[MichaelDelaney]

it's for noise reduction...you hear everything now...it's no big deal...

 

[MichaelDelaney]

Why re-invent the wheel and rewrite everything?

http://integra.vtec.net/geeser/ru3130.html[/url]]

What are we looking at? This is the hideous resonator assembly Honda has to use to keep the VTEC engine quiet enough for the normal driver. Thought you only needed a muffler on the exhaust? Think again, you're looking at the intake muffler. Seems that a motor which puts out 100hp/liter makes plenty of noise from the intake as well.

The most interesting thing is the path the air takes on its way into the motor. Notice at the upper right corner of the picture there is a white piece atop the black U-shaped tube. This piece is the first that the air sees, and it draws its intake air from the engine compartment, just behind the ABS unit! After passing through the white piece, it travels down into the black tube, and back up into the engine compartment into the airbox. What about the large grey piece in the middle of the black U? Air does not pass through this noticably heavy item, it is merely there to stifle resonances which would cause intake noise.

Autopedia has an interesting diagram of the resonator on the GS-R and the Type R, check it out:


http://autopedia.com/Acura/97_TypeRintake.html

Okay, aside from quieting down what could be the most beautiful intake noise I have heard yet, this apparatus does nothing for cold air, as it draws its intake air from the engine compartment. My solution? Yank it out. Let's get some fresh air in there and hear some of that beautiful intake noise!

The actual procedure is quite simple. Take out any bolt that holds the resonator assembly in place (you can see several in the picture, they're all 10mm) and pull the mess out. The only problem is removing the white piece, but I've done it three times, so it can be done. once this is done, you have some options as to what to do next:


Leave everything just as it is. This is the path Brian chose, and this works fine. While it doesn't direct cool air from the outside into the car, there is a large gap where the resonator was which easily allows air from the outside. It's certainly the simplest.

Re-install the black U-shaped tube after cutting off the upper section of the U visible in the above picture. This gives you a nice fresh air feed from the fenderwell, comparable to many aftermarket systems. This does entail cutting the U tube, however. If you wanted, you could always skip the cutting... you wouldn't be destroying a perfectly good part, and if you're concerned about water induction of a cold-air system, this will work like a nice little snorkel, keeping the intake out of anything but puddles deep enough for Jacques Cousteau to explore. (Just remember to tape off the opening in the bottom of the U.)

Quote: This is the method chosen by John Cloutier (GSRpm@aol.com):

I ran the ICEMAN for about 2 months......It sounded nice at WOT and seemed to work well - but only in the drylands configuration. I felt like I was losing a ton of low end torque with the short (wetlands) setup. So I took the hole thing off, and put a modified version of the stock system back on - CMH RU-3130 filter in the box, and with about one half of the long U shaped plastic tube cut off. I put a homemade airhorn (made from an aluminum dryer duct) on the end of what remained of the black U tube, and now I have a fully safe "cold air" induction system. It seems to perform just as well as the ICEMAN in the drylands mode, with out the negatives....droning sound on the highway, etc.....

And all that for $40 vs. the $200+ of the Iceman?


At the bottom of the stock airbox in an oval opening. It just so happens that the circumference of this oval opening is exactly that of a 4" diameter dryer hose. Yes, I measured. Therefore, you can use a 4" dryer hose, using something like duct tape to fasten it, to bring fresh air from the front air dam to the intake. This is what I chose. Does it build more horsepower than nothing at all? Not likely, but it looks cool.

This belongs in newbie oblivion. As I said, it's not a big deal. Certainly not enough to make a mountain out of this mole hill. Taking the resonator off is like taking your exhaust muffler off...it's job is to keep the sound down by inducing a lower resonance frequency and will slow flow into the intake tube. Aftermarket intakes (short ram and CAI) ask you to remove it anyway. You'll get some increase in power with the stock paper filter intake but it ain't anything to write home about. Please don't ask about removing the lid on the box and getting an increase on the dyno...it's a false increase. Keep the lid on, take the resonator off, swap to a K&N filter if you don't want to spend a lot of money on an intake.

Let's move on...shall we?

 

[MichaelDelaney]

hehe, good post MD, butI believe that the answer to this question is that there is no purpose to the resonator... or maybe it's there to add weight to the car, honda wouldn't want us to spank the domestics too bad... lol

what are fantasy land are you living in...or did we just leave a rave?

 

[MichaelDelaney]

I'm talking about what the resonator does and if by removing it you can run with the domestics...that is fantasy land.

the purpose of a resonator has been stated twice: sound muffling. Not every owner of a teg wants to turn it into a hot rod. Most people do prefer a quiet car.

 

[MichaelDelaney]

you'll have to do better for humor than that here man...we Canadians have a higher standard as to what is funny...