BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!

Sankar · 22nd December 2010, 21:22

The first air intake modification i did on my AStar was a simple Cosworth replacement panel filter. While it did make things better compared to the stock paper filter i again had the urge to go with a complete revised air intake setup.

The first AStars have a simple airbox design (by the looks of it) and its air intake location is placed at a place where its supposed to get fresh air while the vehicle is in motion. You can see the cutout in one of the pics that follows. Maybe Maruti could've done better with the airbox design or air intake and maybe thats why Maruti decided to revise the air intake design of the later AStars (for the pic, check out Karan's AStar thread). Anyway i didn't want to retain the stock box and even before i decided on which filter to get i knew that i can match or lower the IAT and definitely not exceed the IAT compared to the stock system. The routing is not as convoluted as, say for eg., a Swift VDI's which with the aftermarket filter and the ducting is unnecessarily complex. I might lose out on a bit on low end torque because of the lack of runner length before the TB, i haven't gone for a drive yet, and if its too low i hope to rectify it. I'll update on that part later. When i revved the engine off-ilde response seems to be a lot better, and engine didn't feel bogged down when i whacked it open at the TB. With stock airbox, engine felt clearly lethargic. Road test will reveal more... fingers crossed

Now for the pics.

Stock setup:
(Photos were taken on a different day)

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-img_0025s.jpg

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-img_0028s.jpg

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-img_0030s.jpg

The BMC CDA 70-130 as it was delivered by India Post.

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-21122010075s.jpg

Stock airbox removed:

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-22122010078s.jpg

The little whatchamacallit on the left side was bolted on to the back of the stock airbox. I bolted it down on to a location where stock airbox was supported. Btw what is that thing, its got two hoses going into it and a wire connector (prolly for asolenoid).

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-22122010079s.jpg

BMC Installed. Carbon fibre should reduce the heat soak too, as they say. The stock airbox had tremendous heat soak as i found out before when i had to take off the air box for soon after the vehicle was parked. Btw i had to use a 70-60 reducer supplied with the kit to make it fit into the stock TB rubber connector.

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-22122010080s.jpg

On the bottom you can find my handy LED work lamp!

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-22122010082s.jpg

The sturdy aluminum ducting which came with the BMC. It's ID is 70mm. I have one unused intake reducer which i plan to mount it on the air inlet side of the airbox and use a smaller dia aluminium smooth bore duct in lieu of the preset one.

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-22122010084s.jpg

This is the air inlet window of the AStar, if you look at the stock airbox photos you can see that the air intake pipe sits above the cam cover in such a way that it can prolly suck from a draft of fresh air through this window while the car is moving. The air intake duct of the BMC too is positioned such that it will get fresh air from the same draft.

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-22122010088s.jpg

Edit: This is a DIY job btw. Suggestions are welcome!!!

di1in · 22nd December 2010, 22:08

Looks to be pretty neat DIY install =)

Have you done any other mods on your AStar?

Looking forward to see how it performs on the road..

Sankar · 23rd December 2010, 07:31

Thanks di1in. No other mods on the car as of now.

Sankar · 23rd December 2010, 10:09

First (short) drive impressions:
1) Throttle response is better and engine revvs out much quicker
2) Low end has not decreased, i can't say for sure if its better, but its definitely not worse.
3) Engine is eager to revv out and doesn't feel strained. Earlier it used to get a bit rough at the top.
4) This i didn't expect, but the 3 cylinder engine's inherent vibration and lumpiness while idling is now much much lower!

Point to note: The Cosworth panel filter didn't have much dirt on it when i changed it (the car has run for less than 5k kms).

Planning on getting an OBD scanner, hope it works with the BS4 Maruti engine.

TOR · 24th December 2010, 08:33

Nice install !

Could you give the lowdown on the filter price and place of procurement. Any change in the induction sound?

Sankar · 8th January 2011, 19:31

Hi TOR, sorry for the late reply, didn't visit this thread since a while. The filter cost me around INR 10k inclusive of shipping. There is a change in the induction noise but not that much so as to inform everyone around that there is a filter in there. Those who know will know.

Small update: The filter is working brilliantly and i have bit more grunt available on tap. The way it revs up and pulls ahead is much better compared to before and its very eager too. My friend did an impropmtu second gear pull today to see how it goes and did a respectable 90kmph with ease before it hit the rev limiter. This is awesome and it was never this quick with stock airbox.

Mpower · 8th January 2011, 19:39

Looks good. What type and sq-in is the filter element?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sankar

Planning on getting an OBD scanner, hope it works with the BS4 Maruti engine.

to check IAT drop?

Sankar · 8th January 2011, 20:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mpower

Looks good. What type and sq-in is the filter element?

to check IAT drop?

Material looks like cotton sandwich. I didn't measure the size of the filter, but they recommend this size (70-130) for engine size upto 1600cc.

OBD is to measure the IAT (and to read other details) but since i didn't measure it with stock airbox i wouldn't have the figures to compare. But looking at the design of the stock box i can safely assume that this is not gonna be worse if not better.

Mpower · 9th January 2011, 18:31

OK. I did the Cosworth drop-in for the Waggie. Good improvement. I thought we were going to be Cosworth buddies man

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sankar

Material looks like cotton sandwich. I didn't measure the size of the filter, but they recommend this size (70-130) for engine size upto 1600cc.

Is it washable? If not do you have to import the filter element everytime? BTW, I noticed Aluminum...isint that like a good conductor of heat?

Sankar · 9th January 2011, 18:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mpower

OK. I did the Cosworth drop in for the Waggie. Good improvement. I thought we were going to be Cosworth buddies man

Is it washable? If not do you have to import the filter element everytime? BTW, I noticed Aluminum...isint that like a good conductor of heat?

Cosworth was good, but i wanted to go for a revised air box setup. The WagonR has a better airbox setup than the first lot of AStars i guess.
The filter element is washable and they have the washing+oiling kit available for the BMC filter, i didn't buy that. I may buy it later or use K&K or Green oiling kit if that works fine.
Yes, that Aluminium ducting came with the kit, its not smooth inside and it is not heat proof. I have made it shorter, so air will not have to stay in there for long and left it there for now. I have found a replacement heat proof and smooth bore flexible ducting. Its available in a smaller diameter too. I haven't purchased it yet.

Sankar · 9th February 2011, 20:16

Like i said i will, i replaced the corrugated aluminium tube with heat resistant fibreglass re-inforced silicone hose, its inner wall is smoother compared to aluminium tube. The diameter is slightly lesser at 63mm, which imho is suiting the engine better. There is an aluminum funnel too which is not shown in the photo.

The duct you see in the comparison photo is the leftover part of the 1metre section i bought. Price of the duct inclusive of shipping + aluminium funnel is lower compared to the neoprene duct sold by Petes as their dynamisation kit.

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-09022011251.jpg

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-09022011252.jpg

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-09022011253.jpg

Used the reducer supplied by BMC to reduce the dia of the inlet from 70mm to 63mm. Secured the duct using jubilee clips. The mouth of the duct opens to the slot in the airdam of the bumper.

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-09022011246.jpg

I felt a slight increase in torque lower down in the rpm range (sigh..wish there was a tacho, got to get one), and the car still pulls well to the top. So far so good.

Mpower · 10th February 2011, 23:14

This one looks neat. I have only seen the blue silicone hose. What is the Aluminum funnel for?

I had a look under the hood of the i-10 kappa2. Its got some kind of covering on the intake pipe..not sure what its for. heres a pic

Sankar · 11th February 2011, 10:25

Blue, Red, Black etc coloured silicone hoses are popular but silver is not so, i would've preferred some other colour if it was available in this spec. Aluminium funnel/bell-mouth makes for a radiused entry into the duct and it should help in the flow. I will fix the bell-mouth soon, i had to do some cutting which i did yesterday.

BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar!-10022011258.jpg

I've noticed the cover on i10 Kappa's air intake tube, i don't know what its for though. I10 Kappa's air intake tube has a particular design its intake duct is not smooth plastic but its kinda fibrous/furry, poke your finger inside the opening and you can feel it. Wonder why thats so.

frankmehta · 21st February 2011, 01:33

So, how is it going mate??? Any notes you want to share with us that you might have made over the long term that you used it??

Sankar · 21st February 2011, 09:34

Made some changes since my last update, mainly to do with the ducting and the filter mounting. Tried three types of ducting since the last update. Currently testing the third type this one seems to be good which is infact a variation of the original BMC duct. The CDA is a great improvement over stock box in this car, no denying that.

22nd December 2010, 21:22	#1
Sankar Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Location Posts: 5,766 Thanked: 9,054 Times	BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar! The first air intake modification i did on my AStar was a simple Cosworth replacement panel filter. While it did make things better compared to the stock paper filter i again had the urge to go with a complete revised air intake setup. The first AStars have a simple airbox design (by the looks of it) and its air intake location is placed at a place where its supposed to get fresh air while the vehicle is in motion. You can see the cutout in one of the pics that follows. Maybe Maruti could've done better with the airbox design or air intake and maybe thats why Maruti decided to revise the air intake design of the later AStars (for the pic, check out Karan's AStar thread). Anyway i didn't want to retain the stock box and even before i decided on which filter to get i knew that i can match or lower the IAT and definitely not exceed the IAT compared to the stock system. The routing is not as convoluted as, say for eg., a Swift VDI's which with the aftermarket filter and the ducting is unnecessarily complex. I might lose out on a bit on low end torque because of the lack of runner length before the TB, i haven't gone for a drive yet, and if its too low i hope to rectify it. I'll update on that part later. When i revved the engine off-ilde response seems to be a lot better, and engine didn't feel bogged down when i whacked it open at the TB. With stock airbox, engine felt clearly lethargic. Road test will reveal more... fingers crossed Now for the pics. Stock setup: (Photos were taken on a different day) The BMC CDA 70-130 as it was delivered by India Post. Stock airbox removed: The little whatchamacallit on the left side was bolted on to the back of the stock airbox. I bolted it down on to a location where stock airbox was supported. Btw what is that thing, its got two hoses going into it and a wire connector (prolly for asolenoid). BMC Installed. Carbon fibre should reduce the heat soak too, as they say. The stock airbox had tremendous heat soak as i found out before when i had to take off the air box for soon after the vehicle was parked. Btw i had to use a 70-60 reducer supplied with the kit to make it fit into the stock TB rubber connector. On the bottom you can find my handy LED work lamp! The sturdy aluminum ducting which came with the BMC. It's ID is 70mm. I have one unused intake reducer which i plan to mount it on the air inlet side of the airbox and use a smaller dia aluminium smooth bore duct in lieu of the preset one. This is the air inlet window of the AStar, if you look at the stock airbox photos you can see that the air intake pipe sits above the cam cover in such a way that it can prolly suck from a draft of fresh air through this window while the car is moving. The air intake duct of the BMC too is positioned such that it will get fresh air from the same draft. Edit: This is a DIY job btw. Suggestions are welcome!!! Last edited by Sankar : 22nd December 2010 at 21:33.
	() Thanks

22nd December 2010, 22:08	#2
di1in BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Thrissur Posts: 511 Thanked: 285 Times View My Garage	Re: BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar! Looks to be pretty neat DIY install =) Have you done any other mods on your AStar? Looking forward to see how it performs on the road..
	() Thanks

23rd December 2010, 07:31	#3
Sankar Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Location Posts: 5,766 Thanked: 9,054 Times	Re: BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar! Thanks di1in. No other mods on the car as of now.
	() Thanks

23rd December 2010, 10:09	#4
Sankar Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Location Posts: 5,766 Thanked: 9,054 Times	Re: BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar! First (short) drive impressions: 1) Throttle response is better and engine revvs out much quicker 2) Low end has not decreased, i can't say for sure if its better, but its definitely not worse. 3) Engine is eager to revv out and doesn't feel strained. Earlier it used to get a bit rough at the top. 4) This i didn't expect, but the 3 cylinder engine's inherent vibration and lumpiness while idling is now much much lower! Point to note: The Cosworth panel filter didn't have much dirt on it when i changed it (the car has run for less than 5k kms). Planning on getting an OBD scanner, hope it works with the BS4 Maruti engine.
	() Thanks

24th December 2010, 08:33	#5
TOR BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 263 Thanked: 21 Times	Re: BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar! Nice install ! Could you give the lowdown on the filter price and place of procurement. Any change in the induction sound?
	() Thanks

8th January 2011, 19:31	#6
Sankar Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Location Posts: 5,766 Thanked: 9,054 Times	Re: BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar! Hi TOR, sorry for the late reply, didn't visit this thread since a while. The filter cost me around INR 10k inclusive of shipping. There is a change in the induction noise but not that much so as to inform everyone around that there is a filter in there. Those who know will know. Small update: The filter is working brilliantly and i have bit more grunt available on tap. The way it revs up and pulls ahead is much better compared to before and its very eager too. My friend did an impropmtu second gear pull today to see how it goes and did a respectable 90kmph with ease before it hit the rev limiter. This is awesome and it was never this quick with stock airbox.
	() Thanks

9th February 2011, 20:16	#11
Sankar Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Location Posts: 5,766 Thanked: 9,054 Times	Re: BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar! Like i said i will, i replaced the corrugated aluminium tube with heat resistant fibreglass re-inforced silicone hose, its inner wall is smoother compared to aluminium tube. The diameter is slightly lesser at 63mm, which imho is suiting the engine better. There is an aluminum funnel too which is not shown in the photo. The duct you see in the comparison photo is the leftover part of the 1metre section i bought. Price of the duct inclusive of shipping + aluminium funnel is lower compared to the neoprene duct sold by Petes as their dynamisation kit. Used the reducer supplied by BMC to reduce the dia of the inlet from 70mm to 63mm. Secured the duct using jubilee clips. The mouth of the duct opens to the slot in the airdam of the bumper. I felt a slight increase in torque lower down in the rpm range (sigh..wish there was a tacho, got to get one), and the car still pulls well to the top. So far so good.
	() Thanks

10th February 2011, 23:14	#12
Mpower Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 10,409 Thanked: 1,730 Times View My Garage	Re: BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar! This one looks neat. I have only seen the blue silicone hose. What is the Aluminum funnel for? I had a look under the hood of the i-10 kappa2. Its got some kind of covering on the intake pipe..not sure what its for. heres a pic Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

11th February 2011, 10:25	#13
Sankar Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Location Posts: 5,766 Thanked: 9,054 Times	Re: BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar! Blue, Red, Black etc coloured silicone hoses are popular but silver is not so, i would've preferred some other colour if it was available in this spec. Aluminium funnel/bell-mouth makes for a radiused entry into the duct and it should help in the flow. I will fix the bell-mouth soon, i had to do some cutting which i did yesterday. I've noticed the cover on i10 Kappa's air intake tube, i don't know what its for though. I10 Kappa's air intake tube has a particular design its intake duct is not smooth plastic but its kinda fibrous/furry, poke your finger inside the opening and you can feel it. Wonder why thats so. Last edited by Sankar : 11th February 2011 at 10:31.
	() Thanks

21st February 2011, 01:33	#14
frankmehta Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 4,000 Thanked: 3,577 Times View My Garage	Re: BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar! So, how is it going mate??? Any notes you want to share with us that you might have made over the long term that you used it??
	() Thanks

21st February 2011, 09:34	#15
Sankar Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Location Posts: 5,766 Thanked: 9,054 Times	Re: BMC Carbon Dynamic Airbox install in Maruti AStar! Made some changes since my last update, mainly to do with the ducting and the filter mounting. Tried three types of ducting since the last update. Currently testing the third type this one seems to be good which is infact a variation of the original BMC duct. The CDA is a great improvement over stock box in this car, no denying that.
	() Thanks