I think insulating the inside would be better..(should have came that way imo), & help quiet it some as well. Not to mention, still look like new.

 

somebody here used ac insulating tape on the outside and says it works great,,,temp was only a few deg above ambiant....he did the outside...doing the inside could cause problems if it comes loose, plus with it being under constant vacuum conditions....

 

Big filter in there, I think that should keep out any possible contaminants.
Insulation such as: Dynamat on a properly prepped surface are very tough to remove, let alone be sucked off..

 

Besides the purpose of the tape is to 'reflect' heat before it enters the box and why would you want to reduce the interior dimensions of the air box?

 

whatever you think is best..

 

1) Has anyone ever conducted a study to determine the minimal hp increase that can be "felt"?
2) Are skinny butts more sensitive to hp increases that fat ones?
3) Is my HHR faster than a Mustang because the driver of the Mustang doesn't care to race me off the line when the light changes?
4) are all dyno results conducted at the same ambient temp and relative humidity?

I guess I'm recounting several topics I've read over the last few visits to the site, but hey, you can't quantify what you "feel" to any one but yourself. And that's ok! Your car and what you do to it is all about you. (I mean that.)

There are lots of different ways (most at disproportionate expense) to squeeze a few extra hp out of your HHR, but when everything is said and done and all the variables accounted for, it's what you like and maybe even what you like to look at.

I've always "felt" that the best performance dollars you spend are in the handling department. Most of our little HHRs can already go faster than we can control them. Sway bars, lowering, better tires!

But I like a good looking car too. The stock intake setup is quite efficient, but it looks rather boring. I won't pay $200 for 2~4 hp, but I might do it if it's cool and doesn't take away from the stock performance (or the warranty).

Finally, I will take my own advise given for years to those who asked. What's the best way to improve your car's performance? Ultimately it boils down to the ratio of power to weight. Our HHRs are already pretty lite, I on the other hand could stand to loose about 40 pounds. I'll almost bet that 40 lbs would be about the same "effective" power increase as the 2-4 hp from that $200 intake system.

Better yet, if I lost $40 pounds I might look almost as cool out of my HHR as I do in it!

 

You know I love this place great source of info ! So has anyone heard of a Weapon R Dragon intake pretty much like CGS I think they have them for sale on Ebay for $132 and from what I can find out they seem to have good reputation . Anyone have any input

 

I have a 2.4 and i dynoed the car with the stock airbox and the K&N CAI a nd there is almost 5 hp difference. The dyno was done before my engine mods. The stock airbox with a K&N should yield similar results IMHO.

Note: i was the dyno operator on a 60 degree day with 50% humidity. runs we`re 20 minute apart at 2pm so no big difference in temp or humidity.

There`s a lot of hype about cold air intakes and most of it is marketing bullcrap, I had a GMPP cold air and i did not like it for sound reasons. The K&N has the sound i like and also picks up cold air from the outside. All others that pick up air from the engine bay are`nt bad but wont yield good results in hot and humid conditions. They will work decently at speed because of air exchange in the engine compartment but nothing beats a fresh air fed system.

The main difference in cold air intakes comes when you also open up the exhaust. more air in more exhaust out will yield decent results up to 10 wheel hp in our type of engine config.

I`m not really active here but i worked a long time for GM canada and specialised in the GMPD program. I also build motorcycle dragracing engines.

 

Hi Vassago, Thank you for your detailed input. I have a GMPP intake, and like it fine. I agree about the sound, and SSGuy/Sleeper suggested the heat resistant version of Dynamat (or similar) placed on the inside would cut the noise some. I'll try it when money frees up a bit.

My guess is that the performance inprovements from the K&N CAI and the GMPP are similar due to their similar design.

Are you suggesting that a bigger tube, freer flow exhaust would improve the 2.4? I had heard that the larger factory 2.4 exhaust was pretty good for our engine size?

Did your dyno work show horsepower at different rpm speeds, or just peak hp? The reason I ask is that I noticed a lot more bottom and midrange hp when I added the GMPP, and that seems illogical. It would seem that you'd only get improvements on the top end. However, with the engine management software running these engines, I can believe something unusual may be going on. I really notice it in off-the-line wheelspin and grunt versus the stock intake. I wonder if it somehow affects the enrichment delay? Odd. Andy "STRYKER" also noticed the same boost in "before and after" drives when he added his GMPP.

Did you try the factory housing with a K&N filter?

Many thanks and God Bless, Marc