Glad to hear. The CSF is hands down the best affordable radiator but whoever is putting those plugs in is just way too tape happy.

 

That's one of the "to each their own" i've seen. What's the mechanics fav? One likes no tepf but RTV on the back threads and cure. Another likes the tape two wraps for NPT. Another likes the liquid and lets it "set" before use.

 

Guess so, but still, it has that boy racer look when installed. There ARE better options being you've already gone through the trouble to make space for a short route....what's the point?

 

I'm using an FP inlet. It used to pass CA smog, since I took the "FP" label off. I have an AEM, in case I had smog issues, though. I kept the FP on because it makes the turbo sound better.
This picture looks like it was taken with the AEM.
My Injen setup was aluminum. I ditched it based on the advice of two tuners. I *think* they said it made the MAF act weird. It's been a while so I can't remember, exactly.

 

i haven't - i still run nearly a full size battery.

this is what we found btw:

 

 

it's almost a joke, straight up dangerous. i figured austin's case would be a fluke but wanted to check anyway... someone should probably let them know something is not working with the teflon tape process

 

I was a manufacturing engineer at highly engineered hydraulic cylinder company for almost a decade. Teflon tape was not allowed anywhere on the shop floor including maintenance. A cooling system is much less dangerous but that's some bull**** on that CSF plug.

 

I would've swapped to short route UICP for the lag for sure. It was a real effect. Same with MAF but I understand you have smog checks.

I held on to my MAF for many years believing in its virtues over the ghetto rig stock ecu speed density with fuel temp sensor as an IAT surrogate. Then I actually switched and was like.....wow I can tune the car to run smoother and lag is less again. It's a bit more air temp and season dependent but nothing some quality tuning time can't fix.

I guess I should check my CSF rad too I guess.

 

Being forced to retain the MAF I have noticed / learned some things over the years that maybe could help people struggling with it. .The engine doesn't pull in air smoothly, there are pulses. On top of that before you get the speed for exhaust scavenging effect from cam overlap your actually pushing air backwards making the pulses worse. The whole intake is designed to dampen / smooth out these pulses for a smoother more consistent reading from the MAF. Where things start to get messy is when you modify the intake, install cams with more overlap, or have leaks. The 3rd is obvious but MAF cars are way more sensitive to leaks than SD. The whole intake is kind of a tuned instrument. If you change it you need to retune it. If you look at the stock intake its relatively flexible and actually looks like it was designed to expand and contract a little to absorb pulses (IMO). So for example changing this out with something like a rigid pipe is going to translate to a change in the way the MAF is reading air movement. Likewise if you change cams and add overlap you will need to retune the MAF esp at lower air volume. I think dealing with these issues, especially compounded, is what pushes people towards SD. I don't think there is nearly as much information available around these parts for tuning the MAF as there is for tuning SD. Obviously SD has its use cases, but I think for most folks who actually drive around in their EVO's its probably not necessary. The MAF can be tuned to deal with mods, its not something I think most could knock out in an afternoon on the dyno though. Ultimately though, I don't think its nearly as difficult to just tune the MAF as it is to do a proper SD swap. There is a threshold where you need to ditch the MAF and I'm not going to try and stake out where that line is. It's just that I think most people who go SD for street manners probably don't need to.

TLDR: MAF gets a bad wrap, for most folks who actually drive evo's around they are fine.

 

Good luck trying to convince anyone of that.
"Bigger is better" mentality is a real thing. As is the "mod everything" path of building a car. LOL

 

Teflon tape is generally a nono on cars. For tapered threads the permatex thread sealant is all I use. Also, the way it birdsnested like that makes me think they wrapped it in the wrong direction. Or they just used a metric ****ton. Either way, wow.

Is that for the drain? I'd prob opt to replace it with something like this: https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...6&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

On an Evo8/9 speed density drives better than even the mostly finely tuned MAF setup, including a completely stock car. A good tuner with good experience with SD can tune the car in an hour or so, with flex fuel (cough Aaron at English Racing cough). If your tuner can't, find a new one.

MAF is not "more sensitive" to air leaks. It is 100% sensitive to them while speed density is really not. if you lose a charge pipe on an SD car, you can drive it same as having the charge pipe on, and even go WOT. It'll just be slow because no boost..

There's no "info" for tuning a MAF with upgraded cams because it simply doesn't work. The pulses you reference are a real thing, and with larger cams the pulses simply get too large and you can't tune around/for them. There is a reason modern engine management has largely moved away from solely using a MAF for fuel and airflow calculations. Most cars use some combination of a MAF, MAP, BARO, and IAT to calculate airflow. And depending on running conditions will omit the MAF from those calcs Such as- once the MAF goes above a certain arflow reading it will stop referencing the MAF, this is usually found in forced induction apps. Some vehicles no longer use a MAF at all, for example the dodge SRT8 and hellcat cars.

Not everyone thinks they need 70psi at 3000rpm.

SD is not "bigger is better" mod. It's a "this is literally better in every way than what it's replacing" mod.

 

anyone who's done a front diff notice a massive difference in steering feel/weight after getting it installed?

 

I think I've tried more front diffs than most (Marshal might be only one whos tried more) but Ive never noticed off throttle steering heavyness. But the clutch diffs when youre trying to go forward with the wheels turn will bind up. In my car you get going straight then coast to turn in parking lots. And I mostly ride with the clutch in and just bump it forward with the clutch occasionally. In my car its tricky but my setup is really aggressive.