I haven't purchased an aftermarket intake in years so I don't know who the goods brands are now. I have a drop in for my stock 91 Legacy Sport turbo, so that was a no brainer. I wanted to make a custom black aluminum intake pipe to replace the factory one in my Celica and use a cone filter. BUT I'm going to retain and customize the factory box so it will look close to stock. K&N and HKS I know, I don't believe an HKS dome style filter will fit in the factory box. I don't think Injen or AEM make their own filters (last I knew). Anything new out there I should be aware of?

I use K&N. Go here for a KN filter list. Then look up the part numbers on ebay and compare the prices. That's what I always do and you get to pick the filter dimensions that you want vs trying to find one that is the perfect size.

AEM dry flow ftw!

I like weapon-r, specifcally the dragon type for the ease of heat shield, and cost .

Oh boy, There has been many tests for after market filters and intakes. To start, drop in oil filters are bad for your car (mainly if you have a MAF) and there are no gains between a drop in and a OEM filter. Secondly, intakes just add noise...sweet, sweet noise but noise none the less. The majority of cone filters that you can buy are crap. People think og more power but they never really think of the "filter" part in air filters. My top options for a cone filter consist of AEM dry flow filters and True flow foam air filters.

For a quick reference to my reasoning
Here
And Here

I've seen many more but these guys are pretty entertaining while being good.

My suggestion to you is to modify the stock system. keep the stock box and replace the stock tubing. Do that and youll have a good sound, and proper filtering.

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I never suggest these filters unless you're using the car for track or show. Main reason is that dry flow filters are more likely to allow contaminates through. They don't like water or abuse of daily driving. If your car never sees rain and doesn't get driven that much, go for it, they're great and high flowing.

AEM is just K&N's cheaper brand.

Personally, I like Specter filters. They're inexpensive and give you the same quality as a K&N, but have open ends! Plus, they offer chrome finishes on the solid bits... I mean who doesn't like chrome under the hood!? They're the same re-usable cleanable filter as a K&N, just HALF the price.

Intakes are a gimmick to gain money. It's a freaking aluminum tube with holes cut in it for sensors and a cotton filter element with a screen holding it in place.


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It's not all about flow, but how the air is transported into the intake. The shape of the pipe (like with Weapon R's) is to make a cyclone so the air isn't just... there. There is a reason intakes add 1-9hp and just the panel filters do nothing. OEM piping is designed to keep water out of the throttlebody and makes it so that air goes EVERYWHERE accept straight into the place it should. Realistically, the best design is a box with a straight tube going from it. Keeps hot air out, but delivers properly.

Oiled filters do still flow better than factory and cheap paper filters, but they do gum up the intake sensors... but who cares on our cars? We don't have MAF's! The nice thing about them is that they properly trap dirt while being high flowing.

This post has been edited by RabidTRD: May 10, 2012 - 10:40 PM

Also, just watched that video on the "Blue Turd" and "Turbo Grandpa." The Scubie has the ideal setup. They should have shown the difference with the factory piping vs the aftermarket like he ran.

aem dry flow or weapon r

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First off, I'm going to completely admit something, I'm totally doing it for sound, not looks or performance. I'll be keeping the filter in the factory box with all factory tubing so I'm not worried about water. The pipe I'm using, I'm painting semi-gloss black so it stands out less. I really don't want it to even look much different, but I know the higher flow pipe and filter will add another 1 or 2 HP and make that nice throaty sound I like when I step on it. I personally don't like Specter, the metal mesh around the filter rusts up very quickly breathing in upstate NY salty air in the winter.

Again, I know how aftermarket intakes work vs OEM, I've just been out of the "tuner" game for a while and didn't know if there were some newer, quality brands that I wasn't aware of. And it sound like no, accept AEM dry flow wasn't around before. AEM used to look just like a K&N with a chromed or anodized metal top on it.

just for sound. then make an intake but look at true flow foam filters also.

Dragon-R sounds mean..meaner then the ebay SRI filter I got.

Thanks guys, I'll probably just go with an AEM dry, as it's going into a factory box. I have some piping left over from an Integra CAI that I think I can cut to fit, I'm just going to use a circular saw to cut a hole big enough in the airbox for it to fit then spray the pipe black and use black caulk around where the pipe goes in the box. Once I get a donor box, I'll post some pics and review it.