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Stock (lack of) air intake... question, please.

1570 Views 14 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Cycles
Hi all...

In another thread I was posting in, Hoypinoy1234 looked at a pic of my front grille and commented "You need to drill out the opening on that intake. It looks like you have a closed version." To Hoypinoy1234 or whomever else might be looking, is this what that comment was in reference to... ?

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Thanks in advance.
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yes, that is it
Ah thanks... so, you'd recommend punching out as many of those as possible?
Don't really understand why they're not open already... :suspicio:
It seams nobody knows why they did that way. a lot of guy drilled holes between bars
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Hmm. Seems like VW overlooked that one. Maybe they were sharpening the cut out tools at that time yours went by down the line? Cut em out for sure. Thats the main intake for fresh air isnt it? If you want more air.. try the Colorado Air Box Mod. Mixed reviews on it.. seems like it should work though.
Excellent, thanks guys! For someone who knows a lot about cars, you guys sure make me realize how OLD the cars are that I know a lot about! :lol:

The car already surprises me (still after 20k miles) by how well it runs. Now that it'll finally be able to breathe... ahh, a happy car is a happy driver.
PassatVariantPunk said:
Hmm. Seems like VW overlooked that one. Maybe they were sharpening the cut out tools at that time yours went by down the line? Cut em out for sure. Thats the main intake for fresh air isnt it? If you want more air.. try the Colorado Air Box Mod. Mixed reviews on it.. seems like it should work though.
I remember seeing the Colorado Air Box Mod and a pseudo write up on it. Can someone point me in the direction of the write up or at least the pictures. TIA

Thad. :D
Darth Volkswagen said:
PassatVariantPunk said:
Hmm. Seems like VW overlooked that one. Maybe they were sharpening the cut out tools at that time yours went by down the line? Cut em out for sure. Thats the main intake for fresh air isnt it? If you want more air.. try the Colorado Air Box Mod. Mixed reviews on it.. seems like it should work though.
I remember seeing the Colorado Air Box Mod and a pseudo write up on it. Can someone point me in the direction of the write up or at least the pictures. TIA

Thad. :D
Courtesy of Boris post
Boris said:

Here are the tools I used. Notice that the MAF snorkel is already cut. I made two cuts. One just after the point where the bellwidening stops, and one approx 1/2 inch later. The 1/2 inch section is then removed and the bell opening re-attached with heat resistant epoxy.


Here you can see the two openings in the body of the airbox. One of the holes in just above the internal reinforcement strut inside of the airbox. Be careful to measure as not to drill into that strut.


The hoses I used I got from Home Depot. The original use was for sump pump. I think that the diameter was 1.25 inch (but not sure 100%)






I attached the hoses to the lower grille by drilling with the door knob bit from behind but not going all the way through. Just go in approx 1/4 inch. That will go through the solid part, but only partially into the horizontal slats. Then remove the solid backing with clippers so you will end up with circular hole in the solid backing but with the slats still covering the front.


Here you can see the MAF snorkel after it has been shortened and installed back in the airbox.
For what it is worth, has someone put Boris' post in the Info forum yet?
In that colorado system it shows that you are using 2 new air hoses that go from the box to the lower front of the car .. why 2 small hoses? could you use one big one ? and how did they attach them two small hoses to that lower pice of the car? any more pics on this set up ?

do you still put he air filter in this after its done and what kind of car is that done on will it work for a 99 v6 2.8 passat ?
rpaller said:
For what it is worth, has someone put Boris' post in the Info forum yet?
As a matter of fact, no.
AK-Passat said:
In that colorado system it shows that you are using 2 new air hoses that go from the box to the lower front of the car .. why 2 small hoses? could you use one big one ? and how did they attach them two small hoses to that lower pice of the car? any more pics on this set up ?
It is much easier to route them around compartment. Also those 2 are fitting perfectly on front spoiler.

Quoting Boris post:
"I attached the hoses to the lower grille by drilling with the door knob bit from behind but not going all the way through. Just go in approx 1/4 inch. That will go through the solid part, but only partially into the horizontal slats. Then remove the solid backing with clippers so you will end up with circular hole in the solid backing but with the slats still covering the front. "
I don't know about the B5's but what I don't understand is that in the 2001.5 of Passats they had those holes drilled and open, but as far as I know on the later models of Passats they are closed. What were they thinking :crazy:
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