply, can test up to 600cfm.

The only way I see it possible to tell the difference in flow from a 3" to a 3.5" and the curves involved would be to be able to out flow each one and see what each maxes out at. Since I get the funny feeling a 3" pipe will, at almost any angle, flow more than 600cfm I find this test difficult to do. The only other way, it would seem, is to do something like what they did in the link only in this case cover half of the tube. While this probably works fine for testing a round filter with the same direction of air I think it would be GROSSLY innacurate if you were to duct tape half of the intake tube to see how a bend would affect flow.

Now I'm in no means an expert on flowbenches and their capability, I'm just trying to apply common sense along with a few facts from the manufacturer to try and understand this. With that in mind you spoke of testing for laminar flow. As far as I've read flowbenches don't test this, and by the definition of how one works it doesn't seem in standard form it would test that. Maybe they have some kind of attachment? I've found a few examples of machines to test laminar flow, but they aren't flowbenches and seem to be used in the medical field more than anything as most boast having a hepa filter. Maybe you know of one that will?

Let me reiterate, I'm not saying its impossible, I'm not saying he lied, I'm not saying you're wrong but in the interest of knowledge maybe since you had the most contact with him and know more about his 'tools' you could explain how this would work?