Spoon Vs. Stock Air Filter

[wytt]

I got a Spoon filter about a month ago and I wanted to see if the claims were true or not. So this past weekend I finally when to a dyno and check it out for myself. And here are the results... drum roll please: As you can see / read, Blue is stock, and Red is Spoon. Here are the conditions: Fit had 7.4k miles along with the stock filter and the car is completely stock (Sport trim is that makes a difference... we I guess since this is a DynoJet aka Chassis Dyno wheels do make a difference). I did an oil change a week before putting in Castrol Syntec 5W20 with a HAMP filter. Also the morning of the dyno, I set my tire pressure to 40psi. I did 2 runs with the stock filter, then swap it out with the Spoon brand new, and did another 2 runs. So as you can see, the Spoon lose power through out the whole power curve. Now, I don't know the standard deviation for a dyno, but I'm sure 2HP is pretty close to it. So I'm guessing that the Spoon filter does nothing if not lose a little power. Maybe the Spoon filter needs to be used for a bit to open up some holes or something, I don't know, but at least from the comparison of a used 7.4K mile used stock filter vs. a brand new Spoon filter, it hurts it or does nothing.

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[STREETWERKZ]

did you let the engine cool down between runs?

[wytt]

Originally Posted by STREETWERKZ

did you let the engine cool down between runs?

Whatever time it takes to swap the filter plus 5 or so minutes.

[STREETWERKZ]

do you have free access to this dyno?

you should go back with the spoon filter in first, and the stock filter second.


its possible that the engine was heat soaked... loosing power each run anyway. i had that happen to my old supercharged setup. if i ran it back to back, id lose like 1hp each run. for a total of like 6hp drop. but when i let the motor cool back down, it was way back up again.

[wytt]

Originally Posted by STREETWERKZ

do you have free access to this dyno?

you should go back with the spoon filter in first, and the stock filter second.


its possible that the engine was heat soaked... loosing power each run anyway. i had that happen to my old supercharged setup. if i ran it back to back, id lose like 1hp each run. for a total of like 6hp drop. but when i let the motor cool back down, it was way back up again.

I wish I had free access to a dyno... I would be doing comparisons all day. Yes while it's possible that it was heat soaked, I doubt that it was a factor for a stock motor that only did 2 pulls. On a supercharged setup it probably has more effect. Anyways, like I said, 2WHP sounds about the standard deviation so I figure the 2 filter are about the same.

[rayzian]

Is the spoon intake that intake with the huge odd-looking cylindrical chamber?

[pos_cd5]

hrmm...interesting.

[STREETWERKZ]

Originally Posted by wytt

I wish I had free access to a dyno... I would be doing comparisons all day.

so you paid to dyno a stock fit? sorry.. hehehe


i assumed you had free access.

[wytt]

Originally Posted by rayzian

Is the spoon intake that intake with the huge odd-looking cylindrical chamber?

No, it's just a replacement drop-in filter.

Originally Posted by STREETWERKZ

so you paid to dyno a stock fit? sorry.. hehehe


i assumed you had free access.

Yea I paid, so what of it??? Hey, someone has to see if the claims are true or not. Plus, have to see if those mods do anything, and the best place to start is stock. Also it's good to see how much the power is lost in the drivetrain.

[rivergod56]

i wonder if a drop in k&n would give any improvement.

[kaj]

just found this thread. any more research?

would there be enough of a change between filters that the ECU would have to compensate anything? i would assume not.. but.. you never know..

[solbrothers]

Originally Posted by STREETWERKZ

so you paid to dyno a stock fit? sorry.. hehehe


i assumed you had free access.

it's called a baseline iirc.

how would you know if the car performed well if you don't know the before AND after

[RobyWolf]

since that spoon filter is useless to you since it doesn't make power, you can give it to me lol.

seems rather odd that it would lose power over the stock filter, spoon is not the time to sell shotty goods.

[twolucky]

Performance mods can have differnet effets with different set ups. Comming from the WRX comunity I know that a aftermarket intake is a terrible thing to do on a stock WRX. Not only will it decrease power but it is hard on the engine as it confuses the computer due to messing with the MAS. However, if you have a turbo back exhaust a lager intercooler and you tune you get an aftermarket ecu system/tune you can have gains with an aftermarket intake.

I do not know if the Fits have a Mass Airflow Sensor but if they do that is probably why you lost power. They read how much air is comming into the engine and deliver fuel based on what the cpu says from the amount of air and temp and all that stuff. The company spends a lot of money designing the stock air intake so there is no turbulance at the MAS. When you put on an aftermarket air intake the MAS usualy can not read the air comming in acuratly anymore and it creates you computer to become confused and thus your engine now does not run perfectly. In the WRX's they run lean which causes more heat in the engine and if fact it does damage to the engine when done for a long time.

Now with all that said it does not mean that is going on in the Fit but if it does have a MAS I would suspect a simaler thing. I probably would not do damage to the engine though. As it does not have a turbo the issue is not nearly as big a deal. 14+ lbs of boost will really multiply the problem you know.

[SuzukaBlueAP2]

Originally Posted by rivergod56

i wonder if a drop in k&n would give any improvement.

I put a K&N drop-in unit in mine. But it was so soon after purchasing the car that I really don't know if it contributed to my consistently high mpg or if it gained me any ponies or not. I would assume the stock air box itself it still a bit restrictive. I know in the S2000 world some guys gutted the stock air boxes and put K&N drop-in filters in an gained some peak HP that way. Maybe the same could be done with the Fit.

Originally Posted by RobyWolf

seems rather odd that it would lose power over the stock filter, spoon is not the time to sell shotty goods.

I agree that Spoon does not make crappy products. However, they could have had other mods (of their own or not) in mind to be used with that filter; who knows.

Originally Posted by twolucky

I do not know if the Fits have a Mass Airflow Sensor but if they do that is probably why you lost power.

I'm not trying to not-pick but unless Subaru is different the acronym is MAF. lol

Any who, typically only forced induction cars have a mass airflow sensor. Because the air entering a naturally aspirated engine may very somewhat due to altitude the car is at, it never goes above atmospheric pressure.


I think 3 runs on the dyno with the stock setup while fully warmed up and 3 with the Spoon filter would give some more conclusive results. But, that's something that would be best to do at a free or discounted rate IMO.

[x_tc-Dae]

After dropping in your spoon filter did you reset the ecu by undoing your battery? sometimes car does not recognize what is happening to it when you add something, so it goes on limp mode sort of.

[wytt]

Originally Posted by x_tc-Dae

After dropping in your spoon filter did you reset the ecu by undoing your battery? sometimes car does not recognize what is happening to it when you add something, so it goes on limp mode sort of.

Nope... but personally, I don't think it would make a difference.

Originally Posted by RobyWolf

seems rather odd that it would lose power over the stock filter, spoon is not the time to sell shotty goods.

I agree, that's why I said it probably is equal to a stock filter. Remember, it was only off by 2 or 3 HP, and that's probably within the standard deviation of the dyno.

Now I have new theory as to why it might have not performed as well as it should. Of course there is hype, but let's say that all those claims weren't just hype. Remember, Spoon made this filter for the Japanese Market, and not the US. Now it's possible that the Japanese filter could be more restrictive than the US. Another thing is the design of the intake. The US and Japan intake are way different, so when they designed the filter, maybe they had that in mind. I donno.

Originally Posted by RobyWolf

since that spoon filter is useless to you since it doesn't make power, you can give it to me lol.

I'll give it to you for 1/2 the price I paid for it. Hasn't been used since the dyno.

[RobyWolf]

yeah we could go on and on about possible variables forever. but what we can all agree on is that spoon is a great product and lest just give them the benefit of the doubt on that one.

and 1/2 is a great buy lol, I'll hit you up once i re coop the cost of my new fit.