Wow! Weapon R is still getting away with selling filters with bent tubes and a metal bracket. The brutally honest answer to the original question is this, go for the AEM a few posts up after receiving a full refund. That intake is a poser part. If you keep I just hope it looks good. peace.

 

Here's a neat test you can perform to tell if the intake you got will be any good. Figure out what area the air for the intake will come from. Wire a thermometer in that location. Drive your car about five to ten miles, and check the thermometer. If it shows a temperature higher than ambient air (or goes up beyond 130 and breaks as mine did on a similar test) you will actually lose pre-VTEC power with this unit. Yes, the VTEC cut-in may seem more dramatic, but only because your pre-VTEC power has been reduced.

Intake mods CAN be a cheap way to get a little better performance out of our cars, but only if he air intake source area is no hotter than ambient air. This is the defect with the stock air intake, as the air available to it IS hotter. But what scares me is that some are selling intakes where the air is obtained from areas even hotter than the stock intake area. To install one of these, we are going BACKWARDS, performance wise. Now some of these may have a sound you like better than stock, and if that is your goal, that's OK.And a very cheap way to get this (while losing power) is just to remove the top of your stock air box. But if you want more performance, you MUST find an aftermarket intake system that has cooler air -- not hotter.

The fact that our stock intake is located right above the radiator with no clear air path to outside air has (IMO) crippled the performance of our cars. But because the after market suppliers know this, a lot of "snake oil" has come on the market that not only does not cure the problem but makes it worse. Use a thermometer, and make sure you are not going to become a victim of "snake oil.)

Thanks,
Richard

 

No offense, but of all the intakes available for the S2000, why that one?

 

weapon r? correct me if im wrong, but i thought that was a "rice" brand stuff like APC.

 

xviper - good call, point taken!

 

To chime in here again, some buy aftermarket intakes for the sound, or the looks. If so, I have no comment, as I buy them for performance, and think the s2k is loud enough as it is. I don't care about showing folks my engine bay --- I care about showing them my tail lights!

To do that, you've got to have a unit that draws air from a cool source, for starters. Then, we must consider the square inch cross section of the draw(s). For example, my s2k stock intake has a 7 sq. in. cross section draw area. My Mercedes Benz C 320 (not even a sports car) has a total of 24 sq. in. of cross section intake draw. From horns mounted behind the grill in front of the radiator (for nice, cool air). Wouldn't think about modding that!

I do knot know it all, for sure! but using thermometers (as stated above) I have found only two places on the s2k to get air that is about ambient temperature. One is in front of the radiator and behind the grill. The other is in the Pax side fender well. I have ben unable to find any other place (without cutting my s2k apart and putting it back together in a different way) to obtain a cool air intake source.

Thanks,
Richard

 

ive seen someone on this forum with a dragon intake with the special heat shield. they then proceeded to use the stock rubber intake arm and basically connect it to the port on the left side on the body. cold air?

 

Yes, there is a hole in the pax side of the inside of the fender well that is one one of the cool air sources on this car, without extensive modifications. But a "bare" filter element placed there would not only have to be heat shielded, but also somehow sealed from drawing in hot engine air to be a true CAI. Cool air can be drawn from this hole, even though the fake vent in the pax side bumper is not cut out. If sealed, this would be an effective CAI.

There is an additional problem here however. That hole is only about 7 or 8 sq. in cross section. For comparison, my Mercedes Benz C320 (not even a sports car) has 24 sq. in. of cross sectional air intake from two horns beside and in front of the radiator behind the grill. A filter element (even if shielded and sealed) that could passively draw air from only this 7 to 8 sq. in. cross section opening would still (IMO) be depriving the system of needed air. For best results, that fender well hole could be enlarged And, to go one step further, the pax side fake intake in the bumper could be opened up with air piped to the enlarged hole. This would give us ram air to compensate for the relatively small cross sectional opening.

So, to make such a CAI set-up work well, IMO the filter element would have to be shielded and sealed, the fender well hole would need enlargement, the fake vent opened, and air from it piped to the enlarged hole.

Thanks,
Richard