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First and foremost, this is being posted out of my own will. Neither company has asked me to, paid me or anything close to that. As some of you might know, I have owned a couple of intakes before this, so it's really nothing new ^_^
This is also not to meant to downgrade, or look down upon either company, both are great companies, both offer a product for our cars that many want, and that is, an intake. As we all know, choices are good to have.
This is also not to meant to downgrade, or look down upon either company, both are great companies, both offer a product for our cars that many want, and that is, an intake. As we all know, choices are good to have.
I'm posting this thread to show:
1. The basic differences between CTS & EVOMs intakes
2. The "sealing" of both intakes against the hood
3. The effect of removing the sound deadening/dampening material.
Environment:
There was no lab or any scientific research done. This was done in my driveway on one of the hotter days of the summer. I used two LED flashlights, tape measure, and my phone. I removed the PCV hose, and found a spot for the phone to sit without falling over. Press record, and that's it. I tried various positions, some came out better than others, and those were picked, it wasn't positioned in any special way to give any kind of advantage. If in doubt, you can do these tests on your own.
Sound Deadening Material Removal
A little while ago, I started a thread about removing the sound dampening material under the hood (the foam like liner that is attached to the hood itself) for the sole purpose of more "sound". Naturally, it makes things a bit louder as the dampening is not there and the sound sort of just bounces around. This has sparked some debate about proper insulation of intakes against that liner which made me look into it deeper. This mostly, if not only, applies to the intakes which are the "open" type rather than closed (VWR + Forge are both closed, so they don't really "seal"). To put the discussion to end, let me just say that YES removing the sound dampening material does put a bigger gap between the "seal's" of the intakes and the hood itself. It wasn't said that it didn't.
Now, think of the hood as a frame with the painted sheet metal being the "top-cover." With just that in place, it will have empty "spaces/gaps". Think of the liner as the "bottom-cover." With it in place, the actual "bottom" of the hood is more or less the same (height). Now once you remove it, you get those empty spaces, so the "frame" sits lower, and the gaps are higher. Hope that makes sense somewhat. With that said, the part where the intake boxes "seal" turns out to be the part where one of those "higher spaces/gaps" is. The "bottom" of the hood sits higher, therefore, not creating a "seal". So in the end, with the material removed, you're introducing a bigger space. You're gaining sound, but whether you are loosing any performance whatsoever, is unknown to me.
BUT with that said, we should also look into how TRUE of a seal there really is. For that, look below:
Hood and material:
Taking CTS intake into example as I had that installed when I did these.
Without the padding there, you're looking at about 2.5" between the top of the seal, and the hood.
With the padding there, you're looking at about 1" between the top of the seal, and the hood.
CTS Intake with material and without
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Notes:
- I didn't think it was necessary to take pictuers of the EVOMS intake without the padding on the hood, as you can get a pretty good idea of what the difference will be with or without the padding.
- Keep in mind the shape of the hood itself, it's not completely "flat" all the way across. The closer it gets to the front of the car, the lower it will be. It will also differ on the sides a bit. With that said, for any intake to be a 100% "true seal", it would have to match the angles of the hood itself.
- Do not judge/compare colors or cleanineess of the filters. The CTS Intake has been used vs the EVOMs which is brand new.
- I did NOT run any logs on either of the intakes. The only thing I checked were fuel trims, and both were fine.
EVOMS[incomplete install, without the OEM intake piece]
With OEM intake piece:
CTS:
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1. The filters of the intakes differ in size as seen below. The EVOMs seems to be bigger. EVOMs also has a description of it's shape properties on their site.
2. The rubber seals differ slightly aswell.
3. The boxes of the intakes vary greatly, I personally believe this is one of the biggest differences between the two:
A) The CTS is a metal, angled "box", with a flat bottom, and no top cover. The front of it lines up with the opening of the grille that brings in the cool air. You have have minimal side to side movement to line things up properly. The back portion of the box has a small "cut-out" for the battery box "handle" to fit and it basically leans against the battery box. One screw, secures it in place. The box "wall" measures at about 4" tapering down to about 3" in the front to allow it to fit under the plastic where the air intake hole is. It does not utilize any of the stock intake parts. Looking at the box from the top, the filter is situated at the top left corner coming into the box diagonally landing somewhat in the center of the box.
pictures are without the rubber seals in place
B) The EVOMS on the other hand is a hard plastic? (not sure if that's the proper descriptive term) and it isn't one solid shape, it sort of adapts to the area as it's shaped for it with high and low parts. Once you slide it in, it doesn't have much wiggle room. One screw to keep it in place. It also utilizes the stock intake "scoop" that is mounted by the two torx screws thus throwing a more concentrated flow of air. Measuring on the same side as the CTS (closer to the engine), the EVOMS has a wall height of about 5" without tapering down towards the front. The filter sits on the lower section of the box closer to the headlight, which is a bit further away from the engine than the CTS filter sits. The back side of it has a small wall that basically sits next to the battery box instead of in front of it, thus making the battery box a "cover" of sort. It also has another wall to the right of the stock intake scoop.
pictures are without the rubber seals in place
3. The piping.
EVOMS seemed bigger at first sight.
The EVOMS is about 3" from edge to edge of pipe.
I didn't take concrete measurements here, so if anybody wants to post up the CTS info, I'll put it in aswell.
The CTS is also a one piece pipe that goes from the turbo to the filter.
The EVOMS is a two piece design. One section mounts to turbo and holds the maf, then a silicone coupler, and the second section of piping goes on until the filter.
4. The Seal:
This is with the dampening material attached. Keep in mind the type of "boxes" they are, different in design. The EVOMs is a more complex box vs the CTS, so depending on what your definition of a "seal" is, results may vary here, but for comparisons sake, I was looking at the wall closest to the engine bay.
CTS- About, middle of the box, we are looking at about 1" or so of space between the padding and the seal of the box. It becomes less the more you move towards the front, ending at about 0.50"
EVOMS- The wall is straight across, We are looking at about 0.50" in the middle and touching when it gets closer to the front. The wall doesn't go all the way to the grille plastic, as keep in mind, the stock intake snorkel piece goes there. The wall that is to the right of the snorkel piece, was also touching the padding.
Final thoughts
As seen above, neither of them are a 100% completely true seal as the "wall" parts are not completely touching against the hood padding. Like mentioned earlier, the box design itself would have to be modified to accomdate the angles of the hood.
Having used both for a while, I personally have to give it to EVOMS. I like the fact that the box itself is more specific to the area, the walls are higher and that they used the stock intake piece. The filter element being pushed further away from the engine and down seems to keep it "cooler" to an extent aswell as its further out vs being directly next to the heat source. I remember putting my hand on both filters after some hard driving sessions, and the area in the EVOMs seemed cooler. Now whether that bit of extra turn and piping makes a difference, again, not sure. I daily drive the car taking both highway roads and local city streets. EVOMs has not let me down yet, car stays strong
Just thought I'll share
