Leland-West Insurance
Intake Test 1

Intake Test 1

Dodge Magnum Modifications - Heat Shield Removal

Test Date: June 16th, 2006

Test Course: 68 miles of highway, city and then highway driving around Fresno CA.

Test Conditions: 90-96 degree California summer heat (dry).

Testing Instruments

  • A $20 'wireless' thermometer purchased from OSH. Wireless = a remote transmitter that is connected to a wired temp sensor and reports to a second unit, which in the accompanying pictures you can see sitting atop the steering column. The wire is long enough that the remote transmitter is actually sitting inside the car. The unit has a metal element for fast detection of changes and a 30-second refresh rate.
  • Scan gauge which reads temperature directly off of the vehicle's intake air temperature sensor.
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For this test the sensor was placed at the top of the filter element to put it at the furthest place away from ambient incoming air; essentially a worst-case placement in terms of high temps.

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Only a few hundred yards from home at 20mph the temp has dropped from 126 at a standstill to 112 already. The air conditioning is on in the car and the lower digital reading is cabin temp.

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About 2 miles at a steady 40 mph. No effective temp drop unless you count the cabin interior.

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Now on the freeway. Cruise control at 75 for several miles. Temp settles over about 10 miles to roughly 5 degrees above ambient.

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Turnaround and head back. High point after acceleration.

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On cruise at 55 for several miles. Temp settles 8 degrees above ambient.

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Coast down and get off the freeway. Offramp leads straight to a non-stop 40mph zone that lasts 2 miles. Temp settles 4 degrees above ambient at this low speed. A/C was turned OFF just before this pic was taken.

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Now lets do some slow speed driving. Pick a crowded street and hit every light. Right after the highway we hit the firstlight. POW. With no air coming in the bay temp skyrockets.

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Crawl in heavy traffic at 30-35 miles per hour to the next light and stop dead. But temp is down 26 degrees. I turned the fans on manually on at the previous light and it has had a dramatic effect in one block.

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This is the next light. Still crawling and temp has still dropped five more degrees. A moment later, still stopped, temp has gone down AGAIN... which should never happen but does thanks to the fans.

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The next stage of the test was a return to the freeway. Unfortunately no photos given lighting conditions. Speed was around 70. Temp settled VERY slowly to 12 degrees above ambient despite the steady speed and slightly reduced temperature (90 degrees). Got the idea of shutting off the fans and temp almost immediately dropped five degrees to 7 above ambient, where it stayed.

Surprise conclusion from this test was that a manual fan activation switch works well at slow speeds in the city, but on the highway it blows engine-block-heated air into the intake in place of ambient incoming air.

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Article by
Matt Robertson
Matt is the Managing Partner at Leland-West Insurance Brokers, Inc. He started with the firm while still a college student, way back in 1984. According to Matt his only remaining hobby is Motorsport ... because its all he can afford ("will work for tires"). Reach him at matt@lelandwest.com