Getting ready to purchase a new cold air intake for the 04' Mazda 3 5-Door. Seriously looking at the K&N kit, but what do you gus think?

 

Well I have the AEM one and its great. You feel the difference in the acceleration. I got it off of ebay for $200 for everything.

 

I've been looking at this one http://www.srmotorsports.com/Mazda3_...ake_Parts.html

Anyone know anything about this one? They're claiming 10+ Horsepower gain. Sounds too good to be true.

 

personally i think it is to good to be true. i don' t know if that is a promotional filter cover or it really serves a purpose, it looks like a air restriction to me. i have been looking at this injen rd6061 cai. it looks like its pulling the air from the front below without a stingy filter cover. let me know what you think. http://www.injen.com/application_intakes.html

 

I have AEM air intake under my hood. It probably has the best performance over injen and K&N (a projected 15hp gain). Only bad thing, if you live in an area with lots rain, it is definately recommended that you buy the AEM bypass valve to prevent hydro-lock in case you get submerged in a deep puddle. I had one recently installed and did not notice a change in performance, but my engine lost that tuff growl you get when you step on the gas. But its a sacrifice I'm willing to make for piece of mind. AEM predicts a loss of 1-2 hp, but you cant really notice, unless your giving it a dyno run. AEM also sell a patch up hose just in case you race and want those extra couple of horses for the race

 

i have never seen an intake that yields 15hp...maybe if your current air intake system utilizes a red brick as a filter, then yes, you may gain 15hp...the most that i have EVER seen, on a dyno was 11hp, and that was on a Hemi car. understand that when you have 100hp, or 500hp, something like a CAI getting you 10hp, is less likely in the smaller engine, because for the 100hp engine, youre hoping for a 10% gain in hp, which is unrealistic, or so i feel.

 

Umm...I've seen dyno charts and know the member who had the car which was tested with the Injen CAI for a Forester XT (T=turbo). His dyno results showed a gain of around 15WHP with just the intake system installed. Baseline and Injen installed showed a nice powerband on this particular application.

 

i know what a forester XT is, thank you. i also have a turbo car, and for a car to gain 15 WHEEL horsepower, the stock intake box would have to be VERY poorly designed, and very restrictive. It also depends on the length and stock design of the intake system. for instance, on my turbo car, the turbo is buried behind the engine, and the intake from the fenderwell to the turbo is very long, but on cars, such as a newer dodge neon, the throttle body is right behind the radiator, so the "CAI" for the NA neon is very short, and not nearly as helpful as it is on my turbo car.
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K&N will improve your car over the stock system, should they make one...however, many vehicles, such as BMW products, or high end lines, like porsche, spend such R&D time on every aspect of the vehicle, that changing to an aftermarket intake is not as useful

 

Too pricey and wont out do other brands like the Weapon R system