MDesign Intake review-bigmoneycloser

To anyone using this on an otherwise stock vehicle, what are your impressions? How is the intake noise over stock? I had a Steeda CAI on my old Fusion Sport with the 3.5 Cyclone and it sounded amazing. Had a cp-e intake on my Focus ST and that really made the factory BOV and intake sound much louder.

Hoping for the same on this. I'm in on the current batch. E-mail Ahmad if you want one. I don't think there are many left.
 
Here's an observation.... after a week of driving with the MDesign CAI I have noticed that there is no longer a soot buildup in my tailpipe (whichI normally have to wipe out 2x/week)... maybe more air is getting through and better combustion?.. interesting to me... wonder if others have noticed this?

I am seeing no bluing of pipes, etc.
 
Most curious!  My instinct would point me towards a beneficial effect on the pressures in the PCV system, creating less blowby.
 
What's the verdict on throttle response?

One of the issues with the K&N was that I felt it hurt response due to the lack of bellows slowing the airflow....It wasn't huge, but it was as noticeable as when I cranked up my corn blend.

 
dalum said:
Are there any concerns with water ingestion with this?
Click to expand...

Not unless you're going swimming in your vehicle, it uses the OEM intake scoop location that is tucked in under the top of the hood near the grille. It isn't any more likely to ingest water than the OEM intake.
 
FoMoCoSHO said:
What's the verdict on throttle response?

One of the issues with the K&N was that I felt it hurt response due to the lack of bellows slowing the airflow....It wasn't huge, but it was as noticeable as when I cranked up my corn blend.
Click to expand...

I have found no throttle lag coming from OEM to the MDesign CAI... seems pretty much instant at initial application from stock as wells both low and highway speeds.  I just have to gently touch it for response, and I feel like the car downshifts quicker in response to throttle... which I believe to be good for the 3.5TT by avoiding lugging in easy driving... but this is subjective. Of course I also have DPs, so my turbos spool just a couple of hundred rpm above idle.

As I stated before... I am also not seeing the sooting up of the exhaust tips I used to have after a couple of hundred miles of mixed driving.
 
Spartn27 said:
dalum said:
Are there any concerns with water ingestion with this?
Click to expand...

Not unless you're going swimming in your vehicle, it uses the OEM intake scoop location that is tucked in under the top of the hood near the grille. It isn't any more likely to ingest water than the OEM intake.
Click to expand...
Doesn't the OEM design use gravity to trap water at the bottom of the box while air is free to get sucked upward through the filter?  Maybe adding a hydrophobic prefilter to the element for added water resistance would be an easy add on.  I do think keeping the stock intake source location is great and the fact if I'm reading the info correctly, that the opening is larger than the stock intake opening is a big plus for me. If there was some flow capacity numbers to show that the filter media could flow more air than the stock, or the K&N drop in, I'd be getting on board!  I think this looks like the best CAI out there for us by far....almost perfect.
 
The OEM has a dip due to the horizontal flat panel style, otherwise in order to get a linear flow of air they would have to place the filter vertically which would have increased the size of the OEM intake and might have not had enough room due to the hood. No intake system is going to hydrolock the engine with water unless you submerge the opening with water and get a good amount of water into the system. This intake has been in use for many months in Michigan snow and rain without any ill affects.

On a side note, just shipped out 5 kits to some lucky EcoBoost owners! Should make a nice after Christmas present for some!

Happy Holidays all!
 
Larry... No problems with driving in a torrential (1"/hr) downpour here... Plus I haven't had soot in my exhaust tips in 2 weeks.
 
I guess based on your analysis regarding the impovment in reduction of black soot on the tailpipes makes the theory more credible,so guessing there is less exhaust gasses going into the intake so the temp's come down and there is less soot,lower intake temps=more dense air/oxygen=better performance,less soot in the intake.
 
I have really been struggling to understand how soot would go down with any intake. This caused me to start reading about gdi and soot production.  I found a pretty decent artical that talks about soot generation, causes, variables and future solutions and regulations.

http://www.swri.org/3pubs/ttoday/Summer11/PDFs/ParticleEmissions.pdf

Egr is used to lower cylinder temperatures by the introduction of inert gas (non combustible). Our cars do this not by injecting egr gasses in the intake, but by manipulation of cam timing. Since only our intake cams are variable, unlike our f150 brothers our egr "capacity" is a little more limited. But we still get reversion through the exhaust port to the intake stroke.

All that being said, can someone explain how a cold air intake alters the variables that produces soot or alters the already functioning egr activities of the variable cam timing?
 
I can confirm that the soot is gone from my pipes too. I clean them on a regular basis and since I install this intake I have not gotten any build up. I have put over 2000 miles on the car too since then, filling up at various different gas stations and brands of fuel. Not sure why it happened with this intake but I know that it has.
 
FoMoCoSHO said:
As My E85 blend goes up, the soot disappears also. I have no idea what would cause an intake to change it.
Click to expand...

Neither do I.  Earlier testing on my car showed no dyno difference between stock intake and filter and with filter disconnected at the accordion leaving an open hole... (3 separate comparisons using BTB pulls)... Therefore I don't really believe there's more air getting in, but it is possible, I suppose, that in moving the O2 sensor from the turbulent OEM box to the smooth pipe on the MDesign CAI the resultant airflow may be causing the sensor to send a different signal to the ECM... I cannot explain it, but continue to see essentially no tailpipe sooting...interestingly the very slight bit I've noticed (and I mean almost nothing) is in the right tailpipe tip.
 
Two questions:
First, does the tab on the side of the MAP sensor needto be below the gromet on the Charge Pipe? I can't remember how stock was or even when I had it on the K&N.
SEcond, what postions should the MAP sensor be in?

So far I love the look of the MDesign intake, performance wise, hard to tell...It snowed and has been extremely cold here in Chicago since I got it. Was -2 this morning.  Only draw back so far, is the whooos sound that I got with the K&N is gone.
 
^^ I just ordered an MDesign and sold my K&N to a member - I hope I don't miss the sound too much. LOL.  .  I just like the look of the Mdesign so much, that swayed me. 

The reduction in soot would be nice, though I did not get much at all witrh the K&N either....

For Anybody considering this, Ahmed (MDesign) has really quick responses to direct inquiries. I like that - a lot.
 
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