So I'd thought I'd make a review for this intake considering I couldn't find one anywhere and I think it's a good deal. I got mine from dt_moto on eBay for $38.06 + $20.00 shipping.
So, without further ado...
Unpacking:
Le box. Everything came bubble-wrapped or bagged or boxed, so there would be little to no shipping damage.
Contents:
- Primary Intake Pipe
- Secondary Intake Pipe
- Bag o' Goodies
- Filter
The primary pipe. Note the paint peel on the cable mount. Not a big deal, you get what you pay for. My pipe was also bent in a little on the end leading to the secondary pipe, where the coupler attaches.
The secondary pipe. I'll eventually find out the mounting bracket is useless. There were no flaws with this piece.
The filter next to my keys. This thing seemed gigantic, and still does. It's a bit on the cheap side. It's pretty much just a fine wire mesh filter with no paper element inside. I accidentally dropped it and the mesh removed itself from the base. Nothing some super glue couldn't fix.
The bag of accessories.
Contains:
- Large Hose Clamp x5
- Small Hose Clamp x2
- Rubber Coupler x2
- Breather Tube
- Zip Tie x2
- Rubber Lining (This goes around the inside of the hole where the secondary intake pipe goes through the fender. This is to prevent rattle and ruining the finish on the intake.)
- Nut and Bolt Set x2
- Rubber Spacer x2
- Washers
Instruction Manual. The instructions are kind of crummy. No pictures and it's a bit vague. The AEM instruction manual helped me out a lot:
http://www.aemintakes.com/instructions/AEM-21-447_inst.pdf
Installation:
So the first thing you should do (after ripping your car apart) is remove the IAT sensor from the stock intake and insert it into the rubber grommet on the Spyder. It's a pain in the arse. When I tried to put it on I ended up just shoving the grommet through the unevenly drilled hole on the pipe. Derp. I found it easiest to fit the grommet around the sensor and then put the whole assembly in the intake (with the help of a tiny flathead screwdriver).
The instructions tell you to attach the secondary pipe to the car with the bracket on it and one of the nut and bolt sets. After too much time wasted trying to get it right I realized it wasn't going to fit correctly (even after removing the battery and rotating the ground terminal to the fusebox where it needed to be). It just doesn't clear the battery and fusebox the way it should. I ended up hooking up the primary pipe first and attaching the secondary pipe to it, backwards. It fit as good as it was going to. The fact that it isn't mounted isn't a big deal as long as your hose clamps are tightened up good. Don't forget that rubber lining. Zip tie the throttle cable and cruise control cable (if you have one) and plug in your IAT sensor.
Put your car back together. Before you slam your hood and mangle something, check clearances. My primary pipe wasn't as far down as it could be and I had a hard time getting the battery to fit correctly. It's just a really tight setup with the fusebox, battery, and a massive intake pipe all going to the same place.
There you go. I noticed the stock intake in it's entirety was, to my amusement, heavier than the Spyder. Woo, weight reduction!
The Finished Product:
Sorry about the darkness on the pics. Cell phone + night time = non-optimal picture taking. Yes, I know my clutch reservoir isn't mounted correctly, and my washer fluid reservoir isn't hooked up, lol.
Conclusion:
Build Quality: 3/5
There are a lot of things that allude to this being a budget intake. I didn't like how the paint was peeling on part of mine before I even touched it. The paint should have been more durable. As far as the bent end on one of my pipes, it's whatever, it wasn't much at all and can be bent back with pliers. The large hose clamps are absolutely terrible to tighten without a specific size of phillips head screwdriver, and are prone to twisting at the screw area when being tightened. The hose clamps on the stock intake are leagues better. The rubber couplers were stiff compared to nice silicone couplers, but they do what they need to. Just another trade-off for price. The breather hose should have been thicker or stiffer, when attached, it's bent at angles that cause it to flatten on the curves. I also didn't like the zip ties for holding the cables in place. A nice clip like the stock intake would have been cleaner to cover the holes and not seem so backyard mechanic. The filter I would recommend changing for a K&N or something, and a waterproof sleeve is the least I would do for it, considering it's placement and the fact it's 0% waterproof (especially for those of us without fender inserts installed). And the last complaint, the primary pipe should have either been a shorter piece to allow for a semi-short ram with a longer secondary pipe, or bent down a little more where it goes to the old airbox location to help clear the fusebox and battery better. That said, it does what it needs to do and there are no defects affecting how it works.
Appearance: 4/5
Aside from the peeling paint and the zip ties, it looks pretty nice in the engine bay. The blue definitely pops and it looks about as good as an AEM would. The blue is a really nice metallic and I have the urge to pop the hood just to admire it. The gigantic filter
almost looks a bit ricey, but it lets you know it's srs bznis.
Installation Difficulty: 2/5
It's not hard to install but it can be a bit time consuming considering everything you have to take off the car. Someone who isn't familiar with working on cars could do this with a bit of patience and paying attention to instructions (mostly AEM's).
Instructions: 2/5
Not the best. Could be worse, but some pictures would have helped a lot. Good thing AEM's manual is online. The fact that these intakes are almost identical made it easier. I swear AEM sent "defective" intakes to CP to sell as Spyder.
Performance: 5/5
I only went into this expecting 1-2 HP and would have been ecstatic with 5 HP. I think I got my 5. Throttle response is improved and going up a hill I routinely travel at 35 MPH didn't require me to downshift into 4th and my dash wasn't rattling because of the engine struggling at such a low RPM, even with an extra person in the car. I don't have access to a dyno so I can't give you any numbers but there's a noticeable (but not huge) power increase. The car definitely has more get up and go and the butt dyno is pleased.
The best thing about this intake has to be the wonderful noise. At idle or cruising casually, it's as quiet as stock. Cruising down the road and punching it at a low RPM and you hear the throttle body open up and the air get sucked into the intake. If you really get in it, at WOT at ~5k RPM, the thing sounds like it's cracking V-TEC. It's a lot of fun.
