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Madness Autoworks, Maxflow intake system

17K views 68 replies 22 participants last post by  tlrominger 
#1 ·
Has anyone purchased and installed this system? Any comments or criticisms would be appreciated!
 
#2 ·
Not available yet, should be 2 to 3 more weeks according to latest telecom with Madness. They say it passed CARB regs, and is currently in production. It looks like a real nice piece, and I'm ready. I especially like that the evap hoses connect directly to the air box keeping original hoses and fittings. I'm ordering as soon as it's available. Will keep you posted.
 
#15 ·
Thank you! Glad you like.

Here is some additional info for clarification purposes:

We made a decision as a company a while back to invest more in to development and testing of our products. Part of this commitment was evaluating and tuning products to make sure they perform as good as we state they do and our fellow enthusiasts are happy with their upgrades.

We have an in house fabrication department in which we design and manufacture. In addition to that we utilize a state of the art dyno testing facility to make sure the products we put on do not cause harm to the vehicle. Instead of using questionable testing methods that produce ridiculously high hp numbers that the vehicle is simply not capable of producing reliably we use the facility to properly map vehicles like the 124 to extract the maximum amount of usable power. We do not chase high dyno numbers or use questionable dyno testing methods so we can show a high number that will never be replicated in real tests.

Rather than get in to online debates on what is better we simply give you a guarantee. Try our products and if you are not satisfied we will take them back and refund your money (check return policy for times). This simple guarantee has worked well for us and the majority of enthusiasts out there who use our products like them and refer others.

With out latest batch of products we decided to go a step further. We contracted with SEMA for testing and certification. We actually gave SEMA a vehicle to use for testing our intakes and ECM modules. They put over 4,000 on the vehicle and tested the vehicle in a variety of ways to confirm our gains. At the same time they tested a variety of perimeters of how the vehicle was functioning with the modifications that we installed and after numerous tests have confirmed that the parts installed work and should meet all CARB Certification Requirements. All paperwork, verification, instructions and etc (lots!) has been submitted to CARB for final approval. Now we just hurry up and wait. LOL!

Hopefully it will not take too long now. The money has been spent, the development and testing has been done and everything has been certified by SEMA. Now it is just the paperwork going through the channels between SEMA and CARB.

Meanwhile we have racked up a lot of miles on our own 124 ABARTH with the prototype intake and also on several customers 124 cars that have been running the pre production, hand made versions. The ECMs, GOPedal and Trans Flasher are available now.
 
#4 ·
They brag about using 5 layers of carbon fiber for thermal insulation, then use aluminum for the largest (and closest to the engine) components. Is it a special non-heat-conducting aluminum?
 
#17 ·
Hi there JFernald,

Let us clarify:

The carbon is on the BMC Canister Filter Portion of the intake. The reason we use aluminum for the pipes is due to the way we want the pipes to sit in the engine bay. Using silicone piping would not give us the final look, fitment and durability we were looking for. We have seen way too many of the silicone intakes out other that use long silicone pipes. They typically just flopped around loose in the engine compartment and the majority of them had portions rubbing on the other parts under the hood over time. There is no issue with using aluminum pipes.

We are pulling air directly from the outside and after many test we have found no negative effect of using this set up over doing it all in silicone. Remember, these are not Cold Air Intakes. You are pulling air in to a hot turbo. It then goes to an intercooler that is designed to cool the air before it is sent to the engine. The goal is to get smooth, turbulent free airflow and have it be as clean as possible when going in to turbo.

It would certainly be less expensive to do it out of silicone, but the overall look and fitment just can't be matched with silicone hoses.

Everything looks good online in a picture, but look at it in person and the choice would be clear.
 
#5 ·
Thoughts compared to the EC version? Silicon vs. Aluminum tubing? Aluminum being a conductor does not seem ideal.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Thoughts compared to the EC version?
Shhh! You're not allowed to derail threads! :mad:

/sarcasm

Jokes aside, more information is required before a judgment can be made. Maybe EC's choice of silicon has nothing to do with it, and it's actually the improvement in air flow (ergo transit time through a hot engine bay) that results in the cooler temperatures...
 
#6 ·
This is what I've read on a quick search ?
It all depends on the purpose of the tube and it's location to outside heat. Silicone will better protect from heat entering through it from the outside, but will also reduce heat escaping from the inside. Near exhaust pipes, etc, silicone might be better (with heat shielding and/or air space). But in areas where heat is not high, aluminum tubes will be better fro reducing the heat INSIDE the tube.

You also need to consider which provides the least resistance to air movement. Obviously, the less resistance, the cooler the air.
 
#9 ·
Absorption and dissipation occur at the same rate, depending on the conductivity of the material. Meaning, conductivity is the key with all other conditions being equal or steady state (material thickness, air flow, etc). If something can dissipate heat at a high conduction rate, it will absorb it equally as quick.

You can learn more about conductivity of materials here: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-d_429.html
 
#12 ·
Silicon is widely used in the aftermarket and I have used them in other cars in the past; however, I drove a desk before I retired (software industry) so I have no clue as to which is better. But since it is widely used there must be good reasons for doing so.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I'll start with the disclaimer that my experience with the two materials was gained on another platform, which was supercharged and generated nuclear levels of heat (Mercedes M112 Kompressor).

Having said that, my experience proved the silicone tubing to be far superior. I had a DashDaq installed on my car which tracked several events during operation (AFR, IAT, timing, etc.)

The intake air temperature (IAT) was about 15°F cooler with silicone inlet tubes versus the aftermarket aluminum ones we had previously used. After a session, you could open the hood and immediately lay your hand on the silicone tubes -- trying that with the aluminum tubes would result in losing fingerprints.

I even tested the OEM E-Class intake pipes (a common upgrade we used back in the day) and the silicone was cooler than plastic, by about 4.5° (average of all runs).

One of the aftermarket vendors for the SRT-6 came out with an aluminum/silicone hybrid, but the aluminum attracted heat. So, the countermeasure was to coat the exterior of the pipe in gold-ceramic coating as a thermal barrier. That alone dropped the IATs by several degrees. The inside was coated with teflon which smoothed the surface and resulted in higher CFM ratings.

Carbon Fiber is an excellent insulator from heat, so the fact that both MA and EC boxes are carbon is a plus for both camps.

Frankly speaking (and I have no affiliation with either company) I would use the EC 4.1 intake simply because of the silicone design and the cleaner aesthetics.

All the best,

--John
 
#20 ·
For those that are very focused on reducing the temps in the engine bay we have helped design and now offer a 124 specific turbo blanket that does an fantastic job on keeping the turbo hot while keeping the under the hood temps down.

If you are looking for a great combo our soon to be released intake with a blanket will fit the bill! We will also put together a little package for those that would like to purchase the set and save.
 
#21 ·
Regarding underhood temps, I know it's early but are there any proposals being kicked around regarding a vented hood? Something like the vents used on the last generation SRT Viper would look fantastic -- it would retain FCA design language, and could easily be integrated with the existing bulges on the hood.

Food for thought :)
 
#30 ·


HELLO! :D. It's been a month since I ask it anyone has installed this system! Any comments, problems with the install? Likes or :(:)dislikes? :):(
 
#29 · (Edited)
My 2 cents ……….. loosely based on my profession in the HVAC industry whereby I deal with fluid dynamics on a regular basis. And at this juncture I will freely admit that the range of conditions and fluids I deal with normally are very different to and not necessarily analogous to those experienced in the automotive world – in short I maybe talking crap !!

Looking at the what qualities you want out of an ideal intake system it would be twofold. One, minimise intake temperatures and two, minimise the pumping losses (the resistance).

The silicone is probably best for resistance to heat; however, the degree of heat gain is also dependant on dwell time (the time that mass of air is exposed to the temperature differential). Without doing any meaningful calculations, but I would be surprised if that dwell time is greater than 1 second and as the revs go higher then that time reduces proportionally. So while silicone is a better insulator in this instance the benefit over Al I expect to be marginal.

Now onto intake resistance. Generally – less resistance = less pumping losses = more power. So less resistance is a good thing to achieve, but as resistance is a function of the square of the flow then (to my way of thinking) there is more to be gained by reducing resistance than reducing temperature gain, in this instance. Comparing the two, the EC canister looks to have higher resistance (cannot be 100% sure as unaware of what’s inside). The smaller canister would mean a more torturous route for the airflow and a smaller surface area of filter media both detrimental to low pressure drops. Whereas the Madness uses the very large BMC canister – which must have a less torturous route for the airflow and a greater surface area of filter media. I have BMC filters on both my current cars & I rate it very highly.

So if I was in the market for the ideal intake I would like the EC silicone hoses with the BMC canister … possible ??

EDIT: Hang on ....looking at EC V4 intake closer and that canister looks suspiciously like a BMC CDA !!....I am liking what I see ;)
 
#31 ·
Jleo I ordered the system Feb 2. After reading Madness comments I now understand why it hasn't been delivered yet. When I called about the delay it is obvious now the rep on the other end was not aware of the hold up on paperwork. I'm waiting anxiously for this process to be completed and receive my intake system. Thank you Madness for sharing this information. Dennis
 
#32 ·
[QUOqTE=Dennis;159298]Jleo I ordered the system Feb 2. After reading Madness comments I now understand why it hasn't been delivered yet. When I called about the delay it is obvious now the rep on the other end was not aware of the hold up on paperwork. I'm waiting anxiously for this process to be completed and receive my intake system. Thank you Madness for sharing this information. Dennis[/QUOTE]

Dennis, thanks for the update, was the paperwork screw up just your order or haven't they delivered any systems? :(
 
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#34 ·
I received a call from 500 Madness yesterday explaining while installing one of the first ones manufactured on their shop 124 the brackets were wrong. As a result, they have corrected the issue and are going back to have the brackets corrected resulting in these will not ship until May. Cheers
 
#35 ·
Thank you Dave. I'll stop checking the front door till next month ����
 
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#37 ·
Thank you Dave. I'll stop checking the front door till next month ����
I've been watching this item since December. Ordered it a couple of days ago...one step forward, two steps back...at least there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully not an oncoming train!!!

Meanwhile the turbo blanket is on the way....patience...patience...
 
#40 ·
All, Art from MADNESS here (adominguez@madnessautoworks.com). Wanted to chime in and update everyone looking for their intakes with an eta. As hefbadr mentioned above the eta for us to ship was late last week. We were on schedule for this but had an issue with our powder coater (the finish on our batches of pipes came out sub-par) so we had to have them all stripped and redone.

We have all other parts (sans pipes) here prepped and ready to go out to everyone and are just waiting on the pipes to come in so we can ship everything out. I just hung up with out powder coater and they told me that these should all be done Friday or Monday of next week and will be shipping accordingly.

In the meantime if anyone need any assistance please feel free to email me directly (email above.) Thanks for the support and the patients with waiting for these parts.
 
#43 ·
Received mine yesterday. Will not be able to install till after this long weekend. Really looks sharp right out of the box. The DIY information is at the bottom of the description on main site not in the DIY forum on Madness if you want to take a look. I'll follow up next week.
 
#47 ·
Thank you for the review of the quality of the MAXFlow Intake! We are glad to hear that you are pleased with the quality. And that is correct the the instal instructions are listed on the product listing on our website. Here is the direct link and you can open the install instructions listed at the bottom of the page:

http://shop.500madness.com/fiat-124...ow-intake-system-wrinkle-black-finish-pid4426

Waiting on Fedex as we speak....tracking says by 8pm tonite and it's on the truck....will keep you posted as to install etc....cheers, enjoy the weekend.
Awesome! We are excited to see customers feedback and review of the MAXFlow Intake. We look forward to seeing your updates. :)
 
#45 ·
Does this system require you to replace the tubing similar to how the EC intakes do? I'd like as simple of an install as possible.
 
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