Over the last month or so the weather has been insanely hot and humid and heatsoak has been crazy noticeable on my car for my daily commute. Bogging down low when rolling off from a stop in i95 traffic is no fun at all... especially for 25 miles/1hr of driving. With that said, I decided to try out one of those eBay snorkel intakes on my S. It was $105 shipped compared to the other overpriced options (come one now... it's just ducting). This ebay one is black fiberglass. The finish is whatever... the paint has some lil "blotches" on it that weren't smooth (seems like something touched the surface before it dried) but it fit fine and looks fine enough for me considering I rarely see under my hood except when I'm working on the car. The install took me ~15 min, aside from cutting that blasted radiator shroud thing with a fkn scissors (use a dremel or some powered saw). I also just drilled a hole in the end of the snorkel and ran a zip-tie through it to secure it to my bumper grille.

Driving results:

First day I put it on it was hot as hell outside. Drove from my house onto the main road, couldn't really tell the difference as I was just babying it until it got up to full temp. On the way back from the autoparts store I was driving a little spirited, a/c on and all. Was NOTICEABLY more responsive and peppy. I wouldn't say it picked up any peak power, but low and mid range are noticeably more responsive. Drove it around the next day, was driving a little harder, did some highway driving, car felt really good. Acceleration felt better. Drove it to work today in traffic, a/c on again, chilling, no bogging, no hesitation, rolling off the car felt like it had a big more low end smoothness. Felt great.

All in all it was worth the $105 I spent on it. Might be a good "cheap" mod for people who want a little more responsiveness out of the car. They do sell carbon fiber and carbon kevlar ones for a little more for those who are interested. The only thing I may do is refinish it with a flat black paint.

Ratings:
Fit: 8/10 - would have gave it a 9 or 10 if i didn't have to drill a hole in it to get it secured to the bumper

Finish: 6.5/10 - it's not the prettiest thing; but function over fashion

Sound: 10/10 - nothing changes... it sounds like stock... just the way it should be

Install: 9/10 - did it in no time (aside from half assing the radiator shroud thingy)

Value: 9/10 - great results for ~$100

i'll try to get better pix but i snapped these just now:

front bumper shots:



underhood:




closeups:
ignore the paint all worn/scuffed off in this pic... i put a piece of sponge under it because i thought it would move around too much and make noise... turns out the sponge was too thick... too lazy to remove it.



Bonus pic... when it was freshly claybarred and waxed this weekend :


PS yes I know underhood is dirty and yes i know my valvecover is peeling... donate one to me. kthnxbye

 

wow nice right up. Now I'm really considering on getting one, for $105 bucks, that really isn't bad. Considering the high quality snorkels cost twice that.

 

I've always thought about getting one of these. Did you have to take out that bar in the front?

 

not sure which bar you're talking about but the only things that were modded or removed were the airbox inlet airhorn and the radiator shroud covering.

here's a write up of the install done by someone else a while ago:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...ic=118787&st=0

the installation was identical for me.

 

Nice, nice! Thanks Marc.

 

Thanks for the write up! yea i was looking at that snorkel on ebay recently good to know its worth the buy...i want function i dont care for looks...thats my xb's job not my S hehehe

 

I guess not then. Wuchan, what the hell did you do with yours?

 

what about this one http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HONDA-00-06...123096642QQrdZ1

 

Marc, Juan confirmed it for me, the bar I'm talking about is on the AP2's

 

ah ok... yeah that sounds familiar now. in the link lethander just posted the seller says this about ap2's:

it depends on which cheapo one u get. the one he linked, has little slots on the end of the snorkel to fit in the grill. mine didn't hence i drilled the hole to secure it with the ziptie. if u have the slotted one it will fit up in the grille on the ap1's and based on what this guy is saying you have to cut another slot if u have an ap2. it's no big deal... anyone with a dremel can do it. shit i did this whole install with a pair of scissors, a screwdriver, and a drill.

if i make it to the meet tomorrow i'll show you how easy it is. worth the $105 i think. and the CF version is not much more.