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Generally, engines straight out of the factory have potential to produce power far greater than what they produce when you drive off the lot. The most common first steps to unleashing the potential is to allow the engine to breathe by giving it a good intake and exhaust setup. Factory intakes are, in general, highly restrictive and provide very little airflow into the engine. Two solutions to this problem are either a ram air or cold air intake. Both will give you about the same performance benefit. Ram air systems involve ram air hoods which look far better but also cost exponentially more (typically $800-1,200). The SLP cold air intake is a great affordable first step for improving performance.
The kit typically retails for $200-$250. Installation can be done at home in an hour or two. Basically, the stock airbox is completely removed and the SLP takes it's place. The most difficult part is fitting the filters onto the pipes; this must be done from underneath the engine bay (plastic splashguards can be removed on the underside of the engine bay just behind the driver's side headlight).
Although I was told it would not fit, I went ahead and ordered mine and spent four hours adapting it to fit my 98 Firebird. The biggest problem I had was that upon removal of the fuse boxes I discovered a lot of metal in the way that would not allow the pipes to fit. So, I took a hacksaw and enlarged the holes in the frame; you can see what I mean if you remove your fuse boxes and look at the metal underneath, it sort of crosses over so there is no room for the pipes. Hey, if I can do it with absolutely no mechanical skill, you can do it. [img]smile.gif[/img]
One thing you may want to do is reset your computer after installation, this will allow it to account for the added air intake and add the corresponding amount of more fuel into each cylinder (i.e. produce more power). To reset your computer, disconnect the negative terminal on your battery and let it sit for about half an hour. After reconnecting the terminal, drive for a good half hour or so and throttle it quite a bit so it gets used to heavy acceleration. Also, driving at highway speeds also allows for more airflow which means the computer will "notice" more air coming in. Some say this is not needed, but it's a good idea just to be safe.
There is a noticeable seat-of-the-pants improvement in power with the new intake. I suspect that it actually benefits the 98-99 models more than the 95-97 because of the location of the stock airbox. When the engine is cold you can really hear the swish of the air flowing through; this sound diminishes as the engine heats up. There were rumors a while back that because the pipes are metal they will heat up and supply the engine with hot air; this is not true. One guy posted a message about how he took thermometers and actually measured air temperatures and found absolutely no heating, you also tell by touching the pipes which are still cold even after driving in traffic.
It's actually very difficult for me to think of three cons for this one, so as you may notice the cons are pretty weak. Overall this is an excellent product and I highly reccomend this as anyone's first modification. Start with intake and exhaust. Keep in mind also that the performance gain from this kit also depends on the exhaust setup. If you're running a stock engine and exhaust you'll get a good gain, however, if you already have upgraded exhaust you'll get a much more powerful benefit out of this intake. Intake and exhaust complement each other and work best together.
3 Pros:
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3 Cons:
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[ March 06, 2004, 01:11 PM: Message edited by: Stefan ]
The kit typically retails for $200-$250. Installation can be done at home in an hour or two. Basically, the stock airbox is completely removed and the SLP takes it's place. The most difficult part is fitting the filters onto the pipes; this must be done from underneath the engine bay (plastic splashguards can be removed on the underside of the engine bay just behind the driver's side headlight).
Although I was told it would not fit, I went ahead and ordered mine and spent four hours adapting it to fit my 98 Firebird. The biggest problem I had was that upon removal of the fuse boxes I discovered a lot of metal in the way that would not allow the pipes to fit. So, I took a hacksaw and enlarged the holes in the frame; you can see what I mean if you remove your fuse boxes and look at the metal underneath, it sort of crosses over so there is no room for the pipes. Hey, if I can do it with absolutely no mechanical skill, you can do it. [img]smile.gif[/img]
One thing you may want to do is reset your computer after installation, this will allow it to account for the added air intake and add the corresponding amount of more fuel into each cylinder (i.e. produce more power). To reset your computer, disconnect the negative terminal on your battery and let it sit for about half an hour. After reconnecting the terminal, drive for a good half hour or so and throttle it quite a bit so it gets used to heavy acceleration. Also, driving at highway speeds also allows for more airflow which means the computer will "notice" more air coming in. Some say this is not needed, but it's a good idea just to be safe.
There is a noticeable seat-of-the-pants improvement in power with the new intake. I suspect that it actually benefits the 98-99 models more than the 95-97 because of the location of the stock airbox. When the engine is cold you can really hear the swish of the air flowing through; this sound diminishes as the engine heats up. There were rumors a while back that because the pipes are metal they will heat up and supply the engine with hot air; this is not true. One guy posted a message about how he took thermometers and actually measured air temperatures and found absolutely no heating, you also tell by touching the pipes which are still cold even after driving in traffic.
It's actually very difficult for me to think of three cons for this one, so as you may notice the cons are pretty weak. Overall this is an excellent product and I highly reccomend this as anyone's first modification. Start with intake and exhaust. Keep in mind also that the performance gain from this kit also depends on the exhaust setup. If you're running a stock engine and exhaust you'll get a good gain, however, if you already have upgraded exhaust you'll get a much more powerful benefit out of this intake. Intake and exhaust complement each other and work best together.
3 Pros:
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- Solid performance benefit</font>
- Show-quality looks</font>
- Nice sound</font>
3 Cons:
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- A tad expensive for an intake</font>
- Installing the filters is a tight fit</font>
- Filters are not "Genuine K&N" (though the K&N Recharger cleaner works just fine)</font>
[ March 06, 2004, 01:11 PM: Message edited by: Stefan ]
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