This intake bought from (Hiprospeed) on eBay was $75.00 bucks with shipping. I had to modify about 3 things on it. After cutting and dealing with the madness I got it to work. This is a prime example of you get what you paid for. I could not see myself buying the K&N intake if they cannot make it CARB exempt so I can smog the car with the intake on. (I live in California) In the end the intake works way better than stock of course! At WOT you can really hear it. At cruising speed it is not that loud. If you want a better solution buy the K&N or Fujita intake. If the K&N or any other manufacture comes out with a CARB exempt intake I would rather get that intake instead. Just set it and forget it.

 

No CEL to the day intake works great for the money.

 

Still running strong. I still got the intake on my 5.

 

It works way better than stock? Based upon what metrics? Noise?

 

Sorry let me clarify my statement I made approximately three years ago. Your assumption that I use noise as metric is incorrect. Noise is a disadvantage of any aftermarket intake. You are correct there and agree with you 100% percent. I decided to install this intake because after market intakes increased horsepower and torque and also improve throttle response and fuel economy in most cases. Yes there are also disadvantages like noise, hydrolock, and some could void a car’s warranty. The metrics used are based on companies that have done research and have proven results. Which companies?? Well that’s your homework. In the end I can deal with the noise. It’s not that big of a deal for me.

 

Oops! Looks like I responded to your CAI comment too soon.

I maintain (and scientific testing backs me up) that:

1. CAIs as a general rule only improve horsepower a tiny little bit, and only at or near redline while at or near wide open throttle. The flip side is that they generally reduce usable mid-range torque by a similar amount.
2. CAIs are almost universally incapable of improving throttle response at anything much below redline.
3. CAIs can never-ever-never improve fuel economy in a modern fuel-injected automobile engine.

The above is a very short summary; if you want more fat to chew on, look here: https://www.mazdaforum.com/forum/general-tech-6/cais-fuel-economy%3B-whats-real-truth-20812/

 

CAIs as a general rule only improve horsepower a tiny little bit, and only at or near redline while at or near wide open throttle. << ahh so it does help some. This is all that I need. This article just talks about the CAI only. Since your empirical evidence suggest that CAI has little or no advantages other than being louder than the stock airbox, what if other "performance enhancers" are added? Could the combination of an intake (short ram or CAI), aftermarket camshafts, head work, exhaust and/or ECU swap/flash/tune/piggyback/chip improve horsepower? Improve meaning add and/or restore well you get the idea. I did state that CAI improves fuel economy but now I am not concerned with that. I don't really care about noise or better gas mileage.

http://www.ricksfreeautorepairadvice...%80%99s-pocket

 

And you don't care about what is a likely to be a more significant loss in mid-range torque?

 

Nope I just want the most power output I can get.

 

You do understand that the only time you'll see that extra power (assuming your CAI is even capable of providing a few more; not all CAIs are even capable of that) is at Wide Open Throttle when operating at or near redline; don't you? At pretty much any other power setting you're not going to see any improvement, and often not even as much power as the factory intake.

I guess you drive around all day long in the upper RPM ranges.