Installing the intake was pretty simple. AEM provides pretty good instructions but instead of taking a wheel off I chose to remove the bumper instead. First undo the two 10mm bolts on the underside of the bumper and take out the screw on the underside of the bumper on the passenger side. Then unscrew one screw on each side in the fenderwell, and finally undo the plastic clips holding the bumper on at the top. Remove the bumper cover and you have easy access to the area where the filter will go. All that needs to be done now is remove the stock filter box, resonator, tube, coolant and vacuum lines and replace with the AEM components. It took me less than an hour to do the installation. The only difficulty I had was getting the coolant line off the throttle body and I had to slit the hose in order for it to come off.
The air filter is actually in a pretty safe place. It sits
right on top of the splash guard. If you go through a puddle backwards
or one that's as deep as the filter then I guess you get what you deserve.
BE CAREFUL and you won't have any problems.
When I took the car for a drive afterwards the first time I punched it my reaction was basically "Oh my God!!" The car pulled a LOT harder than it had before. I did lose some low end power but above 4000 the car really came alive. Now I know that it can't compare to the what a turbo or Integra motor could do but after driving the car unmodified for over a year basically any change was very welcome. I've driven in the rain every time it's rained in the past few months and so far haven't had any problems, even when going through puddles. However, I am still very cautious and press the clutch to the floor with every puddle I take. A new engine is not something I want to go through....YET.
Installing the AEM probably shaved about 10 pounds from my car.
Here you can see the old airbox and tubing minus the resonator which I
removed over a year ago. I also cut some holes right above the T
junction in the U pipe to allow cold air to reach the K&N drop in filter.
Although there were some performance gains, they're nothing in comparison
to the AEM!
Go
to AEM's website