Old pic but it serves the purpose. It's not pretty either. I am in the process of making it more pretty.

This is what I have to work with now, as you can see the heat will still 'soak' the K&N. Perhaps not as much, but it's still occurring.


However, I also have this...

 

You have to remember that when you are moving, fresh, cold air is being forced over the intake. Soak only happens at idle or when the car is off.

 

THat is the dirtiest engine bay I have ever seen on a car.
I feel a huge lack of throttle response with the lid off. Might be because I am 5000ft above sea level

 

Yeah with the lid off, I noticed a big of lag in the throttle response especially off a dead start.

 

Was right after an offroad trip... *shrug

 

Will it hurt anything? No. Will it be slower? Yes. Will you notice or care? Up to you.