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ModshackTTuned Induction System Stage 1 The TTDA |
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The TTDA is Stage 1
in the ModshackTTuned Induction System. |
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New Spec Change effective 5/20/05: 10 MM Textured Expanded PVC composite endcaps now standard New Spec (12/01/05) : Stainless Filter backing plate for improved rigidity |
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| TTDA stands for Twin Tube Dynamic Airbox.......
I came upon this particular design after a long time of scratching my head and trying to figure out solutions to some of the TT's (and 1.8T's) inherent breathing problems. A simple look at the stock airbox intake will lead you to the conclusion that breathing is somewhat restricted. Some of the early hose collapse issues confirmed that (kinda like sucking through a straw). Heat is also a big issue with turbo cars. Using the generally accepted formula that 1% of power is lost for every 10 degrees of heat over a certain point. I originally started with a P-Flow open element filter on my car. Thinking it would perform better if isolated from the engine compartment heat, I fabricated an aluminum faced insulating blanket and started measuring temps with a probe. The idea had merit. Thinking more, I decided that totally isolating the intake from the compartment and fabricating something would look better. I looked around for something with the proper dimensions to replace the stock airbox. I thought (correctly) that if I could feed this enclosed airbox from the front of the car, I would get gobs of cool air and possibly a bit of ram effect. Turns out a one gallon Paint can (Note: Paintcan was just the prototype! Much better materials are used now!) was the perfect shape/size, and I fabricated the first "ram" air sealed system using my existing filter, and some creative hose routing to the front of the car. |
The restrictions of the TT design determined the dual (hence Twin Tube) feed design. More temp monitoring led me to believe I was on the right track. It worked. Now to refine the idea. Better, more heat resistant materials, some insulation, and a nice carbon fiber finish resulted in the early TTDA as we know it.
I've gradually refined the finish technique as well as the construction as I've learned more about laminating and painting. The tubes are now a microseal Phenolic material, laminated, and powdercoated for a better look and more durable finish. Temps in the box now run only a few degrees over ambient, giving the turbo and the resultant heat generated, a good head start at reducing eventual intake temps. On my car, with an FMIC, Samco hoses etc., the temps out of the IC are 3-5 degrees C hotter than the air. (see chart here) More power all the time, and no heat soak issues. As of this update, there are over 500 TTDA's in use in 35 countries on TT's, Golf's, New Beetles, Jetta's, R32's Skoda's, Seat Leon's, and now 3.2 TT's. Everyone likes them and the butt (and real) dyno says they work. Cooler temps, faster Spool and better throttle response are the bottom line results. |
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| Thoughts on:
Panel filter Upgrade: The issue is NOT the Filter medium, but the airbox design itself. Air comes in through a small snorkle, changes direction 90 degrees, flows through the filter, and changes direction another 90 degrees before it heads off into the MAF. It's no wonder the MAF housing needs restrictive vanes and screens (18%) to smooth the airflow. Open Element filters: Remember, these do nothing but suck hot, 150 degree air from your engine compartment. Performance improvements "felt" are largely because of the noise. Most use inferior, imported K&N lookalike filters. You get what you pay for here and you're usually just paying for a knock-off filter and a piece of sheet metal. |
Traditional CAI designs: Again, most use cheap, imported filters. These are quickly chewed up in the dirty lower grill envoirnment. Like sucking through a straw, a long intake tube to the filter is not the best for enhancing performance.
TTDA design: This design, unlike any other on the market, provides an insulated filter box, closely coupled to your MAF housing, with a wide variety of Fresh air feed options. Only Genuine K&N filters are used along with the best in Carbon fiber, Stainless, Aluminum, and Phenolic materials. I hand build these to spec. |
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| TTDA Ordering:
Each is handmade to your spec. with choice of carbon or carbon/kevlar, brushed stainless, or custom color matched paint. I build these one by one. This came out of making a few for friends after my first designs showed promise, and snowballed through word of mouth. TTDA's are now in 15 counties around the world. Payments are generally handled through Paypal. Insured Fed-Ex ground shipping is my preferred method for domestic deliveries. USPS Global Express for Canada and Europe at affordable rates. |
Let me know your Car, your color/finish preference,
paypal me some funds and I'll get you on the build list. I can generally
ship within 1 week of your order. Note: A hose kit is recommended. Front feeds can ONLY be run on stock 180's and VW's. 225TT's WITH FRONT MOUNT INTERCOOLERS can also run front feeds. Stock IC's on a 225 will NOT allow hoses to be run. Use the short hose kit. |
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** Your choice of edging colors (Blue, Red, Gray, Black) ** Since these are individually made, custom modifications can be incorporated |
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If painted supply color code, year and Vin#: |
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| TTDA General info:
Stock air box Snorkle inlet is about equivalent to a single 2.5 inch feed. That's 4.91 Sq. inches. Double that for the TTDA= 9.82. Result: More air, less restriction. On temperatures: The engine compartment gets hot. Wander around in there with an Infrared thermometer and you'll see! For every 10 degrees of temp increase you lose 1% in potential horsepower. Reduce the temps, you increase potential HP. The TTDA reduces temps 2 ways. Aluminum skinned fiber insulation provides a thermal barrier for engine compartment heat. Remote feeds provide a fresh (ambient temp) air source. |
On flow: In the stock airbox, air changes direction twice (90 degrees each time) to get to the MAF. Using the inverted cone filter, air enters the MAF smoothly. So smoothly in fact, that you can remove the plastic vanes and screens from the MAF housing which is the biggest restriction in the intake system. More air, less heat, less restriction = More power and better throttle and turbo response. |
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| Set-up for OEM 225 car : (simple install)
You won't be able to take full advantage of the design without having an FMIC and running feeds into the free'd up grill area, but you will see advantages in less heat soak, and a less restrictive intake. You may remove the plastic MAF vanes with this filter as it appears to supply a very clean flow of air to the MAF element. I currently have my vanes out. This will make a big difference The filter end will fit directly on the MAF housing. Lubricate a little as it is a tight squeeze. The filter is sized so that no other support should be necessary. It will nestle right into the OEM airbox area. |
Run a short hose to the fender opening from the top flange. Feed through 6-8 inches or so. Route the bottom into the area behind the headlight. This will at least get you a little fresh air in there.
I use 2.5 inch neoprene hose. Expensive, but better and more flexible than most. This can be sourced at www.aircraftspruce.com: P/N #05-29810. You'll need 7 feet for a full feed system, 3 feet for the quick install method. (available in 10ft lengths). This hose can be ordered with your TTDA. |
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| FMIC 225 Full feed (180TT or VW) car:
This is the best set-up but requires cutting a little metal (not necessary with the VW application) if you want to get the dual pressure feeds up to the box. If you can settle for one pressure feed, no cuts are necessary. My Fotki pics show all these pretty clearly, so I won't go into a lot of detail. General TTDA info here. More feed detail in the "Feeding the TTDA" album Here. One hose up the fender liner side, and one up under the headlight. You can get the hose through here with the front end on. You may have to remove the battery box depending on how dexterous you are! Both end in some sort of collector in the lower grill. Mine is home-made, but commercial inlets are available. |
Note on early 2001 cars and earlier with Xenons: The Xenon ballasts on earlier TT cars are attached to the chassis under the lights, rather than on the actual light fixtures themselves.
Because of this it may be impossible to route the headlight hose without removing the front end and headlight. The ballast needs to be relocated to allow for hose clearance. Various Install shots from around the world can be seen here. |
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| Additional install notes:
Depending on how you intend to install the air box, here are some tips, links and notes to help you along: Stock 225 , 180, or 3.2 (easy install method): 1) remove the stock box 2) lubricate the filter flange and clamp on to the MAF. Orientation of the box should be with the seam down and the intake ports at about a 45 degree angle to the rear. 3) Hose routing can be simple but you won't get the Ram air effect. You will get better flow and heat control though and 90% of the benefits. I would highly recommend going with the high quality Neoprene as seen in my installs (Aeroduct 2.5 CAT). Very flexible and should eliminate trimming sheet metal at the snorkel exit area. This stuff can be sourced at www.aircraftspruce.com: P/N #05-29810 or you can buy it with the TTDA in a package. 7 feet will let you do even the more involved install. 3ft' is plenty for the " simple " install. 4) Route 1 hose through the snorkel hole to get some fresh air, and tuck the other down behind the headlight. 5) Place the black foam sock over the cold air inlet tube you removed from the airbox side and zip tie out of the way. If you have the breather, slip into the hose end. 225, 180, 3.2 or VW with front feeds: 1) Mount as above (180 or VW applications will have a silicone hose spacer in the filter end to match up to the 2 3/4 inch MAF) 2) Most of the pics for this have been pretty well documented in the various photo albums. The only tricky part is cutting a little sheet metal to the left of the fender liner screw hole as seen Here. This is easily done with tin snips and then dressed up a bit with a dremel or die grinder. Cut until you can fit the hose in there without interfering with the fender liner when re-installed. You can also do a Hybrid install and not cut, running only the under headlight hose to the front. The feed horns are simple parts available at Home Depot. The angle bracket shown holding the assembly to the car is from the garage door dept. (Track bracket). It's slotted and sized perfectly for this. There's even a threaded stud on the car to mount it too! You can also use the stock IC Bracket that used to mount there for support. Commercial air inlet ducts can be made to work as can other creative ideas but the space is tight. Measure first! |
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| Cleaning:
I've noticed that if you use front mounted feeds, a lot of stuff is sucked up into the box and the inverted part of the cone gets dirty fast. I'd clean every 5,000 miles under these circumstances. Non force fed, you're probably good for 10-15K or so. K&N's actually work a little better with some miles on them. They are lifetime filters and will clean up nicely even when crusty. To remove filter, take the box out of the car, remove the vinyl edging from the filter side and the whole endcap with filter attached can be removed. Follow the K&N procedures fro cleaning, Lightly oil, and re-assemble. |
That's pretty much it! Go out and drive and let me know what you think. The car will need a little time to adapt to the different flow characteristics. The box is also quiet.
You may consider removing the plastic vanes in the MAF housing also as this is a big restriction in the inlet system. Read this article to learn more. There's now a charge for Autospeed articles, but they are generally very informative. Let me know how they work for you! Questions, I can be reached most anytime at (252) 327-7737 or Email me |
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| Some comments from users:
"Fleshing out" the low end torque and smoothing the initial "spool up" has been my goal. The TTDA/BAMM combo hits the ball "outa the park"! The engine comes into boost super smooth, and the low and mid rev pulling power is excellent. It reminds me of my "street racer" (a 64 Chevelle) in a past life, when I replaced the 283 with a 396. Mega torque! And SMOOTH!! No hesitations or surge at all. So it's "two, big thumbs up" for your brilliant designs.... and thanks, Russ First Dyno reviews from Phill in the UK at a recent AMD "Rolling Road" day: After: Hi Steve, first I hope that you and your family and friends are safe and sound after the terrible storms. We had a rolling road shoot out at AMD today as you said the car is getting better and better the BHP was 272 and the torque 297lbs-ft , a lot of people were very impressed and we had a hot day 30c , so many thanks again and might be some new orders on the way? Best regards, Phill Before: Hi Steve, my numbers before were 264 bhp 291 lbsft also fitted FMIC after these , but the really good part was I was run later in the day when it was hotter the early runners were not bad but the figures started dropping off as the day went on but not mine !! Cheers mate, Phill Performance Testimonial from Carlos in Puerto Rico: 1/4 ET ---- 14.057 1/4 MPH --- 94.56 I'm sure that my car run in the 13's because when I did the run the gas tank was full(93 octane), that means too much weight, and my DV fluttering a bit. The TTDA make a huge difference. Before the TTDA I did 14.6. Thanks Steve for a great product. Yess... Late 02 TT225 Quattro Lake Silver Coupe... Mods for now are: APR 93Octane Chip, ECS Race N75, Hyperboost Adjustable DV, SAMCO Intake Hose and Upper Turbo Hoses, O.CT FMIC, TTSchwing TTDA, Forge Super High Flow Exhaust, From Akrascal (Dick) in Alaska: I have found the effect to be similar to the effect of first installing the Borla, which perhaps makes sense since it is doing much the same thing only on the opposite end. In short, the impact is more, certainly at low temps, than I had ever imagined. Previously I had installed a K & N and couldn't notice anything. From Joe G: I've seen the pics of this thing for over a year, now... but wow... I couldn't get over how beautiful it is... You could probably sell it in the price-range of the groupe-M intake, but I'm certainly glad you don't! |
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 email Steve at the shack! |
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