R2C Intake Installed

Originally Posted by JARblue

I just installed the first major mod on our Z. I purchased the R2C Intake with black nickel finish from forum sponsor Tunerz_Store at a great price. Seriously awesome purchase experience as paid to received was like 4 days and same week.

I took about 30 minutes the other night to unpack and put together the intakes. I took me about an hour this morning to uninstall the stock intakes and replace them with the new R2C intakes including removing the strut tower brace and engine cover. I was able to use both the existing intake hoses by simply rotating/rerouting them and adjusting the existing clamps slightly (I have pics of this, so just ask). At this point I checked the hood and it didn't close at all. It took me another hour to adjust the heat shield enough to get the hood to close, mainly because I misplaced the wrench I was using to adjust the L bracket mount.

Anyway, I finally got to close on its own using gravity from the height I normally drop it closed (about 4 inches), but it seems much tighter than before. I know the heat shield is supposed to contact the hood, but I am wondering how pressure is being put on it - if the hood is being stressed it is not obvious to me. So I am also wondering whether its worth trying to rotate/adjust the intakes back at the throttle body since the heat shield bracket is pretty much a low as it can go right now. Anyone think it's terribly harmful to leave it even if it is a bit snug?

I never heard back from the local auto shop about baseline/no-tune dynos, so that didn't happen. I do not notice any significant difference in the feel, but I would not expect to notice even a 10 whp gain in this car - a 3% gain is pretty minimal. The sound however, is very different at about 4K RPMs and up depending on the throttle and, to a lesser extent, the gear. I am very pleased with the sound, especially for my wife, since it is just about stock sounding the way she drives the car. I have the upshift indicator set at 4K, which she says is perfect for her. She'll hear it occasionally and didn't mind it at all when I had her listen to the difference on the way to drop her off this afternoon.

I did get some before and after clips with my iPhone, but I won't have time to edit or post them any time soon. When I do, I'll be sure to add them here.



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