Intake Resonator Question...
 

OK, I did a search and saw that a few people had removed the intake resonator from their SVX's.

First off, what's the purpose of the IR? Is it just for sound, or does it serve another purpose?

Approx, how much does the entire thing weigh?

Any negatives/positives to removing it?

Thanks! :D

-Chike

Resonator only "reduces" the volume of the intake. I removed mine, it doesn't sound much different from inside the car.

It weighs no more than one pound. I think it's probably closer to 12 ounces.

There aren't really any reasons to remove it nor keep it. Some say it makes the intake sound meaner when removed, but I didn't notice a difference really. Some say it makes for better airflow when removed, but looks to be pretty free-flowing to me.

If you remove it, just make sure to cut the tube in half and leave one half of it in the fender well. Stick it into the airbox to keep our stock cold air setup (ya know, avoid sucking hot engine air). When you get in there, you'll know what I mean by all this. It's very straight forward.

i also removed mine. i personally think it sounds a lot better from outside the car or with the windows open. with the wondows closed, i can hear much of a difference. i just removed the whole thing, not keeping any inlet, but that is for the purpose of my secret intake :D

Removed mine too. If your good with a saw and some PVC you could cut a hole in the bumper and make a ram air system out of it.

Well, I plan on removing mine completely tomorrow... I went outside and snapped a picture of the stock resonator earlier:

Intake Resonator
http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/17743.jpg

From the looks of it, I really don't think the little tube that runs into the stock intake does much. The air that is fed into the intake is already from behind the fender well, so no hot engine air is getting to it at all.

I removed the one screw at the top holding the upper part of the resonator in place, but there seems to be something else near the front of the big black box thingie... :confused:

How do I detach the lower part of the resonator? Will it just come out if I pull or is it also screwed in somewhere?

Thanks guys! :)

-Chike

There are three screws holding it in place. One towards the front of the resonator, and two inside the fender well. Good luck manuvering it around the little metal bracket. :)

And I would leave the upper half of the tube in place. It simply loops around inside the resonator, so cut it in half with a hacksaw or something. When you pull the whole thing out, look at the airbox in relationship to the fenderwell. Mine had about a 0.5" gap, which in my opinion is not what the original makers had in mind. You will still suck a little hot engine air with the whole thing removed.

Intake Resonator Removed...
 

Thanks deruvian for answering that question. Sure enough, I found the two additional screws holding the 'black box' in place with a metal bracket.

I was able to detach the lower right side of my SVX's 'under tray' and undo the lower screw with a wrench, however the upper bolt was tricky and after much effort, I was finally able to pry it loose and pull the entire resonator out.

I gathered up every piece down to the last bolt and washer, stuck them all into a plastic bag and weighed it on my digital kitchen scale - 2.5 lbs.

I also got out my saw and cut the black box in half to take a cross-sectional pic of the resonator which is shown below:

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/17761.jpg

I figured all of this info could be useful to other SVXers in the future...

Observations: The induction sound of my car is now twice as loud! It is audible inside the car, but even more so from outside (according to my wife). The car has more pick-up and go and moves along quite rapidly even at half throttle.

All in all, I'm very happy with the results, and I'm not too worried about sucking in hot engine air as the fender well from which air is taken from is quite isolated from the engine.

The entire removal process took me about 2 hours (only b/c I also used it as an opportunity to detach intact pipe and clean my throttle bodies with some carb cleaner - Valvoline Carb Cleaner is the best!). I shaved 2.5 pounds off my SVX and improved the airflow to my engine! Not bad for a weekend project and a free mod.

-Chike

I checked...and my gap was much smaller (approx <0.2"). I may just fabricate something out of the silicone putty used to plug punctured gas tanks/ radiators and fill in the gap - wouldn't be very hard to do.

-Chike

Chike i see you found the stock SVX saxaphone...

Oh yeah! :D

Re: Intake Resonator Removed...
 

deruvian, I thought about the 'gap' last night and decided to modify the upper part of my intake resonator with a saw inorder to prevent any hot engine air from entering into my intake tract...

The modified IR is only 5 inches long and weighs approx 6 ounces...

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/17804.jpg

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/17805.jpg

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...etkd/17806.jpg

It might be hard to see from the third pic, but I cut the plastic piping in such a way that an 'oval face' is pointing in the direction of the airflow...

The induction sound has been reduced slightly at lower rpms, but everything still comes to life above 3000rpms! :D I kinda like this modified set-up better as it'll smoothen out the airflow going into my intake box, without any apparent restriction...

I love my SVX!!!

:)

-Chike

Update: Central VA had a flash flood yesterday and 3" of rain fell in a 2 hour time frame. I drove home at 65mph in this weather and checked my airbox this morning to see if any water had gotten in - none at all! There was also NO unusual debris collected in the bottom of my airbox.

Seems like this set-up is working great thus far - and I just love the sound! :)

-Chike

there would probably have to be water nearly up to the hood for it to suck in water - you'd have bigger problems in that case.

i did the same thing with mine, BTW - i had the little hole at the bottom of the tube covered with duct tape, but a while ago i just hacked it at an angle near the top. makes no difference anyway with the Stebro symphony. :D

I removed the intake resonator on my wife's car. It seems to help a little. I didn't notice much of a change in the sound. I didn't cut the tube in half I just cut along the two tabs that held the two tubes together. That way if I ever want to put it back together I can. Here are some photos.

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/svxash/19255.JPG
http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/svxash/19262.JPG
http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/svxash/19263.JPG
http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/files/svxash/19264.JPG