To Mugen or not to Mugen?

[DC5RS]

I am currently maybe in the process of buying a mugen induction but wanted your suggestions if its worth over an OEM or AEM V2 induction.

PS. I am only looking for gains from 1k-5k rpm's range
Currently on AEMV2.

Cheers

 

[dave7368]

will look a bit nicer than OEM but IMO not worth it, if i lived where it didn't rain much i would be considering a CAI system, either Injen or AEM which i had for a few years and loved it..

 

[DC5_Bonson]

The Mugen airbox is just an eye candy in my opinion. If you want a quick respond (low down to mid range) power, a modified OEM airbox is the way forward with minimum spending. I made some modifications on my brother's EP3 airbox as follows;

• Cut the intake hose to widen the hole to take air from the front rather than from the side (next to the battery)
• Removed and smoothen all resonant fins inside the airbox.
• Covered the entire air box with Foil wrap/tape (from DIY store) to lowered the intake temp

Then we done a test comparison against my dc5 (when it was standard apart from Mugen airbox) on the local 1/4 mile drag strip. The results was very surprising! His EP3 was able to pull a wheel length in front of me every run untill we got to 60-70mph and than my dc5 would slowly pull ahead to the finishing line. We did about 5 runs and it the result was very consistent.

Even from this day he is still refuses to replace it with any other induction kit even though i offered him a Gruppe M for a Christmas present.

 

[integraleo]

I've never bought an induction kit and expected any gains anywhere. I've always bought them for the sound or in my next case the looks. I'm currently running an injen voted by romain at eurospec as best for gains but I'm getting rid of it for a teg m purely as I have the desire for more carbon fibre under the bonnet and to fill the hole in engine bay where the standard induction kit went. When I bought my car it came with aem v2 and the only reason I replaced it was because I bought an rbc intake and physically they don't fit. And as for me picking the injen in the first place it wasn't for gains it was because I had a good deal on it and imported it from America along with the rbc from the same seller that I bought the rbc from. If your running aem v2 your now you won't gain any noise you will lose a little bit and to be honest heat soak was never an issue for me on the road you will never notice it

 

[scottr89]

I have the Mugen Airbox fitted and the look and sound from it is great, but I wouldn't think there is any major gains to be had from it.

 

[integraleo]

To be honest I'm not sure how much money you're looking at spending to buy a mugen intake but if you're looking for gains between 1-5000 rpm I would recommend spending you're money elsewhere.second hand price around what 300-400 quid? Save the money and once you have around 700 quid you can get k100 tuned which will give you much more power for the money. Best gains for the money in my opinion on the dc5. Vtec at 4000rpm makes the midrange punch much much more.

 

[DC5RS]

Thank you all for the replies, indeed the v2 is hard to beat on low rpm's, shame for the tempts on summer times.
Wanted something new just for a change. The Mugen intake looks good in the engine bay and i also have a relocated battery on the back of the car so it is a plus.

The OEM hondata mod of the intake seems a good alternative as bonson says.

Still debating if to buy it or not.

 

[mike.williams]

The Mugen airbox is just an eye candy in my opinion. If you want a quick respond (low down to mid range) power, a modified OEM airbox is the way forward with minimum spending. I made some modifications on my brother's EP3 airbox as follows;

• Cut the intake hose to widen the hole to take air from the front rather than from the side (next to the battery)
• Removed and smoothen all resonant fins inside the airbox.
• Covered the entire air box with Foil wrap/tape (from DIY store) to lowered the intake temp

Then we done a test comparison against my dc5 (when it was standard apart from Mugen airbox) on the local 1/4 mile drag strip. The results was very surprising! His EP3 was able to pull a wheel length in front of me every run untill we got to 60-70mph and than my dc5 would slowly pull ahead to the finishing line. We did about 5 runs and it the result was very consistent.

Even from this day he is still refuses to replace it with any other induction kit even though i offered him a Gruppe M for a Christmas present.

Im going back to standard airbox but has no plans to cut the resonators out, i have just bought an rrc intake manifold to hopefully make it super responsive.

 

[Mark_teg]

I've gone back to OEM airbox after using a Gruppe M for about 4 years.. Don't miss it at all!

 

[integraleo]

I've actually never driven a dc5 without an aftermarket induction kit on. I've used mugen,injen and aem v2 and shortly will be using teg m.

 

[poeter]

I've gone back to OEM airbox after using a Gruppe M for about 4 years.. Don't miss it at all!

Mind if I ask why?

 

[53 Teegwa]

Love my Mugen, came from an AEM V2 and even unmapped made a great difference (little more once i made some "adjustments" to the front grill lol)

end of the day if your chasing MASSIVE power get a custom one built, if your after noise difference (yes people buy for noise only lol) then buy any of them but open filter like the my V2 was a very different tone to the likes of the Mugen.

For me i love the difference the Mugen made and will be keeping it on until such time as it isnt doing the job i want it to do (ie if I go custom/big boost etc etc)

Just my 2p worth but again everyone is different really

 

[Mark_teg]

Mind if I ask why?

I wanted a change.

 

[Shortstuff]

I love my AEM CAI

Its meant to give good gains due to its location and I believe how the Air spins up the pipe.

Its cheap and sounds fantastic

 

[Sylar122]

The Mugen airbox is just an eye candy in my opinion. If you want a quick respond (low down to mid range) power, a modified OEM airbox is the way forward with minimum spending. I made some modifications on my brother's EP3 airbox as follows;

• Cut the intake hose to widen the hole to take air from the front rather than from the side (next to the battery)
• Removed and smoothen all resonant fins inside the airbox.
• Covered the entire air box with Foil wrap/tape (from DIY store) to lowered the intake temp

Then we done a test comparison against my dc5 (when it was standard apart from Mugen airbox) on the local 1/4 mile drag strip. The results was very surprising! His EP3 was able to pull a wheel length in front of me every run untill we got to 60-70mph and than my dc5 would slowly pull ahead to the finishing line. We did about 5 runs and it the result was very consistent.

Even from this day he is still refuses to replace it with any other induction kit even though i offered him a Gruppe M for a Christmas present.

Are there similar things you can do the Mugen intake like you do with the OEM? dunno if thats a totally daft question lol

 

[maxvr6]

There are no baffles or excess materials you can remove from the inside of the Mugen intake, you could try heat wrapping it to lower intake temps, using a silicon pipe instead of OEM to improve airflow which most do anyway. The Mugen intake takes its air feed from the front grill so nothing you can do there either.

 

[53 Teegwa]

The scoop feeds from the front as mentioned, I removed 3 x circles from the grill top to allow extra air flow.

Also have the SFS silicone hose coming ready to fit.

 

[Sylar122]

There are no baffles or excess materials you can remove from the inside of the Mugen intake, you could try heat wrapping it to lower intake temps, using a silicon pipe instead of OEM to improve airflow which most do anyway. The Mugen intake takes its air feed from the front grill so nothing you can do there either.

The scoop feeds from the front as mentioned, I removed 3 x circles from the grill top to allow extra air flow.

Also have the SFS silicone hose coming ready to fit.

So am i right in saying half pointless in getting a Mugen intake without the Mugen front bumper? i noticed that has a hole in the front for air feed.

 

[53 Teegwa]

So am i right in saying half pointless in getting a Mugen intake without the Mugen front bumper? i noticed that has a hole in the front for air feed.

I wouldnt say pointless as you would still get "an" airfeed to the box, the other option is the 5zigen scoop you can get, Firthy who used to be on here used one and got some pretty decent results from it too

I have a spare front grill I was going to use to replace the one i cut when the mugen sold but Im keeping the Mugen one now.

 

[Honda-atr]

I Had a Mugen air intake together with the Mugen bumper. I never noticed big differences between OEM and Mugen. When I got the Gruppe M a new world opened

Here a link to the old thread
http://www.itr-dc5.com/forum/index.php?/topic/11343-mugen-vs-gruppe-m/