put a coffee filter over the throttle body with some tape

 

I'm trying not to be sarcastic here, but I can't help myself. You can think whatever you want, but before and after dyno results don't lie. By all means if you want to be one of the few on this forum to run your factory airbox, more power to you. At least that way when you go FI you won't have to pout about the money you wasted on a CAI (s/c's usually come with their own version of a CAI)...but the CAI/tuner combo is the undisputed BEST FIRST MOD for these cars for a reason, and not because all the manufacturers sent pretty girls to our houses to tickle our buying bones with some nookie...

 

they girls came but they had cookies. they con'd me into buying those too

 

well The main problem with the stocker is the ribbed inlet tubing.

Its not even "rifled", so it really slows the incoming charge of air

 

OK , CAI and tune . What is the best in your opinion ? The $300 dollar level or the ones at $500 or more ? And What level of shift firmness can you achieve at all levels on the automaticjust not at WOT?

 

that was funny! The only I did was pull out that stupid rubber thing that sit betweeen the box and the fender. Made no notice able differnece but I figured what the hell

 

rpmoutlet has a kit for 599.99 that includes a CAI ( c&l racer i think, underdrive pulleies plus a tuner, but you will still need to get a custom tune)from everything I have been reading on this forum for the last month or so is that I custom tune is the best way to go. jdm, brenspeed both have good tunes but every car is a little different and if you want to get the most for your money a custome tune from someone that knows what they are doing is the way to go. A custom tune should not set you back more than 90 per hour on a dyno.

 

RPM OUTLETS GOOD OR BAD?????

 

I live in the sticks. We just got indoor plumbing last week. Finding a dyno not so easy . This will have to be something I can do for myself .

 

Never said it wasn't.

But he asked about STOCK air box mods. I'm saying that I doubt any mod he makes to the stock box will increase HP because it's not really that restrictive. Will a tunethatoptimizes the AF Ratio at WOT increase HP even with the stock box? Well DUH, yea.

Even C&L admitswith their 87 octane "no-tune" insert (which is smaller than the stock MAF 80mm tube) can get all but the same HP as their 83mm CAI (with 87 octane tune) because they designed the insert to try to optimize the AF ratio at WOT.

I do agree with 22kart22 that the ribbed tube is probably not helping becauseit may causeturbulence, slowing down air velocity (restriction)before theTB. I've also seen datalogs that also show a good shielded CAI seems to significantly lower intake tempsoverthe stock setup because the stock intake seems to really heat soak and still draws very warm air with it's snorkellocation..

So will an intake that has cooler denserair, less turbulence, and a design/tune to optimize AF, produce more HP than the Stock setup. Well, hell yes. Will cutting a a bigger hole in the stock air box get a measurable improvement? Very,very doubtful.

Since that is the question he asked, that was what I tried to answer.