Intake Upgrades

Intake Upgrade

NOTE: The AEM Intake was sold and will not come with the car. (9/23/2009)
I bought an AEM CAI (Cold Air Intake) from Dreamspeed, a company started by Clifford Simpson or "cdogcs" from the old 3G forums.
The installation instructions that came with the CAI were very detailed and easy to follow. The whole install took less than 45 minutes.

Looking at the stock intake plumbing, it is easy to see how the AEM CAI allows more air to flow.

First, I took out all the stock plastic intake pieces being careful with the MAS sensor. The MAS is the black box with the wire attachment just behind the large box holding the stock air filter. You do NOT want to bend or otherwise damage the honeycomb web inside the MAS. I unplugged it and it came out with the rest of the plastic piping.

After all the stock piping was removed, installing the AEM piping was simple. Just be careful when attaching the MAS to the metal bracket that allows you to mount your lower tubing and/or filter. When I installed the AEM CAI, I left out the lower pipe that brings the filter down to just in front of the driver's side wheel.

This is known as a WAI or "Warm Air Intake." Not generally thought of as better than a CAI, I found the car to be more responsive without the lower piping. The main advantage to leaving the lower piping out was that the filter is left higher and less likely to suck in water from a deep puddle. I feel a whole lot better about the install when I don't have to worry about hydro-lock.

After the WAI install, I found that in addition to the gain in responsiveness I had also picked up a 1-1.5 mpg increase in fuel economy. A nice bonus that I was hoping for, but it took a while for me to get my foot out of it and see this gain.

Update: I run the system in CAI configuration during the Summer. The system is a bit quieter, and in theory it produces more power with the filter down low picking up cooler air. In practice, it's being quieter is the only advantage. To keep the grime out of the filter or avoid situations with deep water, I still change to WAI on occasion.

Update: After almost 4 years of use, the rubber AEM elbow has started to crack and dry rot. So I replaced it with an OBX reinforced elbow. It's a good bit better than the AEM and was only $22.00 off eBay.

Install was easy and this elbow should last a lot longer.

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K r o n d o r

Copyright (c) 2005 Krondor's World. All rights reserved.
All other trademarks shown are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
Revised: Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

Intake Upgrade


	NOTE: The AEM Intake was sold and will not come with the car. (9/23/2009) I bought an AEM CAI (Cold Air Intake) from Dreamspeed, a company started by Clifford Simpson or "cdogcs" from the old 3G forums. The installation instructions that came with the CAI were very detailed and easy to follow. The whole install took less than 45 minutes.

	Looking at the stock intake plumbing, it is easy to see how the AEM CAI allows more air to flow.

	First, I took out all the stock plastic intake pieces being careful with the MAS sensor. The MAS is the black box with the wire attachment just behind the large box holding the stock air filter. You do NOT* want to bend or otherwise damage the honeycomb web inside the MAS.* I unplugged it and it came out with the rest of the plastic piping.

	After all the stock piping was removed, installing the AEM piping was simple. Just be careful when attaching the MAS to the metal bracket that allows you to mount your lower tubing and/or filter. When I installed the AEM CAI, I left out the lower pipe that brings the filter down to just in front of the driver's side wheel.

	This is known as a WAI or "Warm Air Intake." Not generally thought of as better than a CAI, I found the car to be more responsive without the lower piping. The main advantage to leaving the lower piping out was that the filter is left higher and less likely to suck in water from a deep puddle. I feel a whole lot better about the install when I don't have to worry about hydro-lock.

	After the WAI install, I found that in addition to the gain in responsiveness I had also picked up a 1-1.5 mpg increase in fuel economy. A nice bonus that I was hoping for, but it took a while for me to get my foot out of it and see this gain.

	Update: I run the system in CAI configuration during the Summer. The system is a bit quieter, and in theory it produces more power with the filter down low picking up cooler air. In practice, it's being quieter is the only advantage. To keep the grime out of the filter or avoid situations with deep water, I still change to WAI on occasion.

	Update: After almost 4 years of use, the rubber AEM elbow has started to crack and dry rot. So I replaced it with an OBX reinforced elbow. It's a good bit better than the AEM and was only $22.00 off eBay.

	Install was easy and this elbow should last a lot longer.




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K r o n d o r Copyright (c) 2005 Krondor's World. All rights reserved. All other trademarks shown are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Revised: Wednesday, September 23, 2009.