Intake worth it?
 

I have a Mazda 6 and wondering if intake is worth it or not? If so what is better, short air or cold air?

RE: Intake worth it?
 

Cold air for sure, but your original question remains. They do cost a bit considering that they are nothing but a mandrel bent piece of tubing w/a cone filter.
But on the other hand, HP increases cost money. A tough call to be sure.
I waited till the third year of ownership and a good deal came along on the intake of my choice, the MS/AEM CAI. I did quite a bit of research beforedeciding on one.
That said, I don"t notice that much difference in power or economy, but like the whoosh-whoosh sound it makes when I step on it, and believe that it compliments the Vibrant exhaust I put on a year before.

RE: Intake worth it?
 

thanks i appreciate it

RE: Intake worth it?
 

I am have yet to have it installed but I have ordered and its on its way an AEM Cold Air Intake, and I will post my feelings towards the product after instillation. They are pricey but if you shop around you CAN find deals. The AEM websites retail price for my CAI was $279, but looking around its pretty common to find them around $220-240.

What 6 do you have?
I know that the AEM one made for the 2003-2005 or 2006 2.3L 4cylis worth it hands down, but short ram is cheaper by at least $40-50, but a cold air is what going to give you the best sound and performance gains. And easy to install if you have a basic tool set. Even if you have verylittleautomotive experience. Truthfully car companies almost should be putting these on their cars stock in the first place. Thats why its probably the first thing done to most cars as far as AM parts go.

RE: Intake worth it?
 

Larry I got a '06 Mazda 6 s with the 3.0 V6 and am looking for the intake and exhaust for it. Could you let me know your feelings on yours when it all intalled?

RE: Intake worth it?
 

It is all installed now, and the first thing I noticed other than the nice little added sound was the lower end torque and how flat the torque band was. Now the 2.3L 4cyl is obveously going to have less ounch than the V6 but the principals don't change. It used to be that the car had very little power between 1000 and 3000 rpm (4cyl mind you) and it didn't really take off until 3500 or so and when it got to 5000 it was but a blink of an eye berfor it jumped to 6000. But NOW with the CAI I notice a bit more lower end torque and when it get higher in the revs its very consistant making it smoother and easier to stay away from the red, while accelerating just the(if not better) same. The install was easy enough if you have all the tools, ratchets, skrew drivers, jack, jack stands, tire wrench (air compressed is nice), etc. Nothing too specialized at all.

RE: Intake worth it?
 

Here is your AEM cold air intake: http://www.aempower.com/ViewProduct.aspx?ProductID=121

Seems they claim almost 10 added HP to the wheels and you will start to feel that at 2750 rpm. They say $305 but in reality if you look around I wouldn't be suprised if you could find one for $260ish at least, thats the nature of automotive parts tho. Price is really jacked up b/c of what they do, not b/c of what they are.

If I had to give a recomendation: YES, I really don't know why they put those stock ones on there the way they do. It's worth it especially if you are going to be doing other modifications like exhaust.

Oh is your '06 Mazda6 s a manual or AT?

Exhaust

I will be having a Magnaflow exhaust put in, in about a week along with a Vibrant catalytic converter.
http://www.magnaflow.com/02product/s...ll&id=4019

That one fits your vehicle specs but don't let the price knock you down, I found mine at:
www.therpmstore.com
for only $465 including shipping took about 3 days to get it and just gotta get into the shop to get it installed.

There are other exhaust systems but this one to me seemed to have a good reputation and I found the right deal. Sound clips and video are on their way. A week or so.

RE: Intake worth it?
 

Nice man. Thanks for the info. My 6 is an auto with the sport tronic shift. I do alot of commuting in the car and it gives me a little relaxation for the 4am commute. LOL. But anyway thanks again and I'll be looking for those sound clips.
Also I was on ebay and found an AEM intake for about $225. But also say some other no name brand for about $45. Part of me was like it's the same parts just no name brand, could possible do the same thing. But the other part was like nah could be some kind of scam to get guys that want the part but not the price. Any ideas?

O and BTW if your in the PA, NJ, MD, DE area or in Virgin's case wanna make a road trip I'm tring to set up a Mazda Meet don't know when or where yet, just an idea to see who's interested.

RE: Intake worth it?
 

Well as far as "brand name' to "no name" its important that the intake is fit and made for your vehicle otherwise you may end up with some fitting problems. The AEM is also basically the same intake as the one made by Mazdaspeed and guantees not to blow a check engine light (CEL). And yes there are deals to be had used etc. I am not a big E-Bay fan but I know alot of people that have had luck with getting good deals on used web sites etc. If you do however decide to go for that e-bay AEM make sure you match the product number with the one on www.aempower.comb/c there are slight differences between years and 4cyl vs V6. Other than that good luck. :D

RE: Intake worth it?
 

If your itching for some sound:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxK6SF0GLTg

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpbOI_PikGo

youtube is a really great resource.