Up to now, we have talked about the OEM turbo inlet pipe and the OEM intake system found on the 11th generation Honda Civic and new Acura Integra with the 1.5L turbocharged engine. We have walked through how the air goes through the airbox, filter, ducting, TIP, and eventually into the turbo. What we have left out until now is the very first part of the journey for intake air.

How does the ambient air outside the car get to the intake box? For that little piece of the puzzle, we aim take you on a journey behind the bumper and explore the air path to the intake here in this blog.

Honda calls this rubber ducting in the red box the “upper plate” whatever the heck that means. It’s made of EPDM rubber and seals perfectly up against the bumper of your 11th Gen EX (similar for other models). It has a very purposeful shape and aids in channeling cooler outside air through the bumper and then through the radiator, A/C condenser, and for SOME models your intake airbox.

Air always wants to take the path of less resistance so the OEM engineers use this upper plate to guide the air through these components instead of around them.

With the ongoing development of our CAI (cold air intake) and TIP (turbo inlet pipe), we asked ourselves how we could maximize the amount of air outside to the airbox.

To answer this question we took a closer look at how Honda directs ambient air to the intake box. In doing so, we were surprised to learn that even though the various trims of Civic and Integra have the same engine + airbox, the bumper ducting is very different from model to model. Below is some what we found.

The ducting to the intake box on the EX was the most “basic” setup we’ve seen. It mounts to the crash bar and header panel and has two chambers to help guide air that comes through the grill. The driver side of the “upper plate’ does have a very small bump (orange arrow in image below) to direct air into the airbox. If you were not looking for it then you might miss it! So while it’s small. at least there is something there.

For the 2022+ Civic Si the inlet ducting design is better than on the EX.

Again you see the two main chambers to direct air but this time we see a larger path for intake air. There is a sealed channel to direct air into the inlet of the air box. This duct forces cool outside air into the intake to make power. This is the kind of design we like to see. It gives an easy path to get air into our engine to let it breathe.

On the 5th Gen Integra A-Spec you see the same two primary chambers but this time the air intake channel is kind of in the middle between the EX and Si. The intake duct does not provide a fully enclosed path for air like the Si so it’s closer to the EX. One thing in the way however is the car horn. The red circle highlights where the car horn sits behind in the grill. We will likely relocate the horn to get a better and more direct air path.

Now you have seen three different OEM set-ups for 2022+ Honda/Acura L15 engines. What are we thinking? Well, OPEN WIDE. We want a big mouth for optimal sucking. Check out this very early sneak peek at our prototype snorkel design in glorious 3D printed fashion.

In our next blog, we’ll dive into the details and share with you early production samples.

We are building the most comprehensive intake system for the Civic and Integra ever.

Should we offer it in various colors, materials, shapes? Let us know what you think!

Vincent
Co-founder

More Fresh Air - Intake Snorkel Design For 2022+ Honda/Acura, Pt 1.