anyone seen this yet? the filter looks huge and i thought that they promised a carbon fiber heat shield and what not. they claim better than others and it is a good price, $199
intake

 

I saw it, but not sure about the claims. They state other's loose power, but there is the best bang for the buck. My question is why is theirs the best bang for the buck? Because it uses CNC machined and powder coated heatshields or because it has a 1,000,000 mile filter? Those are the only statements they make about their intake. Is there something in the design of their intake that makes it provide more power and if so, why does it provide more power. They also don't include any dyno's. The price is pretty good though. I am always wary of claims "where everyone elses is bad and ours is good". I am sure they have dyno's, but so do the other manufacturers. So then it starts becoming a guessing game of who is right.

 

i'm with dgsweda on this one. i'm not a big fan of bashing other products to make your own seem better. I'd rather see them just state the advantages of their system. and where are all these "dyno graphs" they are talking about??

 

when I was at Helix last year getting my pulley installed, Eric told me that they got good power on the Typhoon and also "like the Alta." This was before the debut of their new product. He's an honest guy, so my guess is that his product dynoed at least as well as the others or he wouldn't be selling it.

Eric: how 'bout your dyno results?

 

I have this on my car already. I called Eric last week to see if it was done yet. He had just received 2 prototypes that morning. One was accounted for already and I got the other one.

I do not have dyno numbers, so I can not give you actual numbers. But, it has made an incredible improvement. I was talking to Eric about numbers before I got the intake and he told me that they could not believe the numbers that they got when running a dyno, and they were going to be redoing it. With that said, he told me that the car they dynoed had 19% and intake only and it came out with 176 at the wheels. Now, I have had the 19 installed for about a month and a half. When I added the intake, I could definitly see the 176 being true.

If anyone has any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Dan

 

This is a Rogue/Maddness/Pilo style but with a longer filter. To fit the longer filter you need to cut out the plastic divider ala Randy Webb. The end result would be close to the Alta except not having the larger hose.hope this helps.
Dan

 

hey there slapey you have any pics you could post for us of the prototype you're running. and what chages exactly was Eric talking about?

 

The pictures are really small so you can't tell. It looks like it is longer and as the previous poster said sticks out into the area under the cowl. With that said how does this produce numbers that Eric can't believe but the Pilo doesn't produce any on his dyno?

Are they pushing wind over the hood during the dyno which in fact pushes more air across the cowl? Does this produce more than lets say a Pilo with the Webb conversion (i.e. holes cut in the cowl box)? Most of the air for the intake is coming from the front hood vent, not from the cowl, unless you have a cowl scoop.

This brings me to another question which I have posted. Why does everyone keep trying to modify the old stock air box. Why not make a RAM air system based off of the front air intake in the front grill. Everyone said they don't make a filter for this, but the new Chevy SSR has done this, creating a very short path length. The air intake in the Mini is so convoluted and travels a great distance back and forth through the engine compartment. The tubing goes right past the supercharger, back to the back of the engine bay then into the air filter box and back up front to the supercharger. If someone sent the air straight to the supercharger with a modified intake filter I think that would show some great increases. The current setup doesn't force air into the filter it only forces air into the filter box, which has a lot of turbulence which is then sucked into the intake.

You can see here how they stuck a square filter into a round hole and made a low restrictive CAI. http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...sr/index2.html

 

I don't have my camera with me today, but I will do it tonight or tomorrow and post them for you. No problem.

I am not sure what changes you are talking about.

I also think they are still going to have one made out of CF. Don't hold my words to that though. It was just talked about in passing and nothing was set in steel.

 

Yesterday we had a rare opportunity to update the website. Some of the items, like the RDR intake are so new, that we haven't done dynos on them yet. RDR has done dynos on a car with a 19% pulley. The results were so good that neither of us fully believe them. RDR is re-testing today, and when we get our first full order in, we will dyno as well. When we get results, I will modify the web site.

We mentioned that intakes make little or no power because despite claims to the contrary, there's not much power to be made with intakes. We want to be known as a company that does not make up arbitrary, unsubstantiated dyno numbers for the products that we sell. The intent is to not over inflate people's expectations for the intake. I think that if you read the paragraph, it doesn't say or imply that everybody else sucks and we are great. Perhaps I'll re-word it so that it can't be construed as such.

The RDR intake replaces the cowl with a custom plate in lieu of cutting holes in the stocker. Originally, they prototyped the intake in Carbon Fiber, but decided that the benefits (great looks, cool factor) didn't offset the high price. I am still trying to convince them to make one in CF as well, for no other rational reason than I like to see CF under my hood. We'll see.

dgzweda1: I'm sending you a PM.

 

This is true. And before those came out he was anti-intake b/c he hadn't seen ANY that made power and he could have carried (and made money on) all of them but didn't b/c they didn't show anything. He says the typhoon makes power which he carries and the Alta (which he doesn't carry but recommends, BTW). :smile:

 

>>The pictures are really small so you can't tell. It looks like it is longer and as the previous poster said sticks out into the area under the cowl. With that said how does this produce numbers that Eric can't believe but the Pilo doesn't produce any on his dyno?
>>
>>Are they pushing wind over the hood during the dyno which in fact pushes more air across the cowl? Does this produce more than lets say a Pilo with the Webb conversion (i.e. holes cut in the cowl box)? Most of the air for the intake is coming from the front hood vent, not from the cowl, unless you have a cowl scoop.
>>
>>This brings me to another question which I have posted. Why does everyone keep trying to modify the old stock air box. Why not make a RAM air system based off of the front air intake in the front grill. Everyone said they don't make a filter for this, but the new Chevy SSR has done this, creating a very short path length. The air intake in the Mini is so convoluted and travels a great distance back and forth through the engine compartment. The tubing goes right past the supercharger, back to the back of the engine bay then into the air filter box and back up front to the supercharger. If someone sent the air straight to the supercharger with a modified intake filter I think that would show some great increases. The current setup doesn't force air into the filter it only forces air into the filter box, which has a lot of turbulence which is then sucked into the intake.
>>
>>You can see here how they stuck a square filter into a round hole and made a low restrictive CAI. http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...sr/index2.html
>>

We do our testing at Helix. Our intake was able to make power on there dyno at about 3 HP (with out the cowl mod) which was on par with the Alta and K&N. I do have the charts from helix that show the gains, and at about 150, it doesn't get much cheaper then that.

 

Ok, so I have been thinking about this all afternoon since this thread was started. This is not really on topic with just the intake, so please bear with me.

It seems recently that Eric and Helix in general has been catching a lot of flack from people on NAM and I am trying to figure out why. I have the posts and stories that people are telling, and it is not really making much sense to me. I am not saying that it is not possible, but I just don't see what is being said. And, before I go any further, I would like to point out that I am not affiliated with Helix in any way.

The first time I talked to Eric was over the phone. I wanted to know what the deal was with the 19% pulley as they were rather new on the market. I just asked a simple question as to the ill effects the pulley may have. Now, I could have just gotten a simple 1 or 2 sentence answer and that would be that. Instead, he took the time to explain different aspecs on what the 19 does as well as the difference between the 19, 17, and 15. He explained the different applications for each and why one might go with one over the other. I found this to be a great thing and was very appreciative. Also, through talking to him that day, I found he was very knowledgable about MINIs and cars in general, and he seemed like a straight up honest guy.

The second encounter I had with Eric was when I had him install the 19% pulley. I was there for about 3 hours in total and during that time we shot the sh*t about various things...mostly car related. I came to the conclusion that he WAS an honest guy and wanted to sell parts that actually performed...which I thought was a rather stand up thing to do. Like posted earlier, he COULD sell parts to just make money and sell a lot. We talked a lot about R&D and the efforts that go into making quality parts that perform. I liked his values and what he stood for and what he wants his shop to be.

The third time was just last week with the intake. I went down there and we were just talking about random stuff. He performed the install on the intake because he himself had not done one yet and he wanted to make sure that everything lined up and installed correctly and did not charge me. That says something too. He could have been money hungry and just charged me. Instead, he cared about his product and wanted to make sure that, in the final stage, everything was alright with the fit and install.

I don't want to sound like I am sack-riding Eric or Helix in general. Like I said before, I have no affiliation with him or his operation and it would not make a difference to me if his shop flopped. I COULD get my parts from somewhere else if I wanted, but I choose to go there because of the experiences I have had.

I basically wrote this because I thought it was only fair. Many people come on NAM and complain about various things about the MINI and problems they are having. But, it is very rare that you hear someone say that they have had no problems and love the car...although those people are out there. This is the same situation I feel that is going on with Helix. I just wanted to give my unbiased opinion to others to consider.

I know I rambled a lot there, so I am sorry if it was painful.

 

>>Ok, so I have been thinking about this all afternoon since this thread was started. This is not really on topic with just the intake, so please bear with me.
>>
>>It seems recently that Eric and Helix in general has been catching a lot of flack from people on NAM and I am trying to figure out why. I have the posts and stories that people are telling, and it is not really making much sense to me. I am not saying that it is not possible, but I just don't see what is being said. And, before I go any further, I would like to point out that I am not affiliated with Helix in any way.
>>
>>The first time I talked to Eric was over the phone. I wanted to know what the deal was with the 19% pulley as they were rather new on the market. I just asked a simple question as to the ill effects the pulley may have. Now, I could have just gotten a simple 1 or 2 sentence answer and that would be that. Instead, he took the time to explain different aspecs on what the 19 does as well as the difference between the 19, 17, and 15. He explained the different applications for each and why one might go with one over the other. I found this to be a great thing and was very appreciative. Also, through talking to him that day, I found he was very knowledgable about MINIs and cars in general, and he seemed like a straight up honest guy.
>>
>>The second encounter I had with Eric was when I had him install the 19% pulley. I was there for about 3 hours in total and during that time we shot the sh*t about various things...mostly car related. I came to the conclusion that he WAS an honest guy and wanted to sell parts that actually performed...which I thought was a rather stand up thing to do. Like posted earlier, he COULD sell parts to just make money and sell a lot. We talked a lot about R&D and the efforts that go into making quality parts that perform. I liked his values and what he stood for and what he wants his shop to be.
>>
>>The third time was just last week with the intake. I went down there and we were just talking about random stuff. He performed the install on the intake because he himself had not done one yet and he wanted to make sure that everything lined up and installed correctly and did not charge me. That says something too. He could have been money hungry and just charged me. Instead, he cared about his product and wanted to make sure that, in the final stage, everything was alright with the fit and install.
>>
>>I don't want to sound like I am sack-riding Eric or Helix in general. Like I said before, I have no affiliation with him or his operation and it would not make a difference to me if his shop flopped. I COULD get my parts from somewhere else if I wanted, but I choose to go there because of the experiences I have had.
>>
>>I basically wrote this because I thought it was only fair. Many people come on NAM and complain about various things about the MINI and problems they are having. But, it is very rare that you hear someone say that they have had no problems and love the car...although those people are out there. This is the same situation I feel that is going on with Helix. I just wanted to give my unbiased opinion to others to consider.
>>
>>I know I rambled a lot there, so I am sorry if it was painful.

What slapey said. Eric is one of the most straight up guys out there. He won't sell parts for the sake of selling them. He really puts in the time to understand what the customer wants and makes the appropriate recommendation.

 

Slapey,

Sorry if my posts were sounded like I was slamming Helix. This wasn't my intention. Someone posted a note and a reference to the intake and wanted to know what we felt about it. I was just stating that the website said that "The intakes that have made power are both close to $300", yet Dan at Pilo tested his at Helix with a 3hp increase and Randy tested it with a 5hp increase and his is <$150. Then it states that the this has been the case "Until now" the RDR has shown "actual horsepower gain" but what does that mean. From the small picture it looks nearly identical to the other intakes, so I was asking truly seeking more information on how much it makes and how it makes that much more (i.e. is there a special design characteristic or how it is placed in the car...). If Helix says here are the numbers, and here is why we feel it makes more power, that would be great, I have no qualms about that. I just don't want to see other vendors suffer for some great products that they offer as well. All I was trying to do was seek some more information on the intake. I don't want to carry on this and don't want to turn the discussion away from the intakes, therefore I won't post anymore about this topic, out of respect for the other posters and vendor.

 

I totally see your point and my post was not really geared towards you as an individual. If you took it that way, then I am really sorry. It was more of a general statement about the overall attitiude taken towards Helix recently (ie, GIAC, intake, customer service, etc.) Again, I just wanted to give my opinion of Eric and Helix. Not start an internet argument.

Now, I too would love to see the numbers...probably more than others because I already own the product and hopefully we will see them soon.

 

Slapey,

Have you noticed an increase in performance with this intake? Have you had experience hearing other intakes? If so, how does this sound compared to some of the other intakes you may have heard.

Also, did Eric mention what helps this intake to make power? It appears that it extends into the area below the cowl. Is this a correct assumption? If so, that might be one of the aspects that help performance. Does it have a unique filter?

Thanks. It definitely looks interesting and it appears to be another unique design.

 

I did notice a power increase. I can not give you an actual number or any other product to gauge off of because I have no experience with any others. But, I can tell that it was more than 2-3hp.

The filter was custom made for this application. There is a piece that is cutout towards the back and the filter actual sticks out into the space where the cowel is. I am guessing that this certainly helps with the power gain, but this is my assumption. Eric did not actually tell me what helps make the power. But, I also did not ask at the time.

When I leave for work, I am going to pop the bonnet and take some pics to post. I am guessing you should see these in 2-3 hours.

Hope this helps for now.

 

As promised, here are the photos of the RDR intake.









and something I just screwed around with this morning. It has nothing to do with the intake, but I just thought I would share it here.

 

>>What slapey said. Eric is one of the most straight up guys out there. He won't sell parts for the sake of selling them. He really puts in the time to understand what the customer wants and makes the appropriate recommendation.
>>
I agree with this. We have been to Helix a couple of times. At one time JerseyGirl was considering the swaybar upgrade and asked Eric about it. He basically said that you really have to be pushing the car to notice it and the simple fact is she doesn't drive like that. She was very keen on the swaybar and Eric could have very easily made a sale, but instead he didn't sell her something she didn't need.

For a small shop like Helix to turn away a sale of any kind really says something about their priorities about a satisfied customer.

 

>>Also, did Eric mention what helps this intake to make power?

Dgs,

It appears that it's simply the larger surface area that distinguishes this from the others. I'd bet Andy has numbers on the pressure drop across other filters and could estimate a theoretical gain.

BTW, you've hit on the point that vendors need to focus on. There's a lot of free space (well--not a lot) to work with to eliminate some obvious intake tract restrictions. We're still just scratching the surface with these variants.

Jeff

 

can anybody explain to me why Webb Motorsports keeps getting higher numbers than Eric with the same products? Is it the altitude really, different dyno?

Slapey, does the intake have an opening at the top to pull in air from the cowl area or is it just capped off like the Madness?

 

I can't remember at the moment. I will check when I get out of the office for lunch.

 

the system looks home-made. There isn't even a wall between the right side of the filter/ECU and strut tower.... they just use the ECU itself as the final divider. For the price, I think the Pilo looks better and probably performs the same. The Pilo is also $50 bucks cheaper. Where is the innovation on this intake? Why is it $50 more than the Pilo? Longer filter = more money? I don't think RDR put 100% into this intake system. (*note - i'm not bashing Helix here, just questioning RDR's product!)

I'm keeping my Alta intake, which even though its $60 more than the RDR, looks ten times better and has a complete wall-system (and larger intake tube, which not only increases area in the event i wish to do a throttle body upgrade later, but looks great in the engine bay).

**edit: By the way, the new Alta systems have a different filter on them; boom-microphone shaped, so there is no "cap" on the end of the filter - its rounded at the end.**

 

>>can anybody explain to me why Webb Motorsports keeps getting higher numbers than Eric with the same products? Is it the altitude really, different dyno?
>>
>>Slapey, does the intake have an opening at the top to pull in air from the cowl area or is it just capped off like the Madness?


I think it may be two reasons. First, Randy uses a dynojet and Eric uses a Mustang. Both can be nearly as accurate if you are doing tuning on the same dyno run under the same conditions. Looking at raw numbers though the Mustang is usually more conservative. Secondly, I think altitude may cause a difference. The dyno's correct for some of these features, but they can't correct for all of the effects that these have on the engine. For example, temperature correction is made, but some engines are more prone to the effects of temperature changes. A normally aspirated 4 cylinder will be less prone than a large supercharged V8.