VTT Tests N54 Intake Manifolds: Part 1 (center feed)

Oct 24, 2016
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As some of you guys have heard (or read), in pursuit of all things awesome, we have decided to do some testing on the recent group of N54 intake manifolds out on the market. They're all being tested on our E90 6MT GC car. Since we had all the Center feed manifolds, and they are the easiest to test, we went ahead, and did those today. We'll do the front facing for the next round. Part one of the Manifold Testing is as follows.

Format:

Format was as follows, 5 runs for each manifold all done as close to 160 Oil Temps as possible, with a 10 minute cool down between runs. Highest run, and lowest run are thrown out, average of 3 remaining are taken. AEM Logs were taking for each for boost reading as the MHD logs are not accurate on boost. Peak Boost, and boost at 7000RPM also highest, and lowest thrown out, average of remaining 3. Temps from all runs were done with an infrared Thermometer at the same spot on each manifold. A reading was done before each run, and right after. Again highest, and lowest thrown out, average of the remaining 3. Highest IAT reading as seen in the MHD log taken, same format highest, and lowest thrown out. We chose to use UNCORRECTED numbers for this test, and its the actual data the car putting down with no corrections done to it. As for power, and consistency. We won't even get into the fact that our GC Equipped N54 did 15 runs today, the highest was 797WHP, and not a single one was under 761WHP, It averaged almost 780WHP, with only one aborted run due to spark induced misfires. Pretty consistent for stock location turbos, DI ONLY...
Car Details:
2008 E90 6MT
Open Deck, Forged Rods / Piston
Ported head / Stock valve train
VTT GC Turbos
VTT Inlets / Charge pipe
VTT DCI
VTT Double Barrel Shotgun DI ONLY PI is not even installed on the car
Custom LPFP Consisting of VTT Bucketless in-tank feed pump, Triple Walbro LPFP with Radium Surge Tank
BMS Downpipes
AD-e Intercooler
Custom PCV System
AEM AQ-1 Data logging system
Tuning by V8Bait
100% E85
Cliff Notes:
If anyone is interested in cliff notes before we dump data on you: The data clearly shows an intake manifold even at almost 800WHP is a poor investment as a power adder, as unbelievable as it may seem, each manifold averaged almost exactly 778WHP. So obviously power is not going to be the deciding factor here. With that in mind, of the 3, the clear winner is the stock manifold. If you want to upgrade from stock, BKC is the way to go, although fitment on the BKC is poor; basically the charge pipe is against the shock tower, and I had no where to run the rear inlet; I had to move a ton of things around etc. The BKC runs close to the same temps as stock, it does make an average of 9 more WTQ but I mean is it worth the hassle when working on the car? As for the EOS, not only does it weigh almost 3 times as much as the stock manifold, and 6.1 more than the BKC, it shows consistently higher temps, and consistently lower WTQ numbers than either of the other two. All this while needing to average almost a FULL 2 PSI more boost to make the same power, and less TQ. With no further fanfare here is the data.

Intake Manifold Test (Center Feed)
Stock

StockMan.JPG

StockDyno.jpg

Manifold Weight ready to Run 7.4Lbs
Power / TQ
Run 1 – 775/758
Run 2 – 763/740 Lifted Early Spark Break up
Run 3 – No Reading
Run 4 – 776/736
Run 5 – 783/731
Average Power / TQ – 778/742
Boost

Run 1 – Peak 31.55 PSI / 7000RPM 25.91 PSI
Run 2 – Peak 30.69PSI / Aborted run due to Spark Break up
Run 3 – Peak 30.94PSI / 7000RPM 26.12PSI No Dyno Reading
Run 4 – Peak 30.40 / 7000RPM 25.98PSI
Run 5 – Peak 30.25PSI / 7000RPM 25.56PSI
Average Boost - Peak 30.67PSI / 7000RPM 25.81PSI
Temps

Run 1 - Peak IAT 79F / Infrared Beginning of run 68F – End of Run 71F
Run 2 - Peak IAT 70F / Infrared Beginning of run 69F – End of Run 72F
Run 3 - Peak IAT 77F / Infrared Beginning of run 66F – End of Run 69F
Run 4 - Peak IAT 72F / Infrared Beginning of run 68F – End of Run 69.5F
Run 5 - Peak IAT 72F / Infrared Beginning of run 64F – End of Run 67F
Average Temps – Peak IAT 74.3F / Infrared Beginning of run 66.6F – End of Run 69.1F


EOS V1
EOS.JPG

EOSdyno.jpg

Manifold Weight ready to Run 17.9 Lbs
Power / TQ
Run 1 – 780/762
Run 2 – 774/733
Run 3 – 797/714
Run 4 – 777/713
Run 5 – 779/719
Average Power / TQ – 778/722
Boost

Run 1 – Peak 33.70 PSI / 7000RPM 27.12 PSI
Run 2 – Peak 32.55PSI / 7000RPM 27.06PSI
Run 3 – Peak 31.98PSI / 7000RPM 27.08PSI
Run 4 – Peak 32.21 / 7000RPM 27.42PSI
Run 5 – Peak 32.40PSI / 7000RPM 27.54PSI
Average Boost - Peak 32.38PSI / 7000RPM 27.20PSI
Temps

Run 1 - Peak IAT 97F / Infrared Beginning of run 93F – End of Run 99F
Run 2 - Peak IAT 100F / Infrared Beginning of run 100F – End of Run 104F
Run 3 - Peak IAT 100F / Infrared Beginning of run 102F – End of Run 106F
Run 4 - Peak IAT 100F / Infrared Beginning of run 104F – End of Run 102F
Run 5 - Peak IAT 100F / Infrared Beginning of run 98F – End of Run 101F
Average Temps – Peak IAT 100F / Infrared Beginning of run 100F – End of Run 102.3F


BKC Sheet Metal
BKC.JPG

BKCdyno.jpg

Manifold Weight ready to Run 11.8 Lbs
Power / TQ
Run 1 – 761/753
Run 2 – 775/752
Run 3 – 777/747
Run 4 – 782/741
Run 5 – 792/756
Average Power / TQ – 778/751
Boost

Run 1 – Peak 32.39 PSI / 7000RPM 26.22 PSI
Run 2 – Peak 30.57PSI / 7000 25.48PSI
Run 3 – Peak 29.84PSI / 7000RPM 25.41PSI
Run 4 – Peak 29.82 / 7000RPM 25.03PSI
Run 5 – Peak 30.85PSI / 7000RPM 25.65PSI
Average Boost - Peak 30.42PSI / 7000RPM 25.51PSI
Temps

Run 1 - Peak IAT 104F / Infrared Beginning of run 81F – End of Run 86F
Run 2 - Peak IAT 73F / Infrared Beginning of run 72F – End of Run 76F
Run 3 - Peak IAT 72F / Infrared Beginning of run 74F – End of Run 72F
Run 4 - Peak IAT 72F / Infrared Beginning of run 72.5F – End of Run 71.5F
Run 5 - Peak IAT 77F / Infrared Beginning of run 68.5F – End of Run 72.5F

Average Temps – Peak IAT 74F / Infrared Beginning of run 72.8F – End of Run 73.5F

MHD Logs are here: http://www.datazap.me/u/vargasturbotech


No one tests things as hard as we do. Round 2 coming up soon....

Chris
 
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doublespaces

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Oct 18, 2016
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Is there any particular reason the second manifold is ran ~30* higher than the other two? Seems like that would have an impact no?
 
Nov 5, 2016
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We didt't run the manifold higher. That's the temp the manifold reached after warming the car up to operating temps. Meaning the EOS manifold heat soaks from the head, and held onto this extra heat the entire 5 runs. Not surprising since it is a huge hunk of cast aluminum, that weighs 18 lbs. Every manifold was tested indentical. Temp variance is due to the manifold, and its properties. Nothing else
 
Nov 5, 2016
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Bay Area
Also keep in mind. We had EOS on the car already, so runs 1-5 were EOS, meaning it was the ONLY manifold that benefited from a car that sat on the dyno overnight, and was 100% cold before bringing up to 160 oil temps. The BKC got about an hour cool down for lunch, and the stock manifold only got 20 minutes cause it was an easy swap. With this in mind, it sill picked up 30 more degrees from the head, and held it through all 5 runs.
 

frontside0815

Corporal
Nov 9, 2016
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I have to say: This is a nice thread and i like your process for testing! Thumbs up!
Do exactly this with your Turbos compared to the Turbos from your competition and you will get more sales...

Edit: Just looked at the other logs uploaded in your Profile at datazap. There is so much interesting data, e.g. EGT, Backpressure, Anti Lag Logs etc- why don´t you share something of this with some words what you concluded?
 
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cityazndan

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Jan 17, 2017
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Interesante...engine bling does not directly translate into great results...
 
Nov 5, 2016
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Very very badass guys
We didt't run the manifold higher. That's the temp the manifold reached after warming the car up to operating temps. Meaning the EOS manifold heat soaks from the head, and held onto this extra heat the entire 5 runs. Not surprising since it is a huge hunk of cast aluminum, that weighs 18 lbs. Every manifold was tested indentical. Temp variance is due to the manifold, and its properties. Nothing else
 

V8bait

Lieutenant
Nov 2, 2016
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One thing I noticed in the logs is the STFT's deviate more in the factory manifold at high RPM. Neither of the other 2 manifolds had as consistent of a trim deviation.

One thing that may have hindered the EOS was limiter 512 popping up for their manifold. I don't think it affected peak power, but it could have hurt the torque down low some. I highly doubt the car would have made more than OEM down there, but just some log analysis. Must need tuning adjustments for that manifold since it has the most design changes here.

Alternatively, anybody seen torque limit 512 before? I thought it was some sort of temp limiter, maybe the metal manifold is holding so much more heat that it's tripping this.
 
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doublespaces

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Oct 18, 2016
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One thing I noticed in the logs is the STFT's deviate more in the factory manifold at high RPM. Neither of the other 2 manifolds had as consistent of a trim deviation.

One thing that may have hindered the EOS was limiter 512 popping up for their manifold. I don't think it affected peak power, but it could have hurt the torque down low some. I highly doubt the car would have made more than OEM down there, but just some log analysis. Must need tuning adjustments for that manifold since it has the most design changes here.

Alternatively, anybody seen torque limit 512 before? I thought it was some sort of temp limiter, maybe the metal manifold is holding so much more heat that it's tripping this.

It also appears under one of the BKC logs also. Test 3:

fPcX2hY.png