It seems that there are a lot of posts concerning problems people are having with the Kinetix V4 Plenum, so I was looking for some input from people who have not had problems. I, for one, installed my V4 two days ago and haven't had problems with the plenum. No flexing either. Also, are people using torque wrenches to tighten down the bolts to the recommended 6 ft/lbs. I did this with mine, the only problem I ran into was that the 1 nut on the driver's side didn't have enough bolt to thread on to so I scrapped the washer. Still stripped it a little so I didn't tighten that one down much. Just used more lock tite. No air leaks though.

 

Dont have one but I followed the 3 million posts before the first Kinetix Plenum came out and it seems that for all the hype and what not, most people have been having problems compared to the Crawfords which dont seem to have problems

 

I believe all of the problems you are reading about are with the V1-V3 plenums. I dont think there have been any problems with the new V4 yet. Correct me if I am wrong. Can you tell much of a difference with the Kinetix plenum. I got mine yesterday and havent installed it yet.

Zach

 

The biggest difference I can notice right now is the sound. It is louder and more hollow sounding than the stock plenum, but sounds smoother. Sort of drowns out the exhaust at the right rpm. As for power gains, I don't do butt dyno. I have a honda element I drive daily and anything seems like a rocket after driving that thing. I will probably go get it dynoed in a couple weeks after the ECU has time to adjust.

 

Why dont you just reset the ECU?

http://www.technosquareinc.com/350reset.htm

 

When you reset it, it goes back to it's default settings. How will that help? I'm not too convinced anyway that the ECU on these cars will adjust themselves to give more horsepower. It will probably just try to compensate for the increased airflow by closing the throttle body a little more. I think it is tuned more for emissions than increasing performance. I'm just sort of going with the flow when it comes to the thought that you need to allow time for the ECU to realize mod gains. Doesn't hurt to hope a little I guess.

 

... still too early to tell at this point. But, I've already log'd over 700 miles on the V4 without any problems. Besides, using a torque wrench I would highly suggest slowly torquing them down in the specified order in 3 or more rounds (see attachment). Take it easy on the 'red' thread-lock. A small drop goes a longgg way.

The performance gain is significant enough for me to notice in a very positive way. I'll be heading out to the 1/4 track next week followed by dyno run some time after for quantitative analysis. It's looking good however.

 

anyone planning to do some dynos to see if they still help after all these design changes?

I know everyone says they help, but I wonder what a dyno says. alot of material has been added since the performance quotes from version 1.

 

day 3
no probs

 

They way the plenum inflates like a balloon, it must create some sort of "boost-like" gain. I just hope the inflation was designed into it. Working for a plastics company, I've seen different types do some amazing stuff. I just hope they were using the right formula in their design.

 

it produces no energy itself, so I dont see any boost like gains. its a static device... the force comes from sucking not inflation from the intake. so it couldnt pressurize it and then force it down into the engine later. its all sucked in, always negative pressure in the plenum, just varying amounts.

 

The force does come from suction. The suction created by the engine drawing air into the manifold. It (suction) seems to be so great that it causes the plenum to expand upward and then release this expansion engery forcing the air into the engine. Sort of like a rubber band. The air can't go back out through the throttle body. Negative air pressure will not cause expansion of its container.

For every action there is (at least) an equal and opposite reaction. Who said that again?

Edit: I'm also talking about a fast rpm gain here. Not a sustained open throttle.

 

The stock plenum has what can be considered a design deficiency. The #5 and #6 cylinders do not get an equal amount of air that the other cylinders get. These two seem to run leaner. Less gas resulting in less engine power. Some engine tear downs have shown this leaness to be factual..

The kinetix plenum design provides these two aft cylinders with an increase in air. The plenum does not pressurize the air coming into it it simply allows the air to flow where it is needed.

 

I beleive... the plenum is not in its "resting state" at idle. when you hit the gas, it expands to its natural state because air flows more freely into it. the difference is maybe due to the integrated support not hitting its mount in resting state, once negatuve pressure is applied it pulls down and actually supports.

might be very wrong though.