Hi All! I just thought I would post an update as its been over a year since I did the Mina Gallery / Caldoofy Intake upgrade. I know several folks reported issues with RP and CEL lights upon install and many on the forum thought it may be related to heat in the engine bay.

I can tell you the heat shield works beautifully, I ran this setup through a Cincinnati Summer (90+ degrees and 90%+ humidity) with ZERO issues. I have also run this all winter and not had a single issue with this setup. I love the way this sounds, you can really hear that sweet blower winding up!

This is a great kit for any STR owners out there that are on the fence, give Chris a call over at Mina Gallery and talk with him about the improvements they have made in their kit rock solid bolt on performance!

I also believe that Caldoofy has a newer version of his intake elbow that will give you a little more HP and is a very clean and simple bolt on!

Here are a couple pics of my setup so you can see just how good this kit looks as well as performs!!

Cheers!

 

Do you know if Caldoofy has his stage 2 carbon intakes done yet?

 

I also live in cincinnati, thanks for the input, how much did the full intake set up run you, and do you notice a difference in power? Is it worth the money?

 

When I was monitoring my IAT, in traffic during the summer the temps will skyrocket pretty quick. That is the biggest hate of the Mina CAI. It doesn't completely seal it off from the engine compartment.

 

Have you monitored IAT's with a stock airbox? It's not much better. In 85-90 degree weather, in traffic you will routinely see 140+ degree Iat's. Now At least with the stock airbox, they tend to drop fairly quickly once the car gets moving.

Dunno if that means much to you, but I think it's just the nature of the beast.

Take care,

George

 

Hey there! Nice to have a fellow growler in Cincy! Dont get too worried about the price on the Mina Gallery Website, call and ask for Chris tell him that the other Chris (Me) from the forum told you to call him and he will give you a sweet discount on the intake kit. Its super easy to do and if you run into issues and need some help I am more than happy to help you get it installed!

The Caldoofy Intake was a little more $$ but hey its a custom piece and he is making them to order. Takes about 10 days to arrive from the UK but PM Caldoofy and he'll hook you up.

Probably looking about $250 all in including the "T" clamps from Pepboys, you will want those, they hold much better than the stock hose clamps...

Let me know if you decide to move forward and if you need help.

Finally the performance aspect... Its good between the two for about 25/30 RWHP but the increased blower whine and the "butt horsepower" are will worth the investment!

Cheers!

 

Yeah you get some "heat soak' maybe that will be improved with the carbon fiber intake from Caldoofy, but honestly in bumper to bumper traffic with my OEM "cold air intake" I was having the same heat rise...

To each his own, but its been a great mod for me and I would do it all over again given if I had another STR!

Cheers!

 

Not for nothing but that's a VERY ambitious claim on RWHP. Maybe with a 1.5 lb pulley as well. Noise and blower whine do not add horsepower... Although they do make the car feel more fun....

Take care,

George

 

Another complete waste of money - better spent in a 401(k) or IRA account.


Does nothing but make someone else rich. But, by all means, continue to modify the car and send us pictures. Very entertaining.

 

Yeah your are right, thanks for setting me straight. I am going to list my STR for sale right now and put all of the proceeds into my Roth IRA. No sense in enjoying the efforts of my hard work or disposable income while I am still young... Much better plan to enjoy nothing now so that I can plan and allocate every possible dime for my old age...

 

I wouldn't call it a waste of money. The intake tube mod on the STR has been dyno proven approx. 10hp, maybe more with that mina cone filter... not to mention, adding some bling under the hood, and way more blower noise for the drivers enjoyment. Dollar for dollar, this is probably the best and most effective performance mod for our cars.

 

Thanks GT!

I was told by Chris over at Mina that the High Performance Intake Kit is good for an additional 10+ HP, so between that and the Caldoofy elbow at another 10+ HP (I did get the slightly larger elbow that Cladoofy offers) I should be getting about 20-25 total boost in HP as I had mentioned earlier in the thread.

I didn't do before and after dynos but would be easy enough to do I suppose may be interesting too! I would like to see if the specs are accurate could test stock config against stock + elbow and then stock plus Mina Intake and finally elbow + Mina and see where the numbers fall...

 

yes, plz do, i as i'm sure all but one owner would be interested....im a little concerned about your math skill however as you added 10+ 10 and came up with 25 ,when i would think you would be lucky at 15... but a dyno will tell us that.....small amount of cash if the dyno proves out those numbers...

 

The issue here is that these mods are not discrete in their nature. Two intake mods that each say add around 10hp, usually do not equal 20hp when combined. Just because of the laws of diminishing returns. Can you get 15hp out of it? Maybe...... but the full gain from each individually? No way....

Take care,

George

 

Thanks George, I completely agree with you and in reality (on the dyno) its probably not good for any more than 15 total HP gain if that. I don't imagine any of the easy bolt on changes are going to provide a major boost in HP.

I am realistic in my thinking and to really see a big improvement I know its going to take $$$ and hours upon hours of labor. You want major changes in HP at the dyno then better pony up for an evos twin screw, a major head polishing and porting along with some custom made long tube headers and drag pipes all the way back. If you did all that you maybe could get to that 25+ extra ponies.

Until then, I will just have to be content with the small bolt on's and my small victories with the "cheap stuff". Besides when it comes down to it, I just want to have some fun and enjoy the car, not looking to win any trophies at the track.

Cheers!

 

I agree 100%! I am all for getting a good ROI when it comes to modifications, but if you want a 700+hp dragster, go with something more mainstream like a Ford or Chevy V8. You can make silly hp for very little $ due to the huge pool of potential buyers that modders have to draw from.


Our exclusivity is our Achilles heel.

 

I am not sure about the Mina Filter hp gain as I don't think anyone has ever dynoed one back to back with and without it. However, I will say the sound and the throttle response is possibly worth it. Nothing like having blower whine at 2200rpm along with the intake elbow and the scream at redline is ridiculous.

With that said, being that I live in Phoenix, I don't think the Mina intake bodes well for this climate being an open air intake. If anyone would like to purchase mine, please PM me. I only put 6K miles on it and its in pretty good shape.

 

I'm on the fence about removing my Mina filter as well. I am going to do some 1/4 mile passes with the stock air box this coming season and compare times with last season and go from there.

 

Sweet, I am doing the exact same Mod on Thursday. I doubt the 20 HP gain, maybe 15 as it was stated. For me it's about the whine, low end pick up and appearance. Parts are in, wish I had time today!

 

Your car looks SICK,!!! I'm loving it!