Apollo closed filter with cold air intake

After reading about peoples issues with high flow cone filters, I've been looking into closed filter options. The K&N Apollo seems like a nice one, allthough my Mambatek GTX2863RS har a 3" intake, so the Apollo 70mm will be a bit smaller. Any experience or views on this filter setup?

I fitted a straight induction pipe with a k and n cone on the end. Very simple to plump in, gets its air directly from its own duct on the Bumper. Never had any issues. But I do have a few other mods.if you have a different turbo maybe the sip with cone could be for you?

This chap made big power from his 16vt with the standard air box.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1292521
Worth a read, he's a specialist from northern England but a colourful character, he isn't on this forum anymore.

"Colourful" meaning a bit of a scumbag He's not on here any more because he got banned!

The choice of filter doesn't really matter, as long as it's not ridiculously too small or anything.

I've found that cheap Ebay filters flow just as much air and filter just as well (sometimes better) as the expensive brand names. However, the only thing that lets them down is the cheap still mesh they use; eventually it rusts out and clogs the filter.

I personally use a K&N filter on my 440 bhp 16VT, purely because it was the right size to fit in the engine bay and has a non-rusting stainless steel mesh.

I was aware, just being diplomatic and the op is interested in filter options so trying to highlight the original airbox is more than adequate with a standard paper filter.

No worries, I added my statement in support of yours, on both the filters and the guy - I'm just not so diplomatic about the guy!

Understandable, I am not a fan either but his work I find interesting. If true then he has posted some big numbers with relatively small outlay. On the op topic, if I had my time again I would leave the standard filter in and go with a nice aftermarket barrier less resistant than a paper filter. I do like induction noise but keeping it simple is the smart choice.

I too read about the original filter box being a good choice. However, I just bought an aftermarket turbo with a 3" inlet, so I'm going for a solution with 3" sip and aftermarket high flow filter. My only issue with this is that some people on this forum are talking about loss of torque in low revs. That's why I'm looking into the K&N Apollo, which is a closed system (a cone filter inside a box, connected to a cold air duct). Thinking this could be the best of both solutions?
The engine is a Lancia Kappa lump with the Kappa inlet manifold, Venolia forged 85mm pistons and a tubular exhaust manifold. It's still in bits, undergoing some work at an engine workshop, so it's a while until I'll be able to test it.

Ok. I see. Well in that case the sip is the way for sure. I will hopefully be able to post some info for you next week on how mine is performing. I will certainly at least be able to post some photos of how it looks. My set up isn't too dissimilar from yours and I have a 3in intake going into a hybrid lancia delta turbotechnics turbo.I don't recall a loss of low down torque with the set up in question. However it is many years since I carried out my mods or even drove the car so my memory fails me. My instinct would be to say that the sip and not the cone or cone in box would have more effect on the mass flow into the engine at lower speeds....

The only way to be definitive is if someone can provide Dyno charts for the cone filter variable with all other factors being equal.

Another thought atle. I used 3in piping for all of the intake including the fmic up to the throttle body in the thought that it would allow me to fit a ridiculously huge turbo in the future. This lead to a noticeable effect on the lag time and a relatively sharper punch when eventually the turbo had spooled up. Again presumably due to all that extra volume along meters of pipework that the turbo has to pressurise. If I was doing it again the. 2in would have been plenty for my current configuration. Worth a thought. All depending on what you want the drivability to be like of course. Hopefully some of the 16vt veterans will be along shortly to add their knowledge to this subject.

That sounds logical. The aim is 300bhp+, but keeping it below 350bhp due to stock conrods. Maybe 2,5" tubing from turbo to throttle body?

That'll be me! for my 400-odd bhp Coupe I don't even run particularly big tubing after the turbo; IIRC I run 60mm tube just after the intercooler and then the last part of the run, around the engine bay is the standard Coupe tubing - all the way to the throttle body.

Also, don't go unnecessarily big with the intercooler. As an example, the intercoolers you see on Ebay described as "Medium intercooler" adequate for up to 300 bhp in terms of pressure drop and efficiency. If you can, always try to use an intercooler that's big enough for the job, as opposed to the biggest one that you can fit.

I have a fairly big Evo 3 intercooler, but the other supporting mods (and my tuning skillz!) largely make up for the lag caused by the big intercooler.

Now, there's a thought... I always thought bigger is better due to higher flow capacity, but didn't consider more lag due to bigger volume and pressure drop...
So: smaller tubing and smaller intercooler gives more torque faster? Cheaper setup, i guess...