Targa Miata
MIATA BUILD
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March 28, 2010 - Here are the air horns I have to work with.
The silver one is what came with the throttle bodies, the others are some Titan units that I found in the shop. At least, I think that's where they're from. I have some TWM units around as well.
The first dyno runs were with the silver, "stock" horns. I followed that up with the longest of the black ones, just to see if they'd actually fit. The answer is yes, but the filters I was using won't fit over the end of them.
Dyno chart - the red trace is the medium-length silver horn, the black is the long one.
Overall, it looks like a big win for the long tube, with a solid gain from 4200 to redline and no real loss anywhere else. Unfortunately, it's not an apples-to-apples result. The biggest change is that the long tubes had no filters. Now, these are some pretty open filters with a large surface area, so I don't expect they have much effect. But I do need to test them back-to-back to confirm.
There's also a difference in the design of the bell mouth on the air horns. Note how the silver one has a simple horn shape, while the black ones have a more complete radius. This entry is fairly important, and it could be that the black ones have a better design.
The internal diameter of the horns is also a bit different. The black ones actually match the diameter of the throttles, while the silver one is a bit oversize. Interesting, given that it's the one supplied with the kit. The lip of the throttle bodies has a small chamfer in it that steps the diameter down, but basically there's a step change in the size.
Luckily, I have a black air horn that's almost exactly the same length as the silver one, so I can do comparative unfiltered tests between them to see which is the better design.
I only had the chance to do two different runner lengths today. I'll spend more time on the dyno this week and test all four options in the same session. Hopefully.
tags: engine, dyno, intake