Toru

I installed my Ractive intake today, and just for laughs I used the included bracket. I used the bracket mounting option shown here (The BRACKET 1 and BRACKET 2 links at the bottom of the page).

I used that configuration to drive down to the hardware store to see what I could find. Sure enough (and expected) the intake rattled against the brake master cylinder on the way there (acceleration in 2nd it seemed).

Based on the idea at Joe's World, I picked up one of these zinc-plated common brackets:


My thought was to cut the excess off one side and use the rest.

However, I found that using the bracket in it's entirety works best. This raises the MAF slightly and allows the front piping to drop the filter down in the engine bay with clearance from the headlight housing and rad hose:

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The bracket itself is mounted thusly:


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Here is a closeup of the mouting point.



And the obligatory full engine bay shots :




And yes, the intake does clear the hood when it is closed. I even put a straight piece of corrugated cardboard on top of the intake, closed the hood and then opened it up and checked the cardboard for impressions - there were none.

A question to all who have installed intakes such as these - what is the item pictured below, and what did you do with it? This was originally mounted on the stock intake tubing. It does not appear to have anything to do with the intake, it just looks like Mazda engineers thought it was a conventient place to mount it.

The "thing" (when I cut the valve cover breather hose to length I used some of the hose to cover the end of the metal flange that used to stick right into a molded mount on the stock intake tube):



Im summary, I am happy with the sound and the feel of the intake (could be purely psychological - it still counts ) and I am glad that it is not as loud as I feared it might be. Just some nice low growling under load. Plus the cool sucking sound when you shut off the engine.

NegatiZE

Nice intake! About that piece, I don't know exactly what it is, I think it's a vacuum sensor or something. It mentioned it in the Injen instructions but I don't remember. My Injen had a little place to mount that thing, whatever it is.

sandman

It's called the Purge Solenoid Valve - vents excess fuel vapor back into the fuel tank.

I actually BROKE mine when I was trying to find a place to put it but some superglue and about a half an hour later and it was back together... We wound up zip tying it to some other vacuum lines right along the wall of the engine bay.

Which reminds me.. Need to order a new one from the dealership before it winds up breaking again.

That bracket looks AWESOME - much cleaner than mine AND you mounted it to the engine too. I'll have to do that... For some added strength i'd even think about mounting the stock bracket on the other side of the pipe but to the same bolt on the engin.. triangulate the strenghth of the bracket and guarantee the pipe won't move!! Awesome...

P5 DO OR DIE

how much was that intake and where did you get it? Good install!

Toru

Sandman: Yeah, I was also thinking of triangulating the base of the bracket so that it can never shift backwards. I may pay another visit to the hardware store today.

P5 DO OR DIE: This is the Toucan Industries Ractive SF1011. I ordered this intake from DriverFX (www.driverfx.ca) for $108 CDN (plus tax & shipping, $135 CDN all told). In the US, you can order from DriverFX (www.driverfx.com) for $68.01 (plus taxes & shipping).

tradr

The Purge Solenoid valve is lots of fun

I broke mine while stupidly moving it to the mounting point on my Injen intake and.. uh.. needless to say my car would not run well with it broken and I couldnt fix it, so $86 later I was back in business

Thats a steal for an intake, sure wish there were more intake options for my 1.6..

Looks good!

sandman

Toru: Is that a 5" bracket?? I went to the hardware store today and tried to eyeball the size and 5" is what I came up with. That's the one I bought, but it seems like it REALLY raises up the MAF. BUT - maybe its just cuz my bracket is so much lower... If yours is the 5" and it fits, then bonus....

Toru

Yep, it is a 5" bracket. It does lift the MAF up, but it still clears the hood.

sandman

wierd.. when I tried to dry fit it, the hood was bumping the piping.. guess i'll have to play with the fit some more...

thanks for the idea!!! i'll get it to fit yet..

grndddimensionz

that intake looks like it would fit a P5 2002! Does anyone think it will???

Joe_Pro5

Nice work Toru.... I've been meaning to go to the hardware store to look for a better bracket, but have been too lazy. I finall got the original Ractive bracket and intake in place so it doesn't rattle, but a lot of people seem to have the rattle problem you talked about.

sandman

got mine to fit last night!!

but not without some effort and ALOT of fiddling with the piping...

Toru

What I did to adjust the piping was loosen the pipe clamps at the at each end of both pipes (except at the filter) and rotate, push, pull and angle the pipes within the silicone couplers until everything fit nicely. Then I just tightened down the clamps nice and tight.

sandman

yup - that's what i did too, but i wound up taking everythign off and starting over again. Since my piping was adjusted for my old bracket, it was easier just to disconnect everything and put it back together piece by piece.

There's actually a decent amount of clearance between the pipe and the hood. Near as I could tell from a flashlight shining in and watching through the crack as I closed the hood, it looks like there's at least a 2cm gap between the intake and the hood.

I think what I MAY do is drill a new hole in the bracket and drop it down just a tiny bit. (about 3/4") I think that should drop the intake nicely and able me to straighten out the piping to make all the gaskets fit flush again.

I think the biggest problem is the intake is too long.. I think i'm gonna cut my 'engine' pipe down a bit at the MAF end to bring the cone in a little closer to the battery and away from the hot radiator. I think that might help a bit.

I'm stealing your pics Toru!

Something like this:


and this:


You think this would make our intake pretty much perfect?

Toru

I think that is exactly what gujustud did. He mentions it here . He says, "I had to cut my piping short about 1 inch."

One advantage of raising the MAF as far as this braket does, is that it allows the filter end to drop farther down and back, to clear the headlight housing, which is exactly the problem gujustud was having. As noted however, this requires the piping to interface with the silicone couplers at angles, not straight on.

The only thing I wonder about cutting the engine end is this: Is the piping the length it is for an engineering reason? Will shortening the pipe (albeit only slightly) affect the engine performance curve? This I do not know.