wow that was a PITA to take out...
to people doing this mod in the future, i would reccomend:
-taking the clip out with side cutters, reaching in through the wheel well
-loosen the bumper a little so it is easier to take the tubing out
-cutting isnt the solution! just take your time and you can get it out in one piece

 

ok so it has been a couple days driving the car now with this mod, here is my opinion on it:
1. There is a definite sound difference, deeper and meaner sounding
2. First gear is about the same all around
3. 2nd to 4th gear i feel a LOT more response to the throttle and more pull
4. 5th gear seems about the same
5. My coolant temp has gone down by about 2 to 4 degrees with normal driving. I have experienced more decreases on the freeway.

so overall i would highly recommend it and i love it!

 

thats funny because my dash hawk recorded that my intake temp actually increased about 3 degrees on average... not like thats a killer or anything.... i believe the reason for that is because the whole ur sucking from is right next to the radiator ......

 

I gave it a try and it is a bit louder under load. Didn't really notice much other difference, postiive or negative. I've got an LS 5speed with no options. I'll leave it off for now, though.

I also took off the engine cover, and was tempted to pull off the wheel covers and just stick with the blackies, lower the unsprung weight a little (for all the difference it will really make) and I think they're probably better looking than the covers, at least with my colour.

Note, I found it made things easier to pull the bolts holding the wheel-well cover on and the plastic running underneath the front fascia. I didn't actually pull the parts off, I found it just made the space a bit more flexible.

 

I feel stupid. but I tried yesterday, bu could only fin the top to bolts on the headlight... it would not move. how do I get the bottom bolts? Is there a way to loosen the bumper or something?

 

Ok so I did this on friday and drove back and forth to NY with it. Love the sound. feels like a tad more giddy-up. But what a pain in the ass to get that silencer out. I attacked it from above, but then loosened the screws in the wheel well just so that the well had a little more flex to it. It took some creative twists in turns (luckily I am a tetris master) but it came out. Fun part of the weekend was a civic creeping up on me on the highway, I watched him look over and then he revved up real quick to get my attention. I hit the pedal to drop gear (automatic) and the intake roared and he dropped back.

There are only two bolts for the headlights. check out one of the painting headlights how to's (preferrably kennedy's) it will help you with how to get it out. It can be tricky. then once you have removed the headlight, you will see the black bracket that the headlights sit on. After trying this from above, I am thinking that going thru the wheel well might be easier and you will be able to see the bolts easier as well.

 

ok i did some more data logging nd my intake temp is actualy higher then b4... it runs on average 5 degrees warmers.. im not sure if that is something that really would make a difference but i figured id let u guys know

 

I finally got the thing out... not easy, but once you figure it out.... Sounds great!

 

well my car is running all around hotter because its sucking hot air off the radiator.... sitting at stop lights i spike to 221 normally witch is abnormal... ... ive been using my dashhawk to turn on the fans on the radiator to compensate... has anybody else noticed that there car is running hot maybe its just because its 80-90 degrees out..

 

No, in fact i found my car is running a few degrees cooler. I have cutouts for my foglights so I am getting more air directly through those. Since you don't have fogs you are probably only getting air from the front grilln passing by the radiator

 

exactly... i guess that may change when i get my ss/na front end installed

 

Well I drove my car to PA this weekend from NY and it definetly has more giddy up than before and it sounds great! I buried the needle at 120 and it was alot quicker to do so. My temps seems the same. Gas mileage for me increased a tad and it showed on the Economy meter. getting 33.5 on the highway.. not bad sounds great!! yea it is a pain to get out!

 

This sounds really good. PITA to get it out but wow, I just love it.

Does this produce the same sound as a CAI?

 

For the most part, Yea it does.

 

the cia tends to be louder its a more crisp sound because of the metal intake tube...

 

heh...it never fails, man. Every car specific forum I've ever been on(which is a lot), there's a whole host of people who swear up and down that hacking up the factory airbox/intake makes their car faster on the ass dyno.

Then the real numbers come out and it makes zero difference, or in some cases actually hurts.

Guess some things never change.

 

agreed.... i didnt notice difference at all.... the onlything i notice was noise.. my car actualy feels slower... lol

 

Your car probably feels slower because it's louder and not noticably faster. It happens... It's what I thought when I put absurdly loud exhaust on my old camaro but when I went to the track and almost ran .5sec better I felt better.

 

great to have you to the site too man! thanks for being so positive in your first post

 

So, beside the sound, is is better, even or worse to do this mod?

 

if you read through one guy used his dash hawk and showed o2 flowing more freely and some lower temps... i dont know if anyone has realyl dyno tested or track tested or anything of the sort

 

im the guy who used his dash hawk nd tested....

it increases ur flow not as much as an actual intake would do.... not to mention its more of a hot air intake because it is sucking off ur radiator.... but if ur on the interstate or not driving to aggressively where u don't get as much air flow then u will see some possitive gains... i would not recommend this if ur do auto cross... " go buy a real intake..." u will run hotter then normal...

but if u do a lot of everyday driving/ random street incounters its a good way to save money on an intake.... or hold u over till u can buy one...

my 2 cents...

 

This is by no means the one thing holding the car back, and removing this little part isn't going to make any huge difference in power. that doesn't mean its not worth doing. look at how close the end of it sits to the bumper, there is a tiny little gap there, thats restrictive in its self. the baffles, they don't help any flow, but they don't hurt much either. This is by no means a performance mod.

It is worth doing though. It was the first thing I did to my car, i saw an increase of 2 mpg (actually measured at the pump, same fuel, still going back and forth to work, just the same) that could be due to the decreased restriction, OR from allowing more warm air into the intake. i don't know the reason why it worked, but it did.

the sound is a nice little plus too, not much louder by any means. barely noticeable on the highway in fact, but its a much better sound.

its still no replacement for a good intake.

 

agreed...

 

hahaha, we don't care about crap like that at all. it won't void the warranty unless you get water in through it or something and hydrolock the engine.