whitetiger777

I keep seeing these intakes that look like snorkles that hook up the the stoack air box. My question is...do these things realy do any thing??? Looking at them i wouldn't think so, but, hey I could be wrong. These things also see to be over priced in my opinion, ranging from $110 to $300. I'm thinking about getting either a comptech, or K&N FPIK due to the fack that I live in Oregon and have to worrie about water for about half the year. Or should I give these snorkles a second look?

Shadow_S2K

The snorkle that attaches to the stock box helps draw in air from the front of the air (which is cooler then the air inside the engine bay). The snorkle also serves as a "ram air" effect...so yes it does in theory do something. And most likely better then the stock air box...which just draws hotter air...without the ram air effect.

whitetiger777

So which would be a better set up? The Comptech, or the snorkle with a gutted air box? Or sould I even gut the air box in this instant?

Shadow_S2K

If you choose the snorkle yes, gutting the air box needs to be done to maximize the air flow etc. The Comptech is a nice unit, and would most likely show better gains then the stock air box with snorkle. Its much easier to install the snorkle, then installing the Comptech unit.

To answer your question, the Comptech is the better unit, and it also looks nice too. I think it will show more gains, mainly because it has an exposed filter which can draw in more air. The stock unit can only draw in air that is ramed into the stock air box. But the snorkle set up is a nice easy way to improve upon the stock air box.

zbrewha863

I do not happen to agree with that comment; you can not outright say that one is better than the other. If you do a search there are many threads here espousing the benefits of the snorkle; basically what they say is that since the car revs so high the added air at speed does a fantastic job of working with the engine to maximize power in "real world" driving scenarios, while intakes like the Comptech and K&N show better gains on a dyno (since there is no ram-air effect on a dyno).

Look at the fact that all of the fastest track S2000s in the world run some sort of snorkle intake, FI, or ITB setup and I would say that the snorkle is a superior intake to the dyno-queen setup made by K&N and such.

And they look trick, too

Shadow_S2K

So you are saying that if you gain more on a dyno with minimal air flow like K&N and Comptech intakes...while the snorkle intakes actually lose or have no gains on the dyno that in a REAL world driving condition the snorkle would actually gain more then a open filter intake? I would think the intakes like AEM would either remain the same gains or possible gain more. And yes the snorkles will gain more at speeds...but under real world driving conditions i don't think it would GAIN that much. Thats just my opion. On real race cars you see more snorkles because there are more restrictions as to what modifications are allowed, or what class the cars can race in.

whitetiger777

I understand that snorkle systems like those put out by J's or Mugen are the prefered intakes for the S2K. But they also incorperate a difforent kind of filter and replace the air box. I just have a prblem spending $900 for a USED intake. For the price why not just make the jump to forced air induction? So I'm looking at the lower end intakes. So the question is not wheather snorkle intakes are better, of cource they are, the question is, is the little snorkel attatchment that you can hook up to the stock air box a good option, or should I stick with my idea of getting a comptech? What if I get a snorkel intake that hooks up to my stock air box, gut the air box and get a aftermarket filter? would this set up be better than the comptech, or does this real even creat an air ram? With an air box that big, I don't see how. To me it would seem that any air ram would be lost due to the volume of the stock air box. (P1*V1=P2*V2) That is why J's intake does not use the stock air box, but creates it's oun direct tube to the throttle body. Just knid of thinking out loud here. Any thoughts?

zbrewha863

There is no real need to buy one over the other based on performance, since any intake is going to net next-to-nothing on the S2000. It's a good starting point for modding your car, but in the end you're right, FI is really the only affordable way to make a lot of power on an S2000.

I wouldn't sweat it too much, just go with what you personally like (in terms of style, price, etc.) and you will be happy -- buying a $1000 intake because some guy on the internet told you to is a retarded idea and I am in no way advocating you tripling your budget to go for a J's intake, there's not a lot of difference.

In the end I ended up buying the Spoon snorkle/filter combo (which runs about $700 alltogether) because it looks sick on a Spa S2000 and I didn't want to run the risk of hydrolocking with a CAI like AEM (since I live in FL where it rains half the year). I have heard that the K&N that sits inside the engine bay does absolutely nothing, but since I've never owned one I would not make that judgement for you.

As for Shadow S2k, I can make no sense of your rambling argument and I will not attempt to answer it in full, but basically there is no way you are going to lose horsepower with a snorkle intake, and there is no race body that says "You can only replace the stock box with a snorkle setup" -- the cars run them because they work -- they work with the engine to create power the way the engine was designed to make power while reducing the risk of heat soak.

I'm sticking with what I said in the first place, you can not outright say that either one is better than the other for everybody's needs, I know there are thousands of people out there running AEM, Injen, K&N, and Comptech intakes very proudly and I don't really care because it doesn't matter that much. Good luck with your purchase whitetiger777, let us know how it turns out for you.

timrocks311

do you have to worry about hydrolock with a snorkel type intake?

zbrewha863

The answer that I've gotten from a few people on the board is that you do not, because the filter is not sucking enough air fast enough that it would actually suck the water into the manifold. Plus on the stock air box there are devices set up so that water can not pass through the air box (removing these panels is called "gutting" the air box), so as long as you don't gut the box you would not hydrolock your car, period.

But even if you did, it would probably not suck the water far enough to suck it through the filter -- this is the key, since with cold-air intakes the filter is much closer to where water would be, it would be much easier for water to be sucked into the intake.