Why buy a cold air intake?
 

I have a 2003 base with 20,000 miles in pretty good condition. Just to clarify, Im happy with the car and am very aware its not a race car I am just looking for a little more noise not power. I put a flea bay muffler which I am happy with. Now I want a higher flowing intake so I can hear the engine growling a bit more however I dont want a sub par filter, freer flowing to me sounds like a less efficient filter nor do i want an oil soaked one. I've had maf issues with a previous car. Every engine performs its best with fresh cool air but dont our cars come with cold air intakes from the factory? The filter is next to the engine however it sucks air from the side scoop outside of the car completely. Why would people spend a few hundred bucks on something their car already has? What else can I do to get some extra intake growl? Just pull the snorkel and call it a day? A little bit of noise is fun and gives the illusion of going fast. Fun engine noise, not obnoxious straight pipe rice noise. What to do what to do...

If I were you, pull the snorkel out and put in a high quality filter. Job done!

de-snorking does make it howl in your left ear with the top down at wide open throttle :)

Dumb question here - once desnorkled can it be resnorkeled?


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Yes, easily reverted.

Is it wrong to want a little more growl just for the sake of growl? I think not, but I hope it doesn't caused tuned 04 Civics to want to race me.


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yes, de-snorkle is the right answer here...

The car comes from the factory with a cold air system.

If you already have an aftermarket exhaust, you wont hear anything by desnorking the intake. I desnorked my 03 base prior to installing the circuit werks exhaust and cat bypass pipes, and, there was a slight difference in noise, now though, with the aforementioned exhaust system, all i hear is exhaust, glorious, angry exhaust :-)

The number of exhaust systems is overwhelming. Especially when they all look the same! Next on the list are the cat bypass mid pipes. Too many good reviews and for the price, it cant be beat!

I read up on how to de snorkel so I took the screw out of the side vent and pulled as hard as I was comfortable. Not even a budge, I'm sure it needs a bit of not so gentle persuasion however I got scared so I put the screw back in and walked away.

A while ago I read some people changed air boxes, throttle bodies, manofolds etc. I dont remember much more it was a while ago. This car is my daily driver so I have to be careful that what ever I take apart I am able to put back together. I was hoping to do something to the intake but I may just end up dropping a new air filter in and calling it a day.

Thank you all for sharing!

I've taken all kinds of grief here over my blasphemous post about CAI but I have a thick skin and since you're only wanting noise here goes. A little over three years ago I desnorked and wasn't impressed so I bought an Evolution Motor Sports CAI and a second filter. The Evo CAI system has a seal that is designed to keep the hot air from the motor from getting to the filter so only outside cold air comes in. The system replaces your entire OEM system including a baffle that mutes the intake noise. It also has a mount on it for your MAF and I bought a second cone so I could swap a clean one, clean the dirty one, re-oil it and let it sit and drain for months between filter changes. Have not had one MAF issue in the three plus years and the intake roar at 3K rpm is a symphony for the ears. Easily one of the best mods I've done on my '99.
Ok, that's my two coppers I'm ready for the broadsides.:dance:

I did that on my 350Z a few years ago and like you say what a symphony that was. Only problem with that was the sound was so nice that you always want to floor it so there goes the gas mileage. It was sucking gas like no tomorrow.

Pretty simple. Buy a hose that runs from the air intake to the interior. Most of the newer cars have such things called sound generator. These sound generators have a kind of diaphragma that seperates the engine air from the interior air, but lets the noise through.

Regards, Markus

Markus, do I sense a bit of sarcasm? I know I have a nice sports car. I know it's not a race car but it is a fun car that I love to drive. I am a blue collar 34 year old with 4 kids, 2 cats, a dog and a house that always seems to have something broken. I am not in a stage of my life where I have the time or money to spend on unnecessary expenses. Alls I want is a reliable car that looks, sounds and drives just the way I want.

Looking at the air intake set up It looks like it has a resonator of some sort, accordion tubes and of course the cone shaped snorkel.

Heres my plan! I just bought a stock intake tube off flea bay for 20 and I am going to make a mold and make a carbon fiber tube. I am going to remove the snorkel but keep the stock intake housing so I can use the original air filter. I have zero knowledge about efficiency, air flow or how well any filter works, I simply feel that the stock filter will clean better than any after market one, oiled or dry. That will hopefully give me a little better sound, maybe a bit of performance and will look pretty cool. Although looks arent really important because its not the kind of car you pop your hood to show your buddies :)

Not sure if anybody has tried this but if it turns out nicely I'll take some pics and post it to share.

I de-snorkeled last week, and it did make a nice difference at WOT. But now I've got the itch for a new exhaust.

Took a page out of Pedro's book and did his "Hi-Flo" mod. Still stock airbox although I did put a K&N filter...Insane intake scream at high RPM

Make a Hi-Flo Intake Porsche Boxster DIY

http://s31.postimg.org/vuomabypn/WP_000121.jpg

That intake pipe looks similar to mine. I did an aluminum pipe and used silicon bends, got an evoms cold air intake, bored out throttle body,and got the techno torque from Pedro. The sound is just phenomenal. I love it. Although I have replaced all the exhaust system (exhaust manifolds, catalytic converters, and muffler all stainless steel) and removed secondary cats, I can still hear the engine sucking in air, whilst the exhaust is singing away. I can't be happier with the sound of my car. I've been in much more expensive and faster cars that dont sound half as good as mine!

A while ago I asked Pat Goss from Motor Week about Air Intakes in Boxsters - here was his response

Hi Benito:

Thanks for watching! Cold air intakes do no harm at all as long as they are high quality with proper baffles to prevent water intrusion. They also don’t add much, if anything, to a stock engine but they usually sound great. I’ve had them on my Vettes and Camaros for years.

I prefer units with replaceable high flow paper filters to oiled filters due to the mess and time involved in cleaning oiled filters.

Sincerely,
Pat Goss

CAI - a different reason to fit one
 

The stock "airbox" is a problem.
A CAI system allows you to remove the huge complicated box.This hack is reversible because if you have to break up the stock plastic box to remove it, you can always get a used one and refit it.(good luck with that !)
The new CAI is easy to remove and allow easy access to the 4,5,6 -Bank 2 side of the engine to work on injectors and the fuel pressure regulator. Frankly the stock airbox is almost impossible to remove without drastic moves.
In theory you can lower the engine (a long way !) and loosen the inlet manifold & other things to do this but it is a very difficult job - see Pelican for details.There is a reason you will find many people just hack it to pieces or worse.
Much easier to just remove an aftermarket CAI to gain easy access.
The problem is most CAI systems fit a filter in the engine bay and then put a marginally effective bit of bent metal around the filter and claim all the intake air is coming in through the stock side vent on the Boxster. They probably produce higher intake temperatures than stock.So how to design an effective,compact CAI ?
A clever(?) alternative is to use the hollow between the inner and outer fender wall as a plenum and filter housing. Then there is just couplings and a flexible hose in the engine bay.Easy access and cold air achieved?
Compared to the very small opening in the stock snorkel, this system has a much enlarged Intake area.The trapezoidal side vent is around 25 to30+ sq.in. The snorkel is maybe 5" !Of course the 30 number is reduced by the ppi of the filter but so is the stock system. W/o the snorkel, the effective diameter is 3" - the same as the stock Intake for the TB - so 9 sq.in. So if the porosity of my filters when new is over than 50 % -they are not restrictive compared to stock and they should not produce any more pressure drop.
The tricks are:
1. careful selection & placement of the new foam filter, porosity and thickness in the side vent.Yes, the filter goes in the side vent tunnel.
2. Make a plate to cover the trapezoid on the inner fender.Fit a 4"MAF adapter+ a 4 to 3" 90 deg elbow.
3. Finding all the hardware inexpensively and w/o using Made in China junk that has 2 month delivery times.
If it works, I'll even wrap it in gold, heat reflective foil - very seasonal!
If you plan on fitting Ben's plenum mod and a larger TB, probably use a 4" Intake in place of the 3" ?
Anyone done this ? I ask because if it was such a good idea and it worked, many would have done it already. It is so obvious that Ben would have made one for sale by now?

Not always. Even with paper filter. A cone filter have a much greater area than a panel filter, thus reducing the pressure drop across the filter.

If you're just looking for noise, desnorkle, it's free and reversible. Nothing beats free stuff!

Because it's not as simple as that ;)
Every car has a system that takes air from outside.

A K&N drop in filter won't change the noise much, a different intake tube either.
If you want more sound, start with the desnorkle, if it's not enough: "cold air" system. And if it still not enough and you have money left, I'll be happy to make you a plenum ahah ;)

Ben