I hesitate to put this in the performance section because IDK if you can call the OBX performance , but here goes.

Had a urgent need for a better than stock intake. Thought I would try the OBX for a band aid. Got a deal from one of our members (thanks again Nightfall) and I impatiently waited for it to arrive.

When the box came in, I anxiously opened it up and it was like the light of God himself came out of that box;



Look at how shiney she is! Damn, if it's that pretty how could it be bad?




So I carefully lifted her out of the cushion of bubble wrap to look her over. Hmm, welds are big but not too sloppy, It has 1/4 and 1/8 npt holes to work with. The throttle body holes line up with a stock throttle body. The intake flange lines up precisely with an extra head that I had laying around. Damn, maybe this isn't as bad as others say it will be. Let's take a closer look.

Upon closer inspection, that plenum looks kinda like a Mr Potato head doll.



All head and no body.





Well, OK, so the plenum's a little big. I can live with that. The throttle body hole looks like it's stock size, so I will have to port it out for my MP 60mm. Cool, I anticipated that. I don't have to worry about the map sensor because I run MSnS. But I could see drilling it out on the end of that big-headed plenum, no problem. OK, let's look inside the plenum.



WTF? Lol, they put the runners through the plenum. One by more than 1/4 inch! What were they expecting some kind of water level in there? Well, at least they got number one runner correct Gonna have to grind that down somehow.





Ok, let's look at the flange side of this bobble headed thing.



Again, WTF? Those runners are not even close to aligned with the flange. In some spots, there is like 3/8 of an inch step into the runner area. Imagine the turbulence when the air comes down the runner all happy-like from being in that big ole plenum and then SLAM! It goes face first into that step. That'll cause some disturbed air. Crap gotta do some grinding there.





OK, let's check fuel rail then get down to busi........and, of course, fuel rail doesn't quite line up. But I can simply step up the holes on the old rail like this;



That's an easy one to solve.

Now I'll start by match porting the TB; no problem (sorry no pics).



Next, I gotta try to grind/port/massage the flange side of the runners so there is at least a smooth transition;





Well that cleaned them up a bit, I'll polish them out later.




Now to get to the plenum. How to get in there ?
Well, I'll take out my 18" top plate to bottom plate, wood bit extension and attached my carbide bit to it.



(I use this to drill from one floor to another - in a house - to run wires or pipes from one floor to another. The acorns were of no help)




That allowed me to do this;



Yeah, I got back and gave it a polish.

Now she's ready to install. First, take off the old;



(Hmm, I got some junk laying around) Switch parts;




and bolt on the new. But wait, what's this? It doesn't fit in there? OK, gotta remove the cruise control throttle cable;






OK, but now I need a throttle cable. OH! That's what the side of the house is for;




My daily driver/emergency parts car (incidentally, does anyone have a non cruise control cable kickin' around )

Now she'll pop right in th.....nope. Gotta relocate my 4g63 ignitor for the MSnS. OK, now if I can....just...get it in there the right Rubic's cube way. Um.....up from the bottom.......twisted 36.5 degrees and angled 14.8 degrees.....slip over one stud......then spin.....Viola'. She's on! Nothing to it. Bolt her up, hook her up and she's ready to go;



Looks pretty, but I haven't hit the dyno to tune her yet. Don't think at this time she hurts or helps, but I did get the 13.863 @ 98.84 run with her on.

Heh, heh, just a little "for fun" write up.

Captain Caveman

96 RS Turbo 11.414 @ 119.62 MSNS, Crower 2 NA cams, BW366, 10.5 comp, UDP, 60mm TB, W/A intercooler, 3.55 tranny 567.9whp 430tq
97 RS NA 13.188 @ 103.87 MSnS powered 12.5 comp, Crower 3's and 219.4whp with 175tq
98 RS DD 12.5 comp on stock ECU, LTH, Crower 2's, Koni, GC, Hypercoil, DG hats
99 OZ 5sp Stocker 15.856 @ 85.97
99 GS stocker auto 17.7@77mph!

wiki home page:http://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=bullettdsm

I contributed to the Wiki!
EVO IX - just a really expensive boost gauge and a K&N air filter
96 Eclipse RS -awaiting registration and inspection
95 Eclipse GS - parts car
Mods/Profile - http://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=cs82685

Thanks for the writeup Mark. I have an OBX sitting out in the garage right now. I got it on a trade for some old control arms I had laying around. So now I have a future project to work with.

My Blog

nice work..

I kinda wrote this up for a laugh, tongue-in-cheek style. A couple of people mentioned putting this in the wiki. If it's helpful, I'll put it in.

What do you guys think? Helpful wiki material? Or just laugh at OBX material?

Captain Caveman

96 RS Turbo 11.414 @ 119.62 MSNS, Crower 2 NA cams, BW366, 10.5 comp, UDP, 60mm TB, W/A intercooler, 3.55 tranny 567.9whp 430tq
97 RS NA 13.188 @ 103.87 MSnS powered 12.5 comp, Crower 3's and 219.4whp with 175tq
98 RS DD 12.5 comp on stock ECU, LTH, Crower 2's, Koni, GC, Hypercoil, DG hats
99 OZ 5sp Stocker 15.856 @ 85.97
99 GS stocker auto 17.7@77mph!

wiki home page:http://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=bullettdsm

It may be helpful to some. I've been leary about putting the OBX I have on my car. I do get a kick out of how poorly it is made though.

My Blog

Thats why you spend the extra buck and get the original manifold design from Venom like I did. It is not poorly made at all like the OBX is.

-MIKE-

Stroked 2.2L

Just got back from the dyno with the OBX. Got some interesting results. A little more power, but gained under the curve. The peak power also shifted. More importantly, the torque curve and the power curve hold out much better after the peak (that's the area I've been trying to get stronger). I gotta get to my original dyno for comparison numbers before I can post up numbers. Definitely helps with flow. I'm running at peak of 87% duty cycle! (Previously in the high 50's) So now were getting somewhere.

Captain Caveman

96 RS Turbo 11.414 @ 119.62 MSNS, Crower 2 NA cams, BW366, 10.5 comp, UDP, 60mm TB, W/A intercooler, 3.55 tranny 567.9whp 430tq
97 RS NA 13.188 @ 103.87 MSnS powered 12.5 comp, Crower 3's and 219.4whp with 175tq
98 RS DD 12.5 comp on stock ECU, LTH, Crower 2's, Koni, GC, Hypercoil, DG hats
99 OZ 5sp Stocker 15.856 @ 85.97
99 GS stocker auto 17.7@77mph!

wiki home page:http://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=bullettdsm

-MIKE-

Stroked 2.2L

OK, so here we go. I ended up having a little break up problem on the dyno tonight. Might be plugs or gas. Not too major but I suspect I might have lost a pony or two, but close enough for comparison/information sake.

Got a max power of 177.49whp with max torque of 148.17 (SAE correction)

Ok, so I got 3 more horses out of the OBX intake BUT.......gotta look at what else I ended up with. My peak hosepower now hits at 7400 rpm (previously 6800). The curve is much flatter on the top end with a lot less drop off. I'm still running at 170 whp at 7.9 to 8k with the OBX. I didn't even do my run that far with the ported stocker, because I was too far into the lost power. I was at 164whp(ish) at 7500rpm with the stocker.

The area I wanted to gain most on was in the upper rpm's. I like what I am seeing. This should help me pull through 3rd gear better, I have been hitting the line at around 7100 to 7200 rpm in 3rd gear. With my previous power range I couldn't feel that "pull" across the line. I'm hoping I will see that now.

As for the OBX.........hmm......is it worth it? Well for my purposes and the price that I got it for, I gotta say yes (though the proof is in the 1/4 mile pudding. Gotta run her first to be sure). It does shift the power band (600rpms) and give you a flatter (read better) curve. Both very helpful things. I'm actually kinda happy with the results. They are pretty much what I expected (though I hoped I would have gone a little higher peak). But keep in mind that this is on a 12.5 to 1 comp engine with crower 3's, MSnS and supporting mods on a "reworked" OBX intake. Can't say how it would affect a less modded NA.

Now I really, really need to dyno Mike's short runner intake for comparison. No pressure Mike, just needed it yesterday <--- Just kidding Mike, I know you're busy, busy.

I hope that helps others decide.

Captain Caveman

96 RS Turbo 11.414 @ 119.62 MSNS, Crower 2 NA cams, BW366, 10.5 comp, UDP, 60mm TB, W/A intercooler, 3.55 tranny 567.9whp 430tq
97 RS NA 13.188 @ 103.87 MSnS powered 12.5 comp, Crower 3's and 219.4whp with 175tq
98 RS DD 12.5 comp on stock ECU, LTH, Crower 2's, Koni, GC, Hypercoil, DG hats
99 OZ 5sp Stocker 15.856 @ 85.97
99 GS stocker auto 17.7@77mph!

wiki home page:http://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=bullettdsm