Mod your ACT Sensor And Gain HP?!

It seems like everyone is expecting night and day performance changes which I would not expect from this mod.

The major difference here if after you get heatsoaked the temperatures can come back down much quicker and get your engine back into boost.

I would not expect any change until that first heat soak happens (which heats up the plastic and then it remains hot because the plastic does not cool quickly)

I will be doing this mod, so don't get me wrong, this is an exciting find, but some people's test cases and expectations may need to be changed.

did the mod last night the car is deff more peppy and responsive. very noticeable when going from 2nd gear from a stop.

Hayabusa160 said:

did the mod last night the car is deff more peppy and responsive. very noticeable when going from 2nd gear from a stop.

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i did ot on a 100%oem one yesterday and i didnt tell to my friend what ive done and test drive it after(never tell him what ive done) and he saw the diff

Better yet folks - maybe someone could shoot a how-to VIDEO of this mod?
I have yet to see one good picture of what exactly it is that you are trimming.
I have yet to see one good picture of how you are trimming it.
I have yet to see one good picture of a before and after.
Even the language is misleading...
I'd like to do it but not until I have a better idea of the right way to do it.

JESFromASC said:

Better yet folks - maybe someone could shoot a how-to VIDEO of this mod?
I have yet to see one good picture of what exactly it is that you are trimming.
I have yet to see one good picture of how you are trimming it.
I have yet to see one good picture of a before and after.
Even the language is misleading...
I'd like to do it but not until I have a better idea of the right way to do it.

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It's really hard to photograph since the piece is so small. Jeff in the first post had the best pics.

its pretty straight forward once you take it out and look at it

JESFromASC said:

Better yet folks - maybe someone could shoot a how-to VIDEO of this mod?
I have yet to see one good picture of what exactly it is that you are trimming.
I have yet to see one good picture of how you are trimming it.
I have yet to see one good picture of a before and after.
Even the language is misleading...
I'd like to do it but not until I have a better idea of the right way to do it.

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I will add the picture from one of the other posts I made and tweak the "how to" portion a bit. I tried to be clear with the directions, but feedback as to how to make it clearer from everyone can be super helpful. And truly, I expected people to pop the sensor out and just take a look, as that answers pretty much all the questions. I will updated the first post in a bit!

PERRIN_Jeff said:

I will add the picture from one of the other posts I made and tweak the "how to" portion a bit. I tried to be clear with the directions, but feedback as to how to make it clearer from everyone can be super helpful. And truly, I expected people to pop the sensor out and just take a look, as that answers pretty much all the questions. I will updated the first post in a bit!

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Jeff aren't you worried about the sensor legs braking off by fatigue(moving back and forth) and going inside the engine? Just want to throw that risk in.

FK8_K20c1 said:

Jeff aren't you worried about the sensor legs braking off by fatigue(moving back and forth) and going inside the engine? Just want to throw that risk in.

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Only a little and only time will tell if that happens. I have seen lots of sensors like this and they tend to have "flimsy" wires leading up to the probe. It is a risk everyone should consider, but I feel its relatively low. I am sure I will be the first to discover if it is a problem! If that is the case I will report something ASAP.
As an alternative, the two small leftover shrouds on the sides could be bent in a bit to help it.

"I will add the picture from one of the other posts I made and tweak the "how to" portion a bit. I tried to be clear with the directions, but feedback as to how to make it clearer from everyone can be super helpful. And truly, I expected people to pop the sensor out and just take a look, as that answers pretty much all the questions. I will updated the first post in a bit!"

Thanks!
It was more of a general ask not specific to the OP.
I know macro photography isn't easy.
You were nice enough to start the post!
If this was my 1997 Miata it would be done already --- my 2018 Type R --- well... I lean a little more on the side of caution.

Mark11 said:

that shield is there for a reason,

honda doesn't just install it for no reason,

its there to prevent dust and debris from clogging the sensor,

removing it is idiotic,

your not smarter then the people who designed the car,

while your at it, why not just remove your air filter??

it will give your intake better air flow, honda doesn't know what they are doing, its not there for any reason

they just put it there to clog your intake and rob you of additional HP

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I think a lot of people have the thought "It is there for a reason, don't mess with it". That is said about so many things in the aftermarket world.

In the case of this, the air temp sensor is still shrouded, and I would say shrouded more than most ACT and TMAP sensors. The shrouding is there mostly to protect the sensors from getting damaged during installation and removal, more so than debris. It isn't for reducing the clogging of it, as I would actually say the tightness of the shrouding makes it worse being so close to things (even the hole leading up the pressure sensing portion). Also most OEM sensors like this are far more open than this one on the Honda (see the pics I posted of the Ford ones, or google some pics of them).

Not saying you are wrong about your thinking and that it shouldn't be done. But the reason for the shrouding being there for clogging is not accurate.

And I want to say this just to be clear. This isn't a mod for everyone and it is something that has risks. I was willing to take the risk for people to see how this could positively affect performance or not. Time will tell if this is a good mod for the general customer, or if it should be done purely to gather more accurate data for tuners.

Part of me feels like Honda already adjusted the tuning for this design "flaw". Part of me also feels like it's possible that this was done intentionally to limit the boost of the motor artificially for engine life (the inaccurate readings would be higher when the motor is heat soaked and "shortly" after for example). Granted this wouldn't be a good way to get it done (and may not be the only/primary way either). Keep in mind that this mod would be no different than spoofing the reading from the sensor to read something more accurate to the actual temperature we feel it should be reading (similar to what a piggyback system might do for a reading, but to far lesser degree and only to 1 reading). The difference being that while the other would be digital manipulation, this one would be a physical manipulation (and it is a manipulation even if the reading itself becomes more accurate since it is different than what the OEM is expecting/tuning towards).

tinyman392 said:

Part of me feels like Honda already adjusted the tuning for this design "flaw". Part of me also feels like it's possible that this was done intentionally to limit the boost of the motor artificially for engine life (the inaccurate readings would be higher when the motor is heat soaked and "shortly" after for example). Granted this wouldn't be a good way to get it done (and may not be the only/primary way either). Keep in mind that this mod would be no different than spoofing the reading from the sensor to read something more accurate to the actual temperature we feel it should be reading (similar to what a piggyback system might do for a reading, but to far lesser degree and only to 1 reading). The difference being that while the other would be digital manipulation, this one would be a physical manipulation (and it is a manipulation even if the reading itself becomes more accurate since it is different than what the OEM is expecting/tuning towards).

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Modifying the sensor will not give you more boost. The readings are not inaccurate and is not nearly the same thing as spoofing the sensor. This mod tells the ecu the exact temp of the air going in. Give the op post another read. I think you got confused.

Yes, for sure we are not spoofing the ECU into thinking it reads cooler, but rather providing more accurate data to the ECU.
The whole "spoofing the ECU" is a huge pet peeve of mine. I am referring to things like piggyback ECU's, MAF sensor spacers, Boost Cut defenders/limiters...
I would never try to push those kinds of products on people anymore!

FK8_K20c1 said:

Modifying the sensor will not give you more boost. The readings are not inaccurate and is not nearly the same thing as spoofing the sensor. This mod tells the ecu the exact temp of the air going in. Give the op post another read. I think you got confused.

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The pre-mod sensor would be the one that is has the false readings. It’s reading the temperature from the plastic casing rather then the actual air temperature going in the manifold.