Humphammer
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2015
- Threads
- 7
- Messages
- 89
- Reaction score
- 39
- Location
- Morristown Tennessee
- Vehicle(s)
- Kona Blue 2015 Limited Edition 50th Year
Well you are probably correct, but it's not completely open....The honeycomb is still there I just opened up a few more of the holes in the honeycomb that are right in front of the intake snorkel. You would have to get right up close to the grill and be looking for it to tell anything was different. Nothing bigger than an insect is going through them. I also have a JLT filter condom (picture on page 295) that keeps debris from getting into the filter pleats. It is also treated to shed water as well. If bugs and pebbles get into the intake they will fall to the bottom and a good blast from the top with my leaf blower will blow them right back out the snorkel.Your air filter will get full of road debris a lot more quickly. The stock design pulls most of the air from the front right before it passes to the radiator. The small holes in the stock grill are designed to allow just enough air to flow through to create a low pressure point.
It's a balance between a "ram air" as a completely open grille would be (that is highly susceptible to road debris / contamination and a "fender well" snorkel that has limited flow.
On the positive side something has made my intake air temperature go down. I drove from my home today to Knoxville which is a 65 mile one way trip. On the interstate all the way down and back my intake temperature never got above 4 degrees more that the outside temperature (and actually stayed at 3 most of the time) until I got into stop and go traffic in Knoxville. The outside temp was 73 degrees on the way down and 84 on the way back home. I have checked this many many times on this exact same trip when I was all stock and it never got below 7 degrees more that the outside temp. I don't know for sure how much if any the opening up of the holes in the grill had to do with it because I didn't test it enough to be sure. Can't speak for anyone else but my car at least has lower intake air temps with the new set-up.
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