 Today we're discussing hydrocarbon traps. It's a hot button topic, but it is important for you to understand. So this video is a breakdown of what a hydrocarbon trap is and how they work. Plus, we'll give you some information about what Cobb is doing in response to this relatively new element from managing engine emissions. So what is a hydrocarbon trap? For starters, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound found in petroleum and gasoline, among other things. But for this specific case, it's more of a general reference to some of the emissions found in an internal combustion engine. And you might notice that I refer to the subject of this video as traps, not filters. Traps work like a filter, but unlike the filter in your fuel system or your air intake, a hydrocarbon trap captures undesirable materials as they attempt to leave the engine not enter it. A hydrocarbon trap does its work after you drive the car, not while it's running. When you stop driving and turn off the car, there are leftover emissions that exist within the engine that don't just magically disappear. Those gases want to go somewhere, and they will follow the path of least resistance to escape the car, which is usually backwards out of the air intake system, which is why you will find hydrocarbon traps on modern cars in the air intake to trap that residual amount of harmful emissions from escaping to the atmosphere. That's really all a hydrocarbon trap is. It's very simple. So why should you care? Most current and future generations of the cars you like to modify and tune will have them, and they are federally regulated in the U.S., which means you can't remove them, and companies like Cobb have to keep them in mind in order to produce aftermarket parts that directly affect them. In some cases, a hydrocarbon trap can cause a restriction in airflow through the intake. That's a bummer, but that's where we come in. We've already spent a lot of time testing various OEM hydrocarbon trap designs as well as different options for modifying parts around the trap to offer you the best options for maximizing airflow to the engine within the bounds of what emissions components need to do in order to protect both the environment and your ability to continue tuning your car. There are currently three types of hydrocarbon traps. Flow through, flow by, and wrap. Flow through looks and functions like a reverse air filter and is usually located right next to the air filter. The gases leaving the engine have to flow directly through the trap material to exit the car. The flow by design is typically attached to the inner upper surface of an air intake box so it can absorb hydrocarbons as the gases rise up and flow by it. And a wrap style is applied to the inner wall of the intake tubing. So it functions similarly to a flow by, except it surrounds the gases as they flow out towards the air box within the tube. The pros and cons of each type are pretty obvious at face value regarding the combo of emissions efficiency and airflow and performance. But applying those in an aftermarket application is not simple. Cobb has to optimize both results in order to produce high quality intake systems and there is a ton of R&D that goes into that process. We work in our shop, on the dyno, in modeling software and with our flow bench equipment to focus on the performance side but that's only half the battle. We also work hand in hand with SEMA garage to perform necessary simulations and special testing known as shed testing to ensure that you actually get to put your hands on the final product that we design. Shed stands for Sealed Housing Evaporative Determination. In this context, the short definition of what that means is that the car is enclosed in a controlled chamber to correctly simulate temperatures and conditions to accurately measure the effectiveness of a hydrocarbon trap based on real world conditions. That testing isn't something we can do in-house. It requires specific, expensive equipment and takes significant time via a third party which trickles down to additional time and cost for our efforts to produce a finished product but we're committed to the long term benefits. The tuning world has been constantly evolving since its inception and Cobb is at the forefront of that evolution now more than ever. When it comes to engineering top quality products with a carb EO number for legal use in all 50 states, Cobb isn't just leaps and bounds ahead of the industry, we are setting the standard for everyone else to follow. This is just another step in that process and we want to make sure everyone understands how it works so stay tuned for announcements as we release updates and new products for intake systems on your favorite car.