Installation: Wasn't too bad. Cutting out the plastic trays was a bit painful. The instructions aren't all that great. The pics are somewhat difficult to decipher, but nothing you can't figure out yourself. I'm a novice when it comes to installations so a buddy of mine did most of the work.

I originally had a question whether the CAI gets any air from the front air dam... HELL YES it does. I believe any sort of object blocking or "filtering" airflow coming into the engine bay through the front air dam is a no-no. AEM instructions say to cut out a part of the plastic tray near the filter which as a result of that cut, you are able to see the filter from looking through the front air dam. A brake duct cut is not necessary and is NOT mentioned in the AEM instructions (note: the filter does not sit right behind the fake brake duct).

From an earlier thread, someone posted a detailed report of his experiences/thoughts about the CAI v. stock. My take is CAI v. stock with a Comptech exhaust not that it makes much of a difference if any at all.

Sound: Loud as hell at VTEC. I wouldn't call it raspy, but more of a reverberating sound as if the engine was reving inside an echo chamber. It's a tight sound. The AEM CAI easily overtakes the sound of the Comptech exhaust. There's a tunnel here in Seattle that I redline through pretty often and with the CAI installed, flying through at 8K hurt my ears. A good thing for me. At idle, you hear the hum. Under VTEC, it's very subtle. Transition into VTEC is more pronounced.

Go: I can't definitively say for sure that the car picked up speed, although my golden butt feels more of a pull in the mid-range. I haven't driven it enough to notice pickup on the low-end. Sunchild thinks that the AEM CAI loses some power from 8K-9K. Honestly, for me, that 1K band happens so quick it's hard to tell between stock and CAI. There could be a possibility that due to the low/mid-range improvement, the butt feels the top-end getting lean on power when in fact it's pulling harder than or equal to stock. Get what I'm saying?

Overall: Well worth the $245 entry fee. Thanks to Ben @ BulletproofAutomotive for his great customer service

 

looks great and gives you better access to the oil filter for oil changes too!

 

Engine looks a bit naked without the airbox Nice report, thanks!

Oh, BTW, can you post a pic or two of the lower half of the intake, around the filter. All I ever see is the top bit.

 

Here you go in some odd angles, Cthree:

 

WRS2K-
Everyone is talking about what the intake sounds like, but obviously it's hard to imagine. The CAI doesn't make the car sound like all of the civics (etc.) with the huge coffee can exhausts does it?

Thanks

 

Nside, I'll try to help you the best I can.

I have yet to hear what it sounds like from the outside, but brandonb's sounds clips sound pretty accurate. Now from the inside as a driver, the engine does literally sound like it's revving inside an echo chamber with the AEM CAI installed. It's not a loose sound, but tight. It's a loud sportbike sound with a Harley D bah bah bah twist (so that might be the flatulence that some others have been talking about).

No doubt about it, VTEC is loud. Under VTEC, it's VERY subtle. At idle, it humms quietly. So it's definitely a controllable noise. Go full throttle VTEC for the loudness. Go less than full to keep it cool if you want to stay stealth.

So to put it simply in real buyer's terms: I can't imagine going back to stock box after having experienced the AEM CAI enhancement. It's a lot of fun.

And we all gotta give up this fear of people mistaking the S2000 for a Civic. It won't happen anytime soon and if it does, who gives a flying -. By all means, I love the S2000 and don't want to see altezzas on it, but as long as you keep yours clean, you got nothing to worry about. Whenever I see another S2000 on the road, I'm genuinely amazed at how good it looks.

You won't regret getting it.