I think we might be talking about different things. If I read you correctly, you are talking about a pipe at the grille (at the front of the bonnet) which pipes cooler outside air to the factory air box.

I am talking about the area at the edge of the bonnet where it meets the windshield.

On other MINIs, the DoS intake not only uses the pipe at the grille, but also (by cutting a hole into the bulkhead) seems to take advantage of air that is being forced into the engine bay through what appears to be a grille just below the windshield. At least, that's my understanding. Since it appears there is no "grille" on the Countryman underneath the windshield, I wonder how the DoS will work on the Countryman.

Hope this made sense. I freely admit that the confusion may be mine.

 

Nope, the confusion was mine; misread what you're asking. You're right, minus the drains that area is pretty solid.

 

Popped the hood today and if I'm not mistaken, there are the familiar grill/vents you see on other models. It would be pretty interesting to see what Clint/DoS has in mind to take advantage of that.

I'm hoping to get a tune in a month or so and would love to have an intake onboard when I do.

 

Unfortunately, our dry filter manufacturer gave me some unwelcome news today. The custom dry filter that we want them to make for the R60 S CAI won't be in their production queue until 3 months from now.

We're frustrated that it will take this long to get the filter made, because the prototype parts for the housing can be in our hands in a matter of two weeks.

Because of this delay, Defenders of Speed is slowing down the CAI program a bit. We would love to be blazing forward with this product, but we're currently stifled by a very large filter manufacturer's prouduction schedule.

I'll send updates after we get some more specific dates for our product release.

-Clint

 

Too bad, Clint. I'm sure that it is as frustrating for you as it is for us customers. While we're all waiting, can you give us some details on how it will work compared to the DoS intakes for other models? In particular, now that I've finally had a chance to tinker with the actual car, I'm curious how much body modification this design will need.

 

So I have been thinking of a way to get fresh air to the NM intake filter in my countryman. It is next to impossible without the hood scoop like the r56, et all. Finally, I came up with a 3", 3.5 cfm fan used for cool shirts in racing on IO Port Racing that might just fit in the cold air tube from the factory intake. After looking at the parts and tube on the floor of the garage for a week, I put it midway in the pipe and wired it to a toggle switch on the dash. I will do a DIY on it tonight. Blows cool fresh air all over the filter and the manifold. Total cost- less than $50.

 

Hmmm have a re-think on this, and find your mistake!

I can understand your basic principle idea, that said, seriously, you need to either remember your high school/college or university physics law classes, or educate yourself on the laws of physics.

Start with air flow and thermodynamics.

 

Hey Czar,

I think I understand what you are saying, but it's been a little while since physics and thermodynamics. If the intake is not directly attached to the tube, because I changed to the nm high flow intake, what would the issue be with getting the fan to blow more air to the filter? Since it is not a closed system, why would this be an issue? The higher pressure would then create heat in a closed system, correct? This system only increases air flow through the factory fresh air tube that is no longer connected to the factory intake. Is this what you are thinking?

Thanks,

 

The fan would work at red lights, but would decrease airflow at higher speeds like 50. Unless the fan blows a 100 mph wind constant Im not sure it's helping except at low speeds. Although I'm not up on cfm numbers.

 

Hey countryman-s,

Thats the idea. The real design is to keep cooler air flowing during autocross staging and at red lights here in Las Vegas.

Thanks,

 

.

 

Why doesn't someone just design a housing to put a filter closer to the grille opening, then have the filtered cold air fed straight from the grille to the turbo without first coming to a closed box at the back of the engine compartment?

Hell, if there is room, you could put an identical tube/filter housing on the passenger's side grille and bring both tubes together before entering the turbo. Would seem to me to be the best, most straight forward approach to getting cool, filtered air to the car

 

Deuil ag has a set up like that but I haven't sen anything like it on the market. Looks like they feed the filter directly into the turbo with a small spacer with all the necessary sensors and hoses.
I agree with the two pipes it sounds like a great idea but the intercooler pipes would be in the way. Like I said before, this was a fix to aid in the under hood intake temperatures during autocross staging. The data logger I have has under hood intake temps reaching 130 while staging. The fan reduced these to 100 with outside temp of 95 yesterday. Hey, I'm no thermodynamics engineer, I took the idea from a 240z that was using it for the same reason. What works for me, may not fit for the rest of you.

 

I love the dueil AG stuff! I wish i could find a US dealer or I could just speak and read Japanese.

 

Has anyone looked at the DDMWorks R56 intake? WMW shows it as fitting the R60, and I really like the idea (basically take the top off the OEM intake box and replace the filter with something more open).

 

I must confess, I do not understand the advantages. If it seals to the lining of the hood, how is it different than the OEM air box? And if it does not seal to anything, how is it different than then numerous open-air designs on the market (e.g., VIP, NM, Alta, etc.)? What am I missing, threar?

 

My reason for interest is that the NM and VIP options leave the outside air tube blowing into the open area under the air filter. This *could* allow that air to just sit there, unchecked until drawn into the filter via the intake tube.

The DDMWorks option leaves the bottom part of the intake box, meaning that the outside air comes in and has a slightly more regulated area to pull into. The DDM has a substructure that bolts to the top of the intake box somewhat focusing the air (before it dissipates) towards the air filter (same air filter as the VIP and NM options).

I'm by far not versed in fluid dynamics, thermodynamics or anything else that could give me a good idea if this is a good idea or not, but I'd say structurally it seems to make some sense.

 

Ah, that does make sense. I forgot about the air from the snorkel at the front. But you're right, there is nothing to "contain" that air, however briefly, before it is sucked through the filter and into the turbo. This option would certainly go a longer way than the others in that regard.

Still, the thought of what to do with the air from the snorkel on the front grille just makes me want the DoS that much more. Unless I'm mistaken, it is a completely sealed system so that the air from the grille and the air from the cowl are always kept inside the tubes from intake through filtration and into the turbo.

Looking at it more, I really don't see why the DoS intake for other vehicles wouldn't work with the R60. The only difference would be the bulkhead and possibly a change to the cowl* to facilitate air's ability to reach the intake. But both issues (bulkhead and cowl) deal with body modification and shouldn't take a ton of thought. Clint is a smart dude, though, so I'm sure there is a good reason to redesign the intake for the R60 that is not apparent to a lay person like me.

*Having looked at the cowl on my car in more detail, the plastic below the windshield is solid, but it doesn't completely seal the vents underneath, either. There is a gap between the bottom of the plastic and the vents at the cowl (which are clearly visible when one lifts the bonnet of their vehicle). Certainly air flow is not as open as on vehicles where the cowl vents are exposed with the bonnet closed, but it is by no means sealed off as I had suspected before and thus air can still get in through the vents.

 

So here's the dilemma, gents: I am planning to head up north in the near future and get an ECU tune. I'd like to have my bolt on drivetrain mods (intercooler, exhaust) in place before I do.

I was hoping to go with the DoS CAI, but it looks like that won't be available for a very long time and therefore it won't be onboard when I get my ECU tune.

So the dilemma:

Do I continue to hold out for the DoS, in which case the question is whether I can effectively "simulate" the increased airflow of the DoS for purposes of the tune by using a K&N drop in filter in the factory air box?

OR

Do I give up on the DoS and just go with something like the NM intake and call it good?

Thoughts?

 

My thought and what I've been told aligns, is that the ECU is always "learning" so you would be fine. Plus you're talking CAT back exhaust right? Your ECU will adjust with the increase/decrease with air and the MAF no matter what. I put a AFE Filter in the Countryman after my ECU tune with no difference I'm sure. (except for sound)

Go with an AFE Dry Filter instead of a K&N. My .02

I'm in OC if you want to check it out...

 

Will the CAI be available for the Non S as well???

 

I'm curious:

Assuming the filter media are the same, is there any advantage to a cylindrical (cone?) filter (as seen on the NM and VIP intakes) rather than a flat-panel type (as seen on the factory airbox)?

I ask because it is becoming increasingly apparent to me that the factory air box is superior to most open-filter designs in terms of its ability to suck in cooler air.

The only disadvantage seems to be flow rates. I imagine switching to a different filter media (gauze rather than paper) may improve the situation, but wonder if changing the type (panel to cylinder) might improve things further.

If so, I can rapidly see the development of something akin to the JCW Stage 1 air box, which, from what I can tell, is virtually identical to the stock air box except that instead of a large panel filter it has a cylindrical one. Owners of the JCW air box have often felt it offers the same or better performance than the DoS intake.

I bet we could fairly easily take the parts from, say, an NM intake and modify them so the the cylindrical filter mounts inside the factory air box, giving the advantage of both a different filter media (gauze vs. paper) and a different shape (cylinder vs. panel).

At that point, the only other mod might be to dremel out some of the plastic "filler" on the right-most edge of the front grille and then extend the snorkel several more inches so that it sits flush with grille. If you did that, I'd think you would have the best CAI you could ask for on the R60.

Who's with me?

 

We're unsure about this at this time. It really depends upon: 1) customer demand and 2) if we can use the R60 MCS filter housing on non S models by creating a "Non S" mounting bracket.

-Clint

 

Any updates on the design, Clint, while we're waiting for the filter stuff to get sorted out?

 

I can share the following about the design at this time:

1) The R60 MCS CAI will use a completely enclosed filter housing, much like the R56-thru-R59 CAI.

2) Owners will have the option with the R60 CAI kit to choose whether or not they want to pull additional air from the bulkhead panel. (We've found out from MINI of San Francisco that the bulkhead panels for the Countryman are much harder to come by than the ones used on the R56-thru-R59 -- so modification may be undesirable to some owners.) This means that you can set-up the CAI in one of two possible airflow configurations depending upon your performance goals.

That's all the info that I have for now.

-Clint