CAI is... quieter??

[goldwing2000]

I never would have believed it but I just installed my red AEM CAI today and it's actually quieter than it was with the stock filter box without the resonator! (scratch)

Oh well... whatever! My butt dyno is WAAAAY happy, now.

Oh, I put a 10 ga ground on the ETB, too. I don't care whether it does anything or not. It was a cheap (free) mod, so I might as well. I'll be doing the coolant bypass probably tomorrow.

[Mzda3sturbo]

Can you put some pics of what you have done to the car?

[Loose]

I never would have believed it but I just installed my red AEM CAI today and it's actually quieter than it was with the stock filter box without the resonator! (scratch)

Oh well... whatever! My butt dyno is WAAAAY happy, now.

Oh, I put a 10 ga ground on the ETB, too. I don't care whether it does anything or not. It was a cheap (free) mod, so I might as well. I'll be doing the coolant bypass probably tomorrow.

Need the pics and more importantly the opinion....

Tim

p.s. Congrats. You waited for this.

[goldwing2000]

Need the pics and more importantly the opinion....

Tim

p.s. Congrats. You waited for this.

I'll get some pics up this weekend.

Opinion on what?

[Loose]

I'll get some pics up this weekend.

Opinion on what?

Just to see if you believe the 10ga ETB, the CAI and the springs helped or not along with all the other modifications.
You see I want to do these things to my car but 2 things are stopping me. One, the expense to benefit ratio. I could drop a grand but is the gain in performance really worth it, and two the choice in product i.e the Tien vs. Eibach, AEM vs waiting for K & N vs the two piece.
I never owned a import sport compact so this whole mod thing is chinese to me. I just wanted your opinion oh holy GW.....are you happy with your wallet and more importantly, your car?

Tim (hi)

[goldwing2000]

Just to see if you believe the 10ga ETB, the CAI and the springs helped or not along with all the other modifications.
You see I want to do these things to my car but 2 things are stopping me. One, the expense to benefit ratio. I could drop a grand but is the gain in performance really worth it, and two the choice in product i.e the Tien vs. Eibach, AEM vs waiting for K & N vs the two piece.
I never owned a import sport compact so this whole mod thing is chinese to me. I just wanted your opinion oh holy GW.....are you happy with your wallet and more importantly, your car?

Tim (hi)

LoL... to be perfectly honest with you, this my first modded import, too. I've done stuff to other people's cars and I've modded my own American cars but the only other import I've owned was an '89 Tercel!
I tuned it and rebuilt the engine but the only mods were "bigger" 14-inch wheels and window tint.

I can honestly say that I am happy with all the mods I've done on the 3 so far.

CAI: $150-definitely happy
Springs: $221-definitely happy
ETB Ground: $0-I did it the same time as the CAI, so I can't tell any difference but hey... for free, it couldn't hurt.
Hot-Wired Lighter: $0-definitely happy
Air Horns: $400-definitely happy!

That's not including the dealer accessories that have been bought and installed. I think my grand total spent is something like $1100 right now but that's a lot of other crap, too (I keep a spreadsheet).

If you have to pay someone to do the work for you, then you can pretty much double the amounts.

As far as what brands to choose, that's something that everybody has to figure out for themselves. Because of the limited availability of parts, I passed over "Miss Right" and went to "Miss Right Now".

I researched both AEM and Eibach, read other people's opinions and decided that they were both good companies with reputable products.

Besides that, I'm a cheap bastard and they both have the least expensive parts. I'm not going to be racing this thing, I just want something more fun to play with on the street.

[Loose]

Besides that, I'm a cheap bastard and they both have the least expensive parts. I'm not going to be racing this thing, I just want something more fun to play with on the street.
LOL. Not saying "I'm doin it cause GW did it." but I, like you I am a cheap bastard as well (fat too). I just didn't want to drop the dimes if other ppl weren't COMPLETELY satisfied. It's because of ppl doing the write ups here on the board that allows ppl like me to do the mod myself (pretty handy but could easily muck somthing up). Thank you again. Sorry to hear about all the rain. I'm currently im Mass.. Just overcast here...Still want to see some pics though, no rush lol j/k (shocked)

Oh, is it really quieter than just w/o the res? and is that under throttle or just @ idle?

Tim

[goldwing2000]

Oh, is it really quieter than just w/o the res? and is that under throttle or just @ idle?
Tim

Quieter all around. Shocked the hell out of me. I was expecting this big bass growl and it just wasn't there. I think it was reverberating through the air box before and now it's got such a smooth path that is just slips right in!

Dn't get me wrong, though... the added HP definitely makes up for any lack of noise! (2thumbs)
And now I feel more comfortable that putting an exhaust system on isn't going to make it too loud to be comfortable (I put about 300-400 miles a week on the car).

[mazda003s]

Quieter all around. Shocked the hell out of me. I was expecting this big bass growl and it just wasn't there. I think it was reverberating through the air box before and now it's got such a smooth path that is just slips right in!

Dn't get me wrong, though... the added HP definitely makes up for any lack of noise! (2thumbs)
And now I feel more comfortable that putting an exhaust system on isn't going to make it too loud to be comfortable (I put about 300-400 miles a week on the car).

quieter?? thats odd.. at least you still gain power

[Da 6]

1st K&N puts out one of the best filters oth there on the market....and thats where it stops....K&N usualy runs the same or more than injen with price wise but usualy have -5 to -7 hp difrence...

and I guess all the bends and location of the filter contribute to it being quieter...I would add that sri will always be louder and hi piched than the cai cause cai uses the fender and piping to echo where the sri echos thruought the engine bay. My but dyno shows sri gives better low end and cai gives of the better mid to high range with better sound...remember rule of thumb is if this is your daily driver...do the mod that makes the car sound better then run better...if you like to hear the drone of a header, turbo thru muffler, and no cats then thats all you! Remember extremely loud cars atract the cops attetion over the guy that is barreling down the road at a faster pace. also the aluminum drag wing ceatching all the beams of the sun stands out as well.

GW not even if you rev or redline? try hitting the limiter? man they really didn't want that car t be heard...you are revving high enough to disengage vtcs right?

[goldwing2000]

GW not even if you rev or redline? try hitting the limiter? man they really didn't want that car t be heard...you are revving high enough to disengage vtcs right?

Oh, yeah, yeah... it's still got some noise, especially at the top of the range, just not where I do most of my driving. Actually, I don't think I've been above 5k since I put it on. And I NEVER bounce it off the rev limiter. Redline is 6500 and peak power is 6250, so there's no reason to hit 7250. If you're not making power then you're just making noise. (no)

Don't get me wrong... it's not as whisper-quiet as the full stock system (sleep) , just quieter then the stock system without the resonator. It still sounds damn good. It'll sound even better when I decide on an exhaust. (thumb)

[stingfish]

Wow... Goldwing and I actually agree on something here (partially).

I too feel the AEM is quiter than the stock air box with resonator removed until VVT kicks in... then, I think the AEM is noticeably louder. With the resonator removed... it was deep but not loud... with the AEM, cars next to me look and it looks like they freak out for a minute thinking they're gonna get hit or something.

[goldwing2000]

I decided to play with it a bit last night. Did a couple holeshots and redline shifts just to see what's what.

I didn't notice an extreme amount of noise but I did have the radio on and the sunroof open. (shrug) Whatever the noise level, it's not enough to bug me.

[SoCalMzda3]

I think something is wrong with your car bro. I installed the AEM CAI in my mazda 3 and it is loud. You should check how you hooked it up....and let me know, really curious as to why you are not getting a louder sound out of it????

[stingfish]

I agree man... when you hit VVT, people look... they didn't when I just had the resonator removed... it's a higher pitched (but still a lot lower than the honduh's), punchier tone.

[Da 6]

I agree man... when you hit VVT, people look... they didn't when I just had the resonator removed... it's a higher pitched (but still a lot lower than the honduh's), punchier tone.hope the hell you have a deper sound than a 1.6L honda!...

[goldwing2000]

I think something is wrong with your car bro. I installed the AEM CAI in my mazda 3 and it is loud. You should check how you hooked it up....and let me know, really curious as to why you are not getting a louder sound out of it????

There's nothing wrong with my car. Trust me on that one.

Did you have your intake resonator removed previously? If you didn't, then yes, there will be a huge difference.

[TuRbOtEcTicS]

is the CAI louder or softer when you had the resonator removed? Probley you were just used to the wooomp sound you had without the resonator and just expected the CAI to be alot louder. (uhm)

[goldwing2000]

Probley you were just used to the wooomp sound you had without the resonator and just expected the CAI to be alot louder. (uhm)

Exactly. That's what I said in the very first post on this thread.

[TuRbOtEcTicS]

Exactly. That's what I said in the very first post on this thread.
oh, sorry. LOL

[Da 6]

If you wan't loud get a short ram...I ran a short ram last week after I waited till I had time to pull the splash guard again. The SRI was incredibly loud and the TB wistle was too...second I put the CAI back on it was almost 30% quieter at wot. Anyone have picts of where exactly the filter sits...there is dividers(if you removed the front bumper yet) that block air from going left and right into the fenders. Only to the radiator. I dremeled my fog light delete plates and grille meshed the holes. Horn is 10% louder and cai got a lil bit louder(comfortably).

[crossbow]

1st K&N puts out one of the best filters oth there on the market

Actually thats what K&N's marketing wants you to think. Actually their filters are actually sub-standard compared to other alternative solutions.

K&N Filters...

1) Filter less then stock paper filters.
2) Sometimes result in a performance loss
3) Are generally constructed of poor quality materials.

Holding a K&N filter in your hand (especially a cone based), you can feel how flimsy the filter is. Press on the pleats and they bend. Press on the ends and they bend. Their constructed as cheaply as possible, then have the price jacked up to make maximum profit.

Technically the best filtering media is paper, hands down, and proven in multiple tests. Cotton/oil based filters usually come in 2nd or 3rd, sometimes behind foam.

K&N likes you to believe that the filter is in some way a "restriction" and tries to prove this through varied marketing skeet all over the place.

Realistically the filter is usually the LEAST restrictive part of an intake assembly.

For example on the Mazda 6, if you flow bench the airbox with and without the filter, there is only a 6% difference in airflow.

Leave the filter in, but remove the resonator, and the airflow increases 12-15% (with filter in).

Do the tray mod, the flapper mod, and the resonator mod, and leave the filter in, and you increase airflow almost 40%.

Some options for paper cone filters are...
http://www.baldwinfilter.com/

If your looking for a cotton based oil filter thats far superior (in every way) to a K&N based, check out S&B.

http://www.sbfilters.com/home.htm

Their filters use deeper peats (better filtering surface area), larger pleats (better surface area), tighter meshes (better stability/strength), reinforced end caps (better stability/strength), and have a unique open cone for increased noise/sound, and technically airflow, but as mentioned earlier, filters aren't a restriction.

http://www.wam.umd.edu/~greghess/powerstack.gif

For more information on this topic, and links to tests and explanations about the true facts about K&N type filters, visit...

http://forum.mazda6tech.com/viewtopic.php?t=160&start=0

and

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com (http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/)

Knowledge is power, never listen to marketing!

Here's the difference between the crappy injen K&N filter, vs the S&B replacement on my Injen CAI.

http://www.wam.umd.edu/~greghess/before.jpg

http://www.wam.umd.edu/~greghess/after.jpg

Which one would you rather have filtering your air? (Note K&N filter damage)

[Kansei]

Which one would you rather have filtering your air? (Note K&N filter damage)
:P speaking of K&N filter damage. I really gotta get rid of my K&N, I want to get an APEXi

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=12855

[Da 6]

I had the K&N pannel filter....I now have a no name 12 inch open top similar to ones you have pictured...When I said custom setup..it's custom....damn filter almost sits on the bottom of the splash guard(hump) ....yeah the material is thicker than the aem one(really soft...picts comming soon) that came with my sri! I can sit on the filter and it still doesn't give way...mr_luv1 (http://forum.mazda6tech.com/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=246) saw my setup. I pulled a nice lil cel only in 8 miles!!! I pulled the filter cause after the mesh mod you can see the filter just standing in front of the car. 1 bad rainstorm and I nearly sweated bullets on 495! Off topic(like we already were'nt) anyone find winshield wiper motors that are faster and compatable with our cars cause the fast setting isn't even fast enough for a light shower let alone the rainstorms we get around here.

[Kansei]

:P my filter pushes down on the splash guard :)

Did you almost hydrolock, or were you just afraid that you would?

i've heard that you have to submerge the filter to hydrolock.

[Da 6]

I was verry "noided" cause before I was doing the "Usual flow of traffic" speed and next thing I see like an inch of water alone standing on the highway. the filter was dry before I got to his house....SE D.C. to near bethesda. I'm gonna put the filter back on with the custom wind deflector?heat shield I had for my sri(Picts of that soon as well)

[crossbow]

Few notes....

1) Try Rain-X for rainstorms. After using it once (the wipes are nice) you'll swear by it. The harder it rains, the less you need your wipers :).

2) Hydrolocking requires that the filter be completely submerged in water. Two Mazda 6's have reported hydrolocking. One with an Injen intake, and one with a completely stock car. Generally if your in 3-4 feet of water, your screwed regardless of if your car is modded or not.

Best rule of thumb, if the water is CROSSING the road, turn around, or let someone else go through first :).

[Da 6]

yeah as stated before I was scared for no reason...next break I'll put the 12 incher back on..