the FINAL word in intakes

[Whelan]

OK now I am confused.

I heard on this board early on that intakes are great and give better acceleration and breathing. Now I am hearing that they get to hot and the air does nothing better than it did with the stock box almost. So what should I do, purchase the intake or not, someone help me out with the details.

[spd_dmn]

well, i'm not too sure on the science of it, but this i do know: i got the hotshot intake and it was my first engine mod, the one thing i noticed was that where top end acceleration used to die off (about 5k or so) with the stock intake, it kept pulling all the way to 6500 and beyond with the hotshot. i loved it, so much in fact i moved on with more engine and drivetrain mods. but i don't want to get off topic, there was always a noticeable difference in top end acceleration, but at the same time, the engine seemed more eager to run warm if i was just sitting in traffic and it did affect the performance (it was worse) till the air under the hood started to cool off again (getting back up to freeway speeds). hope this helps in your decision.

[David 93 SL2m]

Although a hot metal intake will heat the air a little, the air is getting pulled in to the engine at a pretty fast rate and it only heats up a tiny bit - maybe robbing one horsepower or so. I would not get too worried about the intake heating up the air as it gets pulled into the engine. If you are worried the IceMan intake system is plastic. It is lighter than metal and doesn't conduct heat as well. In case anyone is curious, I am running the nonceramic HotShot (metal) intake.

[Heartbeat - '95 SL2]

My intake is stock, and I don't intend to change it, but whenever I'm idling enough that the temp gauge goes up to 1/2 (normal for mine is 1/4), I flick the A/C on and off quickly to engage the fan. Temps go down immediately, and I repeat as often as necessary. I do it mostly to save my alternator, which is still original after 95k miles.

[Whelan]

I just replaced my alternator at 99k. My engine warms up when I sit around. It used to go to 3/4 on the guage before the fan kicked in. Maybe it is less now I will have to see.

[saturnal1]

It's not neccessarily the intake that makes your car breathe as good as the filter element you have on your intake. The stock filter is much more restrictive than any K&N or most other "perfomance" filters. That's why intake buyers see a better top end of the RPM range. Intake design itself might add another .2-1hp, but again, most of it is in the filter. Also, you can't beat the looks and sounds of an aftermarket intake. Nice growl and typically good looks for what is currently on the market.

Whelan, if you really like a particular intake, get one. If you want the most bang for your buck but still look stock, get a drop-in K&N filter. The perfomance difference between the two is small, but an aftermarket looks soooo good every time you open the hood and some people still ask me questions about it.

Alex Plaster
97 SC2

[SoCalSaturnsGuzzis]

Whelan -

I spent about $50 designing my own version of an intake system for my '94 SW2, using flexible aluminum ducting, pvc elbow, a large dual-stage Uni foam filter, and a K&N crankcase filter. Like others have said, the car pulls much stronger to redline, at the expense of a loss of some low end, with a nice growl emanating from under the hood. I have some "before and after" pics of my installation, and can e-mail them to you if you're interested. With the money you'd save over one of those Powerstack or HotShot systems, you could invest in a good STB, rear sway bar, etc.