Copied across from www.minitorque.com but I think some of you might find this interesting... Apologies if some names or sentences don't make sense as it was written for www.minitorque.com...

When DNA Filters joined the forum, I was very excited about their new intake system for the R56. It appeared to be ideal for people looking for the perfect setup for their R56. It is clear to see that a lot of time and effort had gone into this system with re-locating it to optimal location to make best use of the cool free flowing air entering the engine bay.

I was very much interested in seeing how this performed on the dyno, everyday driving and on the track. I will give you the first part of my review here with the initial data that I have collected. It is important to state that this review will continue with further dyno runs and data collection over the coming weeks/months.

When I contacted Marios at DNA Filters, he was very polite and was positive about me testing this system. A day or so later, we agreed that I would offer to test the system for them and write up a full review, a system was dispatched from Greece and within 2 days it arrived at my door

It was very well packaged and the courier service arranged and communication with Marios with tracking was excellent.

The box out of the good packaging:



Opening the box, I found everything was very well packaged and protected with some very decent instructions and a drill tip to make the installation easy:





You will also notice that yes the tubes are orange, I was offered and colour configuration I wanted, so I went for orange tubes with a black intake pipe which I think looks great, once I get all the other coolant/boost hoses in the same colour the engine bay will look pimpin

Installation:

I wanted it to be done properly, so I took no part in installing the system, Jack and Thomas at 1320 sorted this out with ease with PD240 (Paul) helping out and making sure things were done properly.

Here is a pic of the stock airbox removed, it really does show how much space it frees up at the back of the engine bay, this is perfect for anyone looking to install multiple catch cans and want lots of space for an easy/optimal install:



Using the drill piece provided, Jack drilled the holes so that the coolant tank could be moved to the new location:



The new bracket provided in the kit was then fitted to hold the coolant tank:



Here is a pic of the bracket and tank installed, we only found one small issue with mounting the tank here, with it sitting lower than the coolant feed tube, the tank must be removed when changing the coolant to raise it to allow the coolant to flow easily down the feed tube but this is no real issue at all:



Sadly I did not get any pics straight away of the final setup, just took some today of how it looks after the track day and heavy weekend usage:







After the installation Thomas had some spare PCV caps to remove the second hose, Marios stated that the design of this system should help reduce carbon build up and it works well with the second hose from the engine to the intake manifold blocked off.

With it all setup correctly, it was time to test the system on the dyno. A month ago, I had tested the stock intake on the R56 and compared it to my new K&N Intake system.

The stock system made 187.7 WHP and 218.9 WTQ (Averages)
The K&N system made 192.9 WHP and 221.2 WTQ (Averages)

The tests above were conducted on the 1st of November and data has previously been posted to prove validity. So it is clear to see that the K&N system made power over the stock setup on the dyno, gaining an average of 5.2 WHP and 2.3 WTQ

Knowing that the K&N had already made power over the stock setup, there was no need to re-test the stock setup, we would only need to test the K&N and DNA system this time.

We conducted 4 runs on each and compared the best run of each which I believe was the 4th run for both systems. It is important to state that nothing else was changed, exactly the same map and conditions. Here are the dyno results:



What is important to state is that you should look at the boost levels, they are nearly identical and it shows how consistent the car is, my car never gives results with a lot of variance, its always been very consistent on both 1320s dyno and Lohens.

As you can see, the WHP and WTQ graphs are very similar, the WHP graph is nearly identical for both systems, at around 5,500 rpm we see a small difference of around 4.6 WHP but its only for a short phase. When we look at the WTQ, once again very similar, however, the DNA system does a little better for the first 3,800 rpm and then again at 5,600 rpm but only a small difference.

To be honest, I was expecting more of a difference with the dyno graphs but who knows, maybe with some time it might adjust, this is not set in stone, some people claim the ECU will adjust over time, others say its fairly quick to change after a few dyno runs.

One of things that I like about this system is the noise it makes, the K&N system was very loud and with it being located very close to the driver it sounded like it was running an after market dump valve, the sound is nice when pushing the car hard but when moving about in traffic its not really needed. With the DNA system, it still gives a nice roar as you accelerate and a bit of a hiss when coming off the throttle but its not as in your face as the K&N, so for day to day driving the DNA system is a lot better.

I was really interested to see how the DNA system faired on track, with the installation of the Wagner FMIC a month ago, I had already seen a massive drop in IATs, combining the Wagner and DNA system sounded promising on paper on track for cool temperatures and it delivered. The outside air temp was around 4 degrees on the day and after 15 minute runs of hammering the car around Snetterton, my IATs were below 20 which is fantastic, it never lost boost due to excessive heat and the car performed perfectly.

To conclude on this initial review (it will continue), the DNA Filters Stage 3 Intake system as a VERY high quality piece of kit, this cannot be questioned. Its design is clever, unique and effective. However, I am slightly disappointed with the very small performance gains over the K&N system. For people chasing the perfect setup for track and fast road usage, it seems to tick all the boxes, but big gains cannot be expected from what I have found so far, I am happy to be proven wrong over time if the ECU does adapt. However, remapping the car or adjusting anything else to get the most out of this system must be treated separately to being compared to other systems where all the variables stay the same.

With my car becoming a track/weekend car next year, I can happily say that there is no other system currently for sale that I would rather have on my car.

The big question that some of you might be asking is value for money, this sadly is all down to the person wanting to mod their car and how much cash they can and want to spend. This system will be targeting the top end of the market, so if you are looking for a cheap quick replacement and don't care about IATs, efficiency and track orientated, this is not for you. People need to remember that a lot of time and effort has gone into developing this system and the price reflects this.

The question I should ask myself is, would I buy it? Depending on what state my project was with my car and I had the spare funds, its hard to say really. As a track weapon yes, as someone that does not earn a lot of money I would probably prioritise other things first and if I had money left over at the end then I would go for it. At the end of the day, a product is only worth what customers are willing to pay for it so its down to you :thumbup1:

I hope you enjoyed this review, I am happy to do more and look forward to updating this with more data and feedback and happy to try answer any questions that you have.

 

Lucky Euro spec Minis with their lack of MAF.

 

They are working on a kit that incorporates the MAF sensor, it should be ready soon.

 

Oil filter any easier to reach with the coolant bottle relocated? Any chance the MAF version will be compatible with N18s?

--Matt

 

There's been talk about this in the RMW forums.

1. Actually makes power....a true true true CAI
2. MAF issue for US spec cars...but that is being addressed.

As to the N18 question, there should be no reason it wouldn't work for us....where ever they decide to put the MAF, that's where the MAF has to go, regardless if its a N14/18.

 

Great write up George Keep us posted with any additional thoughts you might have as you run the new set-up. I'm very interested in this.

Did you notice any change in throttle response? It's very short/direct path to the turbo is great, reminds me of the Duell AG set-up.


-Steven

 

It's hard to say really as the K&N system I had on a month before was better than stock and made some power, the DNA system gave very similar results to the K&N system so there wa not much difference. I did a track day with the car recently and it performed very well, I think it's a great system and if you have the money then it's an option, the only downside is that I seem to have quite a bit of oil residue around the filter and stock intake hole.

 

The biggest problem with this system is the filter connected to the driver's side pcv system. It will be soaked with oil and then spray on your intake filter. What a mess.

 

This is proving to be very true, its a great system but after 1 month it has already made quite a mess...

 

Easy just take The PVC part out.

 

After seeing the design, it seems very logical. Hope they release a MAF version soon.

 

That does not make sense... It needs to go somewhere, I have blanked off the second line from the Intake Manifold, I could run a catch can on the feed from the oil breather filter but I want to avoid running catch cans with increased boost from the remap.

 

I met take it out if the box.

 

This is very interesting! Lookin' forward to see the MAF version!

 

Bump for updates on this. Any word on whether a MAF version exists yet?

Exactly what I was thinking. The filter they give you would be decent enough to leave on the end of the VTA tube. All you'd need to do is get a longer tube and drop it down through the engine bay and under the car. Nice and simple.

 

checked out the website, and still no maf version yet. Am I the only one who wants to hear their turbo? esp. coming from a guy with a M7 super AGS intake

 

Are you suggesting that the M7 Super AGS is not load at all? Just wondering, and absorbing info. Also saw this is an old post and I was on the DNA Performance site last night and didn't see any systems using the mass air flow sensor still.

 

with the super ags, it is not all that loud. I actually sold the super ags. The AGS-R however is a bit more loud. I'm actually currently running a diy fabbed intake now though