This is more of an observation than anything else, and it’s a long read, but… it really bums me out how QUIET the turbo is on our 2016 Explorer 2.3 EcoBoost. Now I’m not expecting to hear full BOV noises and whatnot and I don’t want it to sound like a toy, just a satisfying faint whistle when under boost. For example, the same 2.3 in the new Bronco makes such a noise. I’ve driven and heard it for myself. The same is true of the 2.7 turbos in the newer GM trucks. Not much, but it’s there, and it’s satisfying. Even the first gen 4-cylinder EcoBoosts made more noise. I’m sure that the OEMs want to tune this noise out because the NPCs that drive them wouldn’t know what it is. But, I have found that it is nearly impossible to get more turbo noise in this vehicle, even if you wanted to. Here’s what I did:
K&N makes a kit for this car. It’s expensive, and I’m not paying $400 for a filter and some tubing. So for under $100 I decided to experiment… I bought some pre-bent alu 3” tubing, a nice pod filter, some clamps, a silicone flex joint, and a grommet for the IAT sensor. I fabbed the kit up in a couple hours, and I have to say I’m pretty proud of it. The filter even sat in the bottom of the old filter housing which has a fresh air scoop, but the top of the filter was exposed to the engine bay. This removed the flexible rubber intake hose, so that now the entire intake was either hard plastic or aluminum. And the filter was exposed. I swear to you, it barely made a difference in noise. The best noise it made was what sounded like normal NA induction noise when it was under load. No whistle or anything. One section of the intake I could not modify is a large box between the turbo and the section I replaced which must have some sort of silencer in it. But still, I’d expect more noise than this.
Sadly, experiment over, I removed my science project and put the factory intake back on. Not entirely a waste of time though. One of the factory intake crimp clamps was rubbing against a hose of some kind under the hood
fixed that, and back to reality. To be honest, I have to imagine that the K&N intake sounds the same, and it be upset if I spent that much money for barely any sound change and a warm air intake.
K&N makes a kit for this car. It’s expensive, and I’m not paying $400 for a filter and some tubing. So for under $100 I decided to experiment… I bought some pre-bent alu 3” tubing, a nice pod filter, some clamps, a silicone flex joint, and a grommet for the IAT sensor. I fabbed the kit up in a couple hours, and I have to say I’m pretty proud of it. The filter even sat in the bottom of the old filter housing which has a fresh air scoop, but the top of the filter was exposed to the engine bay. This removed the flexible rubber intake hose, so that now the entire intake was either hard plastic or aluminum. And the filter was exposed. I swear to you, it barely made a difference in noise. The best noise it made was what sounded like normal NA induction noise when it was under load. No whistle or anything. One section of the intake I could not modify is a large box between the turbo and the section I replaced which must have some sort of silencer in it. But still, I’d expect more noise than this.
Sadly, experiment over, I removed my science project and put the factory intake back on. Not entirely a waste of time though. One of the factory intake crimp clamps was rubbing against a hose of some kind under the hood
fixed that, and back to reality. To be honest, I have to imagine that the K&N intake sounds the same, and it be upset if I spent that much money for barely any sound change and a warm air intake.
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