Yea, sorry but thats looks cheap and just as restrictive as an airbox, in fact, i think the airbox would give better air flow. thats the whole point of an intake. bigger tube=engine breathes better, engine breathes better=more air flow, more air flow=more hp

 

Hmm. The location of the MAF clocking in the intake shouldn't cause a problem. The sensor of the MAF extends into the middle of the intake tube, so the rotation should keep it in relatively the same internal position. Take the RAW intake for example. Some had the MAF on the top of the tube, some were on the bottom, some were on the side. I believe the stock MAF is on the bottom (But I don't 100% remember as I haven't had a stock airbox in years). Mine is on the top and it works great. Intakes vary wildly on the size of the tube and the location of the MAF in length from the throttle body. The tube diameter is the hugest problem with intakes. A bigger or smaller tube with change how fast the air flows past the MAF and also change the turbulence characteristics of the air. The MAF is scaled (calibrated) for certain readings for the exact stock location. Any changes to that will throw off your airflow until the PCM learns the new fuel trims. Even then the computer can only do so much. A tune can work around all of this. Good quality intakes are designed to provide similar to stock MAF readings so they normally work OK without a tune.

Also oiled filters only cause a problem when if they are over oiled. I ran a Spectre filter airbox mod on my car for 25,000 miles. I have since ran a K&N attached to a RAW 3" intake. In the middle there I ran an AEM Dryflow on it and hated it. The Dryflow acts like a sponge if it gets wet, oiled filters tend to repel water a little better. A hydroshield is a decent idea with either.

Now judging from the picture of that 'jdm' nonsense, it appears that the MAF is closer to the throttle body and too close to the filter. That will definitely screw with the readings. Is it even made for the SS/SC, or is it a 2.2 or 2.4 intake? If you want to try to install it again I suggest unplugging your battery during the install and then plugging it back in. This will allow the PCM to forget the fuel trims and it has a better chance of relearning them 'better' with the new intake. The car may run poorly for a little while, but it will probably smooth out.

My $.02

 

I disagree. AEM has been the best intake I've had on the car. Just because it isnt flashy under the hood like K&N or Injen doesnt mean it performs just as well. I ditched the shitty dryflow filter and installed a K&N filter on mine, and love it.

 

meh i dont know man i felt night and day diffrence between the aem and injen

 

I went from the air box mod w/ K&N drop in to AEM w/ Dryflow filter, and felt a nice difference.

I went from the AEM to the Rebel, and felt very little difference. Maybe some more low end.

Went back to the AEM + K&N filter, and my car runs great. I do believe the Rebel intake ***** with the fuel trims slightly, and that may be the reason my car runs better with the AEM.

All intakes for the LSJ net you anywhere from 7-10whp on average. So I find it hard to believe you felt a night and day difference. By the way I'm not knocking the Injen intake. It's a good intake, but so is the AEM. It's just not as flashy. I do feel the dryflow filter is shitty and that anyone with an AEM should switch over to a properly sized K&N filter.

To the OP the E-bay intake is junk, and the filter is placed too close to the MAF sensor. You need some distance from the MAF sensor & filter to give the air flow some time to straighten out, or the MAF sensor will be reading turbulent air which throws the readings off.

 

For those that care; those 'cheap' ebay / jdm intakes are pretty much identical to the injen's. I had one, it worked great... but you need to mod it to prevent it from throwing codes.

To mod it; you will notice the MAF area is larger then the rest of the pipe, with a neck-down on each side. On the filter side of the MAF housing, cut off the neck down. This will prevent the airflow readings from being skewed, and allow it to run properly.

 

What this guy said