TeamD Adventures

Last time the WRX was over at Smart Service, they mentioned (again) that my airbox was broken.  My brain took that comment and translated it into “It’s time to install a cold air intake”.

There’s been much debate over the eons about whether a cold air intake is a useful upgrade.  Some say that there is no way that this upgrade will add HP.  Some say that the stock airbox is ideal on the WRX and that any upgrade is a waste of money.  Some say that a cold air intake will cause turbulence over the MAF and make the engine run lean.  Some say that the only way to get benefit out of a cold air intake is to modify the ECU map.  Some say that cold air intakes are only for lowered Honda Civics with red Type R badges and ridiculous rear wings.  Some say that Dumbledore is still alive.

As all these “some people” are just figments of the internet, I decided to make up my own mind.  My mind told me that the larger intake would give me that all-important whoosh noise under power and that’s exactly what I need.  Then I started researching the many and different options in the WRX intake aftermarket market.  The bigger names seemed to be Perrin, SPT, and K&N.  The nice thing about the SPT and K&N is you can get a heat shield (standard with K&N, optional with SPT) to keep the air away from the heat of the engine compartment.  Both K&N and Perrin have a product that drops the filter out into the wheel well to keep things cool but since I tend to be in high dust/water areas, I want to keep the filter safe from these things and the wheel well mount is not ideal.  I’ve had some good experiences with my K&N stock air filter, I took the plunge (and extra $) and went for their Typhoon Air Intake System.

Now that I had decided on the correct cold air intake, I came to the most important question:  What Color?  I had the choice of either silver or red.  Taking a cue from my friends with the street-rocking Hondas, I chose red.

The install was pretty easy and took about an hour.  The stock intake grabs air from a scoop in the front of the engine compartment (not the intercooler scoop, this one pulls air near but above the radiator), routes it through the front right wheel well and then back into the engine compartment, through the airbox and air filter, and then into the engine.  Why the wheel well passthrough?  I don’t know.  I think the theory is it calms the turbulent air.  Whatever.

So yanked the power off the battery, I disconnected the MAF, removed it from the tubing, pulled all that old stock plastic out, built the new intake and heat shield, mounted the MAF back in the new intake tube, bolted the new intake in place, rerouted the hoses, reconnected the battery, and tested everything.

Hurrah!  I now have a easy to inspect fancy air filter (that will need lots of cleaning) and a great whoosh noise under power.  K&N says it will give you 16hp to the wheels and they include a nice dyno chart showing that happening on an ‘04 WRX.  But… whoosh… who cares?

The last photo shows the new intake with the air scoop back installed.  Yes, I put the scoop back in.  Air from the front still shoots through the stock piping (and wheel well) and gets to the filter via a hole in the side.  Ambient air would be enough to feed the engine but why remove a fun shaped plastic dingus?