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Little bit more turbo


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I have a 2014 1.6L 6 speed. What kind of air filter/intake or other mods have you guys seen that give just a little bit more of that nice spool sound? I'm used to my powerstroke's turbo making a ton of noise but this car could use a little bit more.

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Well, in reality it came make an ass load if done right. But I'm looking at like intakes or just a different filter. There used to be an air filter you could buy at NAPA for my truck that fit into the stock air box but took in about 1.5X more air. I don't want it to be super loud like a 1995 Honda Civic, but just a little more noticeable in the cab with the windows up. Feel me?

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I think you are talking about intake noise which Ford goes through great lengths to muffle. I remember opening up my Taurus SHO right after putting a ShoShop CAI system and hearing the engine crossing over to the secondary intake runners at 3400rpms. The problem with lots of those setups is that you end up drawing in a lot of hot air once the engine bay gets heat soaked, and then there is the issue of running oiled filters.

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I'm just curious, why exactly do you want your 4-cylinder mid-size sedan to be louder? If you want to hear the sound of a turbo while driving, download some audio tracks of cars with large turbochargers running large amounts of boost and listen to it while you drive. Ford made ours to be quiet because it's not a sports car and most owners would bring it to the dealer for service if it sounded like this: http://youtu.be/0lPCDZpPUFM?t=12s

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Everyone is different in their preferences. Some like to hear more of the music than others. To many automotive enthusiasts like myself, the sound of a turbo as well as intake and exhaust sounds are equal to having a personal London Symphony Orchestra each time we get on the throttle. This is partially why I am heavily against the increasing use of manufacturers like Porsche and Ford utilizing the car's audio system to synthesize artificial noises to enhance what the powertrain naturally makes. To me that is cheating.

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Everyone is different in their preferences. Some like to hear more of the music than others. To many automotive enthusiasts like myself, the sound of a turbo as well as intake and exhaust sounds are equal to having a personal London Symphony Orchestra each time we get on the throttle. This is partially why I am heavily against the increasing use of manufacturers like Porsche and Ford utilizing the car's audio system to synthesize artificial noises to enhance what the powertrain naturally makes. To me that is cheating.

 

I suppose you're right, I just don't understand the desire to take a car that was specifically designed NOT to exhibit those characteristics and try to bring them out.

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I suppose you're right, I just don't understand the desire to take a car that was specifically designed NOT to exhibit those characteristics and try to bring them out.

The thing is with the Fusion the majority of the people buying them are not car people. They don't get it when people like us like turbo noises and prefer a quiet car since it's just a hunk of metal and wires to them. Exhaust, intake and turbo noises are offensive especially in a car with more aggressive styling compared to your bland non offensive looking Camry. Also keep in mind that this is a world car, Europe has lots of noise laws so they don't have a choice but to make it quiet.

 

Look at the GT Mustang and the GT500. They are loud, you can hear the supercharger whine, they have aggressive styling and very little wheel gap. Why? Because they don't have to worry about some 60 year old lady thinking that the car is too loud or too low. The people that buy those cars want it to sound bad ass and won't scrape the bottom of their car on ramps bc they will slowly drive up them on a 45* angle.

 

To us a car is way more then a piece of metal or an a to b transportation box. I totally understand why OP would want it to sound better. Exactly why I wanted to make my sport sound more mean... Hell it's a Sport model it should sound like one!

 

OP from what I head a simple CAI will make it sound a lot better. A lot f the Focus ST guys are running their cars without their air box lid to get more turbo noise. Have a look on the Fiesta ST forums and see what those guys do.

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The thing is with the Fusion the majority of the people buying them are not car people. They don't get it when people like us like turbo noises and prefer a quiet car since it's just a hunk of metal and wires to them. Exhaust, intake and turbo noises are offensive especially in a car with more aggressive styling compared to your bland non offensive looking Camry. Also keep in mind that this is a world car, Europe has lots of noise laws so they don't have a choice but to make it quiet.

 

Look at the GT Mustang and the GT500. They are loud, you can hear the supercharger whine, they have aggressive styling and very little wheel gap. Why? Because they don't have to worry about some 60 year old lady thinking that the car is too loud or too low. The people that buy those cars want it to sound bad ass and won't scrape the bottom of their car on ramps bc they will slowly drive up them on a 45* angle.

 

To us a car is way more then a piece of metal or an a to b transportation box. I totally understand why OP would want it to sound better. Exactly why I wanted to make my sport sound more mean... Hell it's a Sport model it should sound like one!

 

OP from what I head a simple CAI will make it sound a lot better. A lot f the Focus ST guys are running their cars without their air box lid to get more turbo noise. Have a look on the Fiesta ST forums and see what those guys do.

 

Well, I'm not a 60 year old woman. Maybe I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum, though. I know what a race engine sounds like, I've built and rebuilt many of them. The 1.6L Ecoboost engine is not a race engine, nor is the Ford Fusion a sports car. I don't understand the desire to make it sound like one while doing very little, if not nothing, for the performance. I more easily understand the desire to make 300 wheel horsepower with the 1.6L Ecoboost engine and have it sound stock.

 

If people don't buy GT500's because they want a quite and smooth ride, why would someone buy a 1.6L Fusion and expect/want it to sound "bad ass."

Edited by jeff711981
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Well, I'm not a 60 year old woman. Maybe I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum, though. I know what a race engine sounds like, I've built and rebuilt many of them. The 1.6L Ecoboost engine is not a race engine, nor is the Ford Fusion a sports car. I don't understand the desire to make it sound like one while doing very little, if not nothing, for the performance. I more easily understand the desire to make 300 wheel horsepower with the 1.6L Ecoboost engine and have it sound stock.

 

If people don't buy GT500's because they want a quite and smooth ride, why would someone buy a 1.6L Fusion and expect/want it to sound "bad ass."

Good point.

 

I totally understand where your coming from. I also agree with you power>sound. Although a Fusion is no where near a race car but making little changes to suspension and getting a little more noise makes it a lot more fun to drive.

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I suppose you're right, I just don't understand the desire to take a car that was specifically designed NOT to exhibit those characteristics and try to bring them out.

 

Why would you impose your thoughts/beliefs on others? If they would like a bit more engine sounds why should they be content with leaving it how the fctory built it?

 

When I have rented newer Fusions with either the 1.6 or 1.5 engine, I have been amazed at how well they actually run. They may be small from a displacement perspective, but their performance puts the car squarely into the mainstream, and that is exactly where many performance oriented people got their start. I doubt that the factory will ever make it, but it would be neat to have a 1.6 with a stick that was somewhat performance oriented with a little more engine tone, better tires, and some sort of handling package. I'm not in the market for that car, but it would be fun to drive and I see nothing wrong with those who want to pursue that to modify their cars to achieve that.

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Seems like there are a lot of non helpful people on here. I didn't say I wanted the car to sound bad ass, or act like a sports car. I'm well aware the fact that this is mostly an elder car. I'm not looking to get some riced out sound from it. Just some of the intake noise unbaffled a little bit. I didn't know if anyone else had already done this so I thought I'd ask here. I appreciate some of your responses, but to some of you; if you're not here to help or contribute something worth reading don't waste your time writing something stupid.

 

I will take a look at the other forums and see what they've done. I test drove the ST and loved it, but its too ugly for me. I know that a 1.6L motor can probably really really make some great power. But thats not what I'm looking for. Just a tiny bit extra to take me back to my big turbo days!

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Steeda's huge, lots of guys are running their intake and tune.

 

I've their CAI and tune on my Sport and love it. I think I remember hearing that they help develop lots of the factory intake systems on Mustangs.. It migh have been the Fusion too.

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How about just using the search function above? I used Steeda as a keyword and got 5 pages of hits.

Some of the people on here are kind of rude... I did that and most of the topics on here turn into a pissing match of who is right and who is wrong. Most of it is useless and you never quite get the answer you're looking for.

 

 

Anyway I did some research on it, and it seems like a waste of money to spend on a CAI that's just sucking in hot engine air. It doesn't seem too many people have tried making their own and that the air temp sensor tend to toss a CEL if not done perfectly. But I may just fab my own up in the shop and give some different styles a try to get air in from the front of the car.

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Some of the people on here are kind of rude... I did that and most of the topics on here turn into a pissing match of who is right and who is wrong. Most of it is useless and you never quite get the answer you're looking for.

 

 

Anyway I did some research on it, and it seems like a waste of money to spend on a CAI that's just sucking in hot engine air. It doesn't seem too many people have tried making their own and that the air temp sensor tend to toss a CEL if not done perfectly. But I may just fab my own up in the shop and give some different styles a try to get air in from the front of the car.

 

The Steeda CAI kit makes use of the front air inlet from the grill. You can see how it lines up in this photo:

 

555-3174-6.jpg

 

... and the airbox seals (not air tight I'm sure, but better than just a filter hanging off the end of a pipe like some kits) against the hood.

 

*EDIT* I'm going to be getting one of these in the near future (for the performance/economy gains rather than the sound ;) ) and I have a bluetooth ODBII scanner that I use with the Torque app on my Android phone... so I'll post some before/after air inlet temperature numbers when I get it if you're interested.

Edited by jeff711981
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  • 1 month later...

 

The Steeda CAI kit makes use of the front air inlet from the grill. You can see how it lines up in this photo:

 

555-3174-6.jpg

 

... and the airbox seals (not air tight I'm sure, but better than just a filter hanging off the end of a pipe like some kits) against the hood.

 

*EDIT* I'm going to be getting one of these in the near future (for the performance/economy gains rather than the sound ;) ) and I have a bluetooth ODBII scanner that I use with the Torque app on my Android phone... so I'll post some before/after air inlet temperature numbers when I get it if you're interested.

 

 

The Steeda CAI kit makes use of the front air inlet from the grill. You can see how it lines up in this photo:

 

555-3174-6.jpg

 

... and the airbox seals (not air tight I'm sure, but better than just a filter hanging off the end of a pipe like some kits) against the hood.

 

*EDIT* I'm going to be getting one of these in the near future (for the performance/economy gains rather than the sound ;) ) and I have a bluetooth ODBII scanner that I use with the Torque app on my Android phone... so I'll post some before/after air inlet temperature numbers when I get it if you're interested.

That I would LOVE to see!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I finally installed the Steeda CAI today and went for a drive. As you can see, ambient air temp was quite a bit different, but it's the best I can do right now. I'll log another day in the morning on my way to work when air temp is around 50 again.

 

A little explanation first... both samples are after driving 30-35 miles, so underhood temps (and thus, intake temps) should be stable. The stock sample was me following someone at 15 mph for about 1/4 mile, then turning a corner and accelerating uphill from 15 mph to 80 mph at wide open throttle. The steeda sample was me sitting at a red light for about 30 seconds, then slowly rolling on the throttle to wide open throttle to avoid wheel spin. I was in town, so once I hit 45 mph I let off.

 

Stock:

15mph/cruise ambient: 50F

15mph/cruise intake: 57F

15mph/cruise charge: 59F

 

15-80/WOT peak ambient: 50F

15-80/WOT peak intake: 55F

15-80/WOT peak charge: 93F

 

Steeda CAI:

Idle/0mph ambient: 80F

Idle/0mph intake: 95F

Idle/omph charge: 90F

 

0-45/WOT peak ambient: 80F

0-45/WOT peak intake: 98F

0-45/WOT peak charge: 104F

 

Also, the Steeda intake doesn't increase the ability to hear the turbo spool up and it doesn't give you much additional "intake noise" (because the turbo is going to muffle a lot of that to begin with, just like it will muffle exhaust noise) but what it does do is increase the ability to hear the blow-off valve. It almost sounds like an aftermarket one that vents to the atmosphere. I gotta say... if it got much louder than this with one that actually does vent to the atmosphere I would probably feel awkward driving it... like with it making that kinda noise the engine should be making a lot more power than it is.

 

*EDIT* I didn't really feel a difference in power. It may have been a little quicker to rev and didn't bog down as much at high RPM, but contrary to what reviews on Steeda's site say, I don't think it's power I can feel.

Edited by jeff711981
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What you mentioned is why Ford went through a lot of trouble to muffle these extra noises that come from turbocharging. Us enthusiasts love them, but the public generally does not.

Indeed. But for Tyler, I will say that with the blow-off valve being more audible with the CAI, I've noticed two things.

 

First - heads turning as other people hear it.

 

Second - I had no idea the blow-off valve was doing as much as it's doing. I hear it very frequently now when driving. Seems like Ford is using the blow-off valve primarily to control manifold pressure rather than the waste gate. Makes sense considering how much effort they've gone through to reduce turbo lag.

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