Why buy a cold air intake?

[boxster]

Originally Posted by Top_Ramen

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

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!

[Benitom]

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

[Gelbster]

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?