Sorry tinman I've got to pipe up here ....
Quote ... "Drilling holes in air boxes does 2 things:
1) unknown quantity of air into the engine - hell, not like an engine is a presicion (should be precision actually) design.
2) makes a stupid noise thats makes you feel superior. if you want a superior intake of air, do it properly. if it was all about drill guns and holes in your engine, K&N wouldnt have a business."
Utter bull I'm afraid matey!
1) By drilling holes you'll increase the air flow; this then is measured by the mass flow sensor. The only way this would cause a problem was if the sensor's upper limit was less than the mass flowed, and unless you?re fitting 10 Dyson hoovers inline somewhere that'll never happen! It?s a know fact that ?digi? GTI?s are best suited to turbo charging of the mk2?s, so your telling me a few holes will cause damage and a turbo won?t?
2) K&N cone filters will flow even more air than a drilled air box FACT - so in ideal conditions yes, they will produce more power. But come on you really expect that tiny pipe to supply enough cold air? And what happens when you start drawing in hot air from your engine (kinda like your posts!

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You'll end up losing power FACT ! The only real solution is to shield the heat away using either an expensive induction kit like the ones sold by BMC or Piper using carbon fibre - they cost well over ?200. Or drill your air box and use a panel filter, which K&N started making long before cones replacements, and is how they got their massive business!
Funny, how come F1 cars don?t have cone filters? They use a shielded panel filters that?s why. The reason cones are so popular is they?re cheap to make and easy to adapt to hundreds of applications, not the best at their job!
Obviously you?ve got this completely wrong, take it from me I?ve a BSc in Automotive Engineering (and a proud 8v owner ? up the 8 valve!!!). Any if you can get something this simple wrong maybe your mistaken about this whole 8v / 16V thing too ?. Hmmm something to think about eh?
(sorry I couldn't resist

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