Installed K&N cold-air intake

[ScottArizona]

I installed the new K&N cold air intake. Thought hard about the evo, but reviews of the K&N seemed good, and the price was definately better ($299 vs. $600). My dad and I had just installed the evo v-flow unit on his 3.6l cab tip (mine is a '99 3.4l coupe tip) and we both thought it was great, but I was eager to try out the K&N for comparison purposes (and because of the better price). I purchased my unit from Vivid Racing in Chandler, AZ (which is actually just about 2 miles form my home). K&N claims 23 rwh, and vivid claimed they dynoed several installations and saw around 16. If that is indeed accurate, then this mod would obviously be a great bang for the buck. Here are my observations:

1. Installation: much, much, more involved and difficult than the evo unit. The K&N instructions were really bad. The intructions were predominantly in the form of a series of poor quality photographs. The most frustrating thing, however, is that the instructions do not specifically refer to the hardware needed for each step (i.e., they say things like "attach heat sheild assembly to heat sheild wall with supplied hardware as shown). So, you have to resort to examining a microscopic exploded view of the unit and trial and error to get the right bolts, nuts, and washers in the right holes. We actually even had to cut one bolt down to get it to fit right. The intall took several hours, but everything is now bolted in well. No odd noises or sounds.

2. OVerall design and build quality: build quality is probably slightly better than the evo. The K&N design is probably slightly worse. K&N did not seem to put as much effort into sealing off the filter area from hot engine air, unlike the evo, which at least appears to do a much better job in this area. Also, the evo comes with only a few major components that need assembling, whereas the K&N unit seems to be in hundreds of peices (including harware). This means that there is a fair amount of adjusting you have to do with the K&N to get everything to fit right (especially lining up the stock fresh air supply duct that comes down from the engine lid with the heat shield that hosues the filter). However, I will say that once the K&N unit is together and adjusted, it fits great...it just takes more effort and trial and error than the evo.

3. Sound. Very impressed here. The sound is really no different than stock at lower rpm's but like the evo, the sound is much more agressive at around 3k and up. The K&N is a bit throatier than the evo on my dad's 3.6, but I don't know how the K&N on my car would compare to an evo on another 3.4. The sound is more like a boxster with its nice intake noise at high rpm's, except deeper. Resonance is not bad at all, but I guess if you were driving at 5k rpm for an extended period of time it could get annoying. From outside the car the sound is definately not obnoxious, and to me sounds nice and exotic...like a porsche should sound. I thought the evo unit sounded louder form outside the car, but again, I'm comparing a K&N on a 3.4 to an evo on a 3.6. Both the evo and the K&N appear to be about the same loudness form inside the car with the windows up.

4. Performance: The car DOES seem faster. However, I genuinely cannot tell if that perception is due to the sound or is actual. I don't really care either way, however, as the fact that the car feels faster (both to me and a few of my passengers) is good enough for me. My wife really enjoyed the new sound (and she also confirmed that the car felt quicker) when we went in a run in separate cars so I could hear the car from the outside...she couldn't wipe the smile off of her face...which is obviously a good thing.

Conclusion: My thought is that the price was well worth it. So far no check engine lights or other problems at all, although i've only got about 70 miles on it. The sound is great and the increased performance (real or imagined) is good too. I hope some of you find this helpfull. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Scott.

[teeerex]

Thanks for the review - Any Pictures ?

[ScottArizona]

I'll see if I can post some tonight!

[ScottArizona]

Here are some pics of the final product.

Edited August 1, 2006 by ScottArizona

[teeerex]

Great - thanks for that. Is that a new K&N Kit as I'm in the UK and never seen it over hear ? (Have you any part numbers etc)

It looks good (certainly a big enough air tube!) but as you said in the review, other than shielding the engine heat directly, it doesn't look a great seal with the engine lid which is a shame.

Thanks again,

Richard.

[ScottArizona]

If you go to the K&N website, click the link for the "air charger" series of products, I believe the part number is 63-7000. I could be wrong about the 63, but I'm sure the last four digits are 7000.