Cruze 1.6T Air Intake – Torque Up Technical Services

Not happy with the non-existent turbo noise/spool sound, I did some investigating of the factory air intake today and took some pictures along the way.

Unfortunately to do anything with the factory system, it requires removing the front bar which is about a 5-10 minute job. Once that’s done it’s a pretty simple process of removing a single 10mm bolt that holds the snorkel from the front of the car to the lower air box muffler.

The factory air box in the engine bay simply lifts out once the MAF plug and intake pipe are removed, providing access to the lower air box muffler.

cruze-bumper-removal — Factory Air intake setup

cruze-airbox-guard — Guard with rubber coupler in place

cruze-airbox-removed — Guard with coupler removed

Cruze-top-airbox — Factory MAF sensor in the top of the airbox

cruze-lower-airbox-restriction2 — Lower airbox muffler bottom

cruze-lower-airbox-restriction — Lower airbox muffler top

cruze-lower-airbox — Lower air box muffler removed

I was surprised by what can only be seen as a somewhat over the top and restrictive intake system for such a small car. Not even the latest & greatest VF V8’s go this far!

So far for testing I have just removed the lower portion of the air box which I am calling a “muffler” box. While still retaining the front air dam director in place.

While there are aftermarket solutions available for the 1.4T to replace the factory kit, there are currently none being marketed to suit the 1.6T & All though the same kits may fit, I will let someone else take the chance. Personally for the price I believe I can have one made up to suit locally and that will be my next step.

For now, I’ve at least checked to see if it will be possible for what I have in mind for Phase 2 and once that’s done, maybe Phase 3 will be a new front mount intercooler and pipe work? Who knows.