Originally posted by louisw:
I wonder, after you're done making this heatshield and sealing it around the filter.. is it really that much better than a stock SVT airbox?

I've gone through the KKM, K&N OEM drop-in, monsterflow foam filter (with and without the SCA CAI), the now-defunct SMA CAI, and now I'm back to the stock airbox again. Admittedly the KKM was without a heatshield, but really the only noticeable difference between any of these was sound level and a lighter wallet...



Not really. How could it be since the fender opening is still the same damn size and with the heat shield they have cut off any additional flow to the filter? Same identical setup as the SVT stock filter box actually.
The open air filter has the advantage once the car is moving after that point since it is not restricted by the small fender opening and once the incoming air is cooler it will see a larger benefit.

Funny how you are the only one to really hit on this.
I have dyno tests of open K&N versus stock SVT K&N and no significant change. Now if it was a larger K&N and open element it would have seen some better increases.

Former owner of '99 CSVT - Silver #222/2760 356/334 wHP/TQ at 10psi on pump gas! See My Mods '05 Volvo S40 Turbo 5 AWD with 6spd, Passion Red '06 Mazda5 Touring, 5spd,MTX, Black