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Is a snorkel going to improve my fuel consumption?

General Tech Talk

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Is a snorkel going to improve my fuel consumption?

Post by Holley_Equipped »

Gday all,

Im thinking about getting a snorkell for my 2006 dx 4.2 patrol but i dont think that ill ever be in water deep enough to warrant it. Im thinking that it will help the air flow and therefor get me further for my $$ :)

Will it help?
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Post by chimpboy »

That's pretty doubtful, but snorkels are good things to have overall.
This is not legal advice.
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Post by CHIEF88 »

I don't know if its normal but a mate of mine paid for one on his TD Paj, and he doesn't notice a fuel econ difference at all.
Also i made mine and noticed no fuel econ difference however (might just be a trick of my mind) i think it helps when the engine is struggling up hills (I bet its a trick of the mind but id like to think it even makes me go faster :P ).

-> not an overly technical answer if thats what you were after just my experience.

The link below is about snorkels, starts off about custom jobs but theres some info about fuel economy etc.

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/phpBB2/vi ... p?t=112403
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Post by Holley_Equipped »

Thanks for that, ill grab one for when i hit fraiser island. Just to be safe
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Post by Mechz »

Holley_Equipped wrote:Thanks for that, ill grab one for when i hit fraiser island. Just to be safe
If you get into water that deep on Fraser you won't need a snorkel, You'll need a crane and a backhoe.
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Post by Micky-Lux »

Mechz wrote:
Holley_Equipped wrote:Thanks for that, ill grab one for when i hit fraiser island. Just to be safe
If you get into water that deep on Fraser you won't need a snorkel, You'll need a crane and a backhoe.
And a s##tload of rust converter.
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Post by Shaker »

No!
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Post by Tapage »

Nop ..

Just think how more piping and air restrictions can improve your fuel economy .. ? or performance .. ?

Snorkels are cool in off road rigs and very usefull for river crossing .. but nothing more than that.
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Post by Micky-Lux »

They improve the performance of my diesel because it can get a good gutfull of nice cold air on a winters morning. Economy? Who knows, the snorkel's always been there.
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snorkle

Post by Guzzi »

Doubtful if you'll get a decrease in fuel consumption.
What it will do is
help keep water out
intake slightly cooler and cleaner air due to inlets height.
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Post by Highway-Star »

May also keep excessive dust out of your aircleaner on a dusty road. Depends how dusty it is of course.

It may have a very small supercharger effect, if your car is travelling fast and your engine reving low (require high gearing). However I have no experience in this, and the amount of bends in the air intake would likely create too many losses for this to be worthwhile. Basically dont buy it for power, buy it to protect your engine.
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Post by Holley_Equipped »

Yeah i though that that might have been the case. I was thinking the air being pushed down the snorkell when i am travelling would help rather than the air being sucked in through the intake in the guard. Keep the flow going at low revs before the turbo does its bit.
Thanks
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Post by dogbreath_48 »

Highway-Star wrote:May also keep excessive dust out of your aircleaner on a dusty road. Depends how dusty it is of course.
I feel that this alone is a good enough reason to fork out for a snorkle.

I don't feel that they make any difference to fuel economy - but you can always bend the truth if it helps keep the minister for finance happy.

-Stu :)
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Post by me3@neuralfibre.com »

Dunno what your car is from the pic, but the Holley indicates petrol. I can show you cruiser pics wiht water over bonnet and no snorkels just fine. Depends on car. Petrols get grumpy when wet unless you get nifty with the sealant.
Depends on your intake, but if it's high up, it wouldn't be high on my list. If it's a hilux and comes from behind the headlight, it's first on my list.

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Post by j-top paj »

i noticed a slight decrease in fuel consumption after fitting the snorkel to the GU.
i didnt do it for that reason but.
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Post by j-top paj »

me3@neuralfibre.com wrote: If it's a hilux and comes from behind the headlight, it's first on my list.
x2

i saw a lux take in a fair bit of water once driving through a mud puddle.
it wasnt even that deep, just up to my sidesteps
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Post by muppet_man67 »

I don't think it keeps dust out if your traveling in convoy. it might make a difference if your upfront. the picture on the airflow/safari (dont know which one) brochure of the dust going everywhere but the snorkel is total bs. as for supercharger effect, because your car is running a carby and cannot control fuel mixture, to gain any benefit you would have to run the car really rich around town so that on the highway it wouldn't lean out to much. If you don't do anything and then it will run lean on the highway and ice up if its cold, neither of which are good for performance or economy.

Perceivable benefits could only be on cars with modern computer controlled mixture and timing that automaticly adjust on the fly as conditions change. even then I highly doubt it.
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Post by zooker »

I turned my snorkel intake around so it faces backwards to stop getting mud and bugs down it, on the zook its right next to drivers window, and it makes a cool intake noise on acceleration :cool: .....Apart from that i dont notice any difference
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Post by j-top paj »

take the snorkel head off and see if it makes a difference.
a mate in his zook did that on a trip to willowglen and the difference wase quite noticeable. trip ended up costing him like $20 extra without it
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Post by Zute »

Increase the head size to the size of a bucket and you might get an increase in air flow over speeds of say 120ks. But it all adds drag which needs compensating.
I found adding a snorkel increased the amount of dust and crap at the filter. must try facing it backwards.
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Post by grazza »

All the big trucks must have them facing forward for a reason. Must provide some sort of positive pressure.

Wasnt there an air intake upgrade for a Dunnydore to "charge" the air going in? A big scoop. The cop pursuit cars had it maybe?
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Post by chimpboy »

grazza wrote:Wasnt there an air intake upgrade for a Dunnydore to "charge" the air going in? A big scoop.
It might've been to "charge" the purchaser more :)
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Post by me3@neuralfibre.com »

I reckon the airram effect compensates for the drag of the extra pipe length resulting in zero net gain.

Quite a few bikes pick up significant extra HP from air-ram, but it does tend to be at the higher end of their performance envelope, which may be somewhat faster than your average n/a diesel will achieve.

The facing back doesn't do much when my mates and I have tried it. Cyclone heads do help cut dust and on a T/D don't matter for perf, just makes the turbo work a touch harder. A mate has a washable cotton head on his - like a large pod filter. Saves him heaps on air filter costs.

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Post by droopypete »

If as your username sugests, you have fitted a Holley carb to your car,
what do you care about fuel economy anyway?
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Post by j-top paj »

grazza wrote:All the big trucks must have them facing forward for a reason. Must provide some sort of positive pressure.

Wasnt there an air intake upgrade for a Dunnydore to "charge" the air going in? A big scoop. The cop pursuit cars had it maybe?
you talking about CAI? that sits on top of your radiator to scoop the cold air from the front of the car and force it into the airbox.
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Post by KiwiBacon »

j-top paj wrote:take the snorkel head off and see if it makes a difference.
a mate in his zook did that on a trip to willowglen and the difference wase quite noticeable. trip ended up costing him like $20 extra without it
I think he needs to average out a few tanks.
Unless you mean he lost the tip and it cost him $20 for a new one. :lol:

For a snorkle to improve your fuel economy, you'll have to replace a really really crappy intake system with it.

Ram air does 0.008% of F-all at legal highway speeeds. If you can get close to 300km/h then it's worthwhile.
Otherwise you're just vacuuming up bumblebees.
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Post by F'n_Rover »

probably increase consumption! cold air is harder for a motor to suck in, hot air is thinner so flows easier, as well the reduced mass of warmer air requiring less fuel. hot air also needs more throttle for the same power as cold air, so less pumping losses. FA in it though!
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Post by KiwiBacon »

F'n_Rover wrote:probably increase consumption! cold air is harder for a motor to suck in, hot air is thinner so flows easier, as well the reduced mass of warmer air requiring less fuel. hot air also needs more throttle for the same power as cold air, so less pumping losses. FA in it though!
It's true for a petrol (warm air = better fuel consumption at cruise, also means less power at full throttle). But a diesel does better on cold air.
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Post by DIRTY ROCK STAR »

KiwiBacon wrote:
j-top paj wrote:take the snorkel head off and see if it makes a difference.
a mate in his zook did that on a trip to willowglen and the difference wase quite noticeable. trip ended up costing him like $20 extra without it
I think he needs to average out a few tanks.
Unless you mean he lost the tip and it cost him $20 for a new one. :lol:

For a snorkle to improve your fuel economy, you'll have to replace a really really crappy intake system with it.

Ram air does 0.008% of F-all at legal highway speeeds. If you can get close to 300km/h then it's worthwhile.
Otherwise you're just vacuuming up bumblebees.
i found in my HSV fitted with their cold air induction system it was mosquittos that loved it more then bees :D
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Post by killalux »

my mate fittedtwin snorkles to his patrol with a 5L dunnydore V8, on the highway, the ECU (aftermarket) was reading 1 psi boost, so yes snorkles do have a supercharge effect, but would 1 psi really make a difference???? :?
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