Ported Airbox
- May 15th. 2014
- By mapw
To help with air flow, yet retaining the ‘direct route’ Astra CDTi air box, some porting of the lower part of the box has been carried out. At the bottom there is a large hole which lines up with a hole in the inner wing to help draw in more fresh air, plus some additional holes to the side away from the heat of the engine bay and turbo, again to help maximise airflow.
Porting the air box usually adds around 5-8bhp on average, compared to running the same set up without a ported air box. With heat ingress being such a big issue with turbo charged cars this is a preferred option than switching to an open cone filter, where the air box set up will flow enough air. With an open cone filter there may be some gains seen on a rolling road with the bonnet open and plenty of air flow around, but there is more danger of heat soak with the bonnet shut especially when being driven hard on track and with the small K06 turbo. It is likely that with a cone filter the gains are likely to be minimal to say the least, due to the fact the turbo is relatively small and is working pretty hard to achieve the given power. Might be worth a try one day though……. In the meantime……
Ported Airbox
