enormiss

A link to an article about moding the stock airbox was mentioned in the begining of this thread. It doesn't work for me. I went to the focus site and did a search on iceman and couldn't find the article. There was a thread about a guy who traded in his Focus for a P5 I liked, but not what I was looking for

goldstar

Searching for air intake with stock airbox, I came across a post by Traveler titled Restricted intake fix. He cut away the grill support right under the inlet to the snorkel thereby exposing the inlet to direct air flow through the grille. I decided to perform this modification and I obtained results similar to those reported by Traveler. There was a definite increase in throttle response and the engine revved up more quickly when going to WOT. In general, the car felt more responsive and powerful to a noticeable degree. Definitely more fun to drive. In addition, there was a slight increase in intake sound but nothing obtrusive-not at all like an AEM or Injen.

I'm not an engineer but I assume that the enhanced throttle response is due to the following factors:
1. the grille is located in a high pressure area
2. removal of the plastic piece allows the air flow a straight shot
to the inlet with a ram effect produced by the forward motion
of the vehicle
3. this ram is converted to a slight positive pressure at the inlet-
especially compared with the stock situation

This leads to the conclusion that the stock air intake position modified as Traveler has indicated may be the perfect take off place for an improved intake system. Also to be considered is the fact that this is a relatively protected intake. As the air flows through the grille it must then turn upward to reach the inlet. Since water is heavier than air, I presume much of the water would continue in a straight line or fall away from the inlet.

Traveler goes on to say that the stock air box, because of its design, is highly restrictive and cannot be made to flow for maximum performance. He suggests a redesigned box of aluminum or plastic coupled to an ambient air intake. This brings us back to jmauld's idea of incorporating the stock air box into a freer flowing system by eliminating the resonator and snorkel and replacing them with a better inlet but at the same time retaining the silence, and the paper filter, of the stock system.

I am suggesting a system that is based on the ideas of both Traveler and jmauld. A redesigned air box coupled to ambient ram air in the in the stock pick-up location via a smooth flowing pipe replacing the resonator and snorkel. I don't know how feasible any of this is but I would be very interested in your comments on such a system.

I currently have on order an AEM Short Ram which I will install at some point, but it seems to me an ambient ram intake might be superior to this or the Injen.

02 DX Millenium Red

goldstar

jmauld mentioned the Iceman cold air intake for Ford Focus as an example of what might be possible for the Protege. For those of you who might be interested, I've found a website where you can view the system.

www.modernperformance.com/ford/focusice.htm

02 DX Millenium Red
MP3 Strut Tower Bar kit
AEM Short Ram intake