I've had an intake on all of my cars up to this point. The whistle has never bothered for as many years so far.

 

i love the whistle. i've had a it on a prelude , a mini, and a suzuki katana. i'd be kind of worried if it stopped.k&n cai that is. the eram which i took off temporarily even whistled a little.i thought the whistle was the initial breath of air sucking in when the throttle body opens up. isn't that a good thing?

 

Anybody thought of putting a top on the Helix box or insulating the intake box? There was post here recently claiming a 20 lower temp in the box after insulating. It might help with the whistle too.

 

I love the whistle from the CAI! Only happens at partial throttle and only momentarily. It makes the car sound like it's turbocharged...I like the sound.

 

Thumper, although I truly believe, "to each his own" I can't believe that you are hearing the same whistle that some of us are hearing. It is too annoying, and I have had turbo cars before and this whistle doesn't sound like that. It is more like nails scratching down a wall. ARRRGGHHH

 

steve - have you hear any other airboxes make similra sounds? i know my jcw does it - but its not very loud and i got used to it. i'm a bit concerned about swapping out for the helix as it seems to be much louder in the whistle dept..???

 

Hmm, the whistle that I hear is [to me] slight, and only really happens when you first put your foot down and only go partial throttle. You then hear it a little bit if you lift off quickly after that. Sounds a little like a BOV from a turbo car...just not nearly as loud or squeaky.

 

To thumper and new york. Unfortunately I don't have any other airbox/CAI experience to compare it with (other than the stock, which doesn't make any sound, or rather it is enclosed in that box so maybe we can't hear it).

Yes, it is a quiet sound, meaning with the radio on medium volume you can't hear it. Yes, it only comes on at light pressure to the throttle and is more noticeable at cruising speeds on the highway, as that is the time you are trying to maintain speed and using the least amount of throttle.

It sounds like a tea kettle that is getting ready to boil. I hear that the Helix is as quiet as they get, but again I can't give you a direct comparison.

All joking aside, I might be more annoyed by it by others, but I don't think it could be mistaken as the 'good sounds' that come from a CAI, i.e the whine, purr or growl.

Soon, instead of links in our posts, people are going to start adding wave files for all these sound discussions.

good luck with whichever way you go

 

1) the wistle is air going by the throttle body butterfly at small opening angles.

2) You don't hear it with the stock box because of the air path, and those funny things that come off the first tube from the radiator support to the airbox. These are ressonant chambers, and are added to dampen certain frequencies, with the price being a bit of disruption of the airflow through the tube.

3) The VGS changes when it happens because the actuation of the bypass valve affects the TB opening angle via the drive by wire software.

4) CAI insulation efforts work and are worth it. They also will make things quieter.

Hope this all helps....

Matt

 

thanks steve - and everyone else who has posted their impressions. i will probably try the helix and if it drives me nuts then i'lll switch back to the jcw.

the jcw was noticeable in the beginning (and still is sometimes) but after a year i got used to it, so hopefully the helix will be an easy transition. i suspect it's worth it as the helix just sounds amazing!

cheers - drew

 

Matt,

Thanks for your helpful answers! It sounds like insulating the air box (Helix in my case) is a layup as it will help with both the whistle and improve performance.

I have two remaining questions, the first regarding insulation. What to insulate with and is it helpful to close the top of the air box instead of having it "seal" against the bonnet insulation.

The second question is whether the Detriot Tuned bypass has the same effect as the VGS in eliminating the whistle.

Thanks in advance,

Richard

 

I love the Alta whistle. It's not annoying at all...

 

The supercharger whine/howl/growl/whatever is great... it's that little whistle that seems to be present a large part of the time at cruise that drives me nuts. I just spent 8 hours listening to it last weekend.

 

but when it happens is moved to another operating state of the car... Maybe one where it's not as noticeable....

The VGS may or may not have the effect you want. Some said the mod made the wistle go away, others said no. I guess it comes down to your particular car.... remember the by-pass valve works on vacuum. So it's not really an RPM thing, more a how hard you're pressing the gas peddle.... That said, anything involved in the drive by wire stuff may affect the issue. In all honesty, I don't remember how my car responded to the VGS in regards to this....

Matt

 

On my car, the VGS pretty much totally eliminated the whistle.... when I reversed the VGS, the whistle came back.

 

Based upon these responses I believe that the MCSA whistle might be different than on the standard MCS.
I have a MCSA with a Helix CAI & 15% pulley; the whistle was particularly annoying especially at light throttle when cruising at 2M+RPM. I performed the VGS and while it did not totally remove the whistle, it changed the frequency and the onset RPM. Now it is a very high pitched whistle that occurs only on hard acceleration & not at all when cruising. The VGS for me was the solution to this most annoying issue.

 

I suppose I will try insulating the air box first since that provides benefit whether it affects the whistle or not. I see no reason to keep the top of the air box open either. That too may help.

 

It really bugged the JCW crap out of me at first, but I have either grown to like it or grown to ignore it.

But at first, it sounded like someone was vigorously scraping a metal trash can with a screwdriver

 

I had the whistle after I put in the Alta intake. Made my skin crawl, and I never got used to it even after 10 months / 15,000 miles. The VGS eliminated the whistle, which for me was great as I was going to drop the Alta intake and go with a JCW because of it.

 

You guys are lucky the VGS did nothing for my TB noise...It really doesn't bother me unless I'm on a long trip. Then just craaaank the HK! WHAT??? -- Johan

 

racoman, I think you nailed it. I do remember my installer saying that the MCSa had a difference that might make the whistle worse than the standard MCS.

To all those standard MCSers who must think I am crazy, going crazy over the little whistle, maybe our MCSa's are just more annoying...I mean have a more annoying sound, not that a manual transmission driver would ever think an automatic is annoying, hehehe.

So now that we know the VGS helps most people, can anyone point me to a good thread on where to buy and how to install etc.

thanks!

 

man, the more i read about this stuff the more i begin to remember that famous - and almost always ignored - bit of advice: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

probably staying in jcw intake land.... - drew

 

Just call me "search"!

Matt

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=38268

 

thanks for all the response everyone - decided to stick with my jcw intake.

cheers - drew

 

the whistle is really the bypass valve slightly opened. I installed the detroit tuned valve, and like the way the car does now (no more yo yo, and no more whistle under light throttle). it probably has moved higher up the throttle range, at which point my car is making so much other noise it doesn't matter!