The Sophia Project

SS_Firehawk

AEM Cold air Intake
Part were installed by Force Fed Racing. other mods installed at the same time were pulley's, oil cooler and M370 intake manifold (manifold was not on during dyno's due to unknown problem)

Package: This kit comes with more screws, clamps and zip ties than I needed. Box was in great condition, and components were well protected.
Installation: We had to remove the front bumper, unbolt the wheel well, remove the wheels, and a few other misc parts to get the intake tubes into their proper location. This took a bit of trial and error. Everything else bolted on fine. Pretty straight forward for the most part. The maf sensors are located at the bottom of the intake tube, not up top near the throttle bodies. These are not as simple as shorties, but badassery dictates it was well worth the additional trouble.
Warning: If you are running an oil cooler that was as large as my AE performance oil cooler, the windshield washer reservoir will not fit in the relocated spot because it runs into the oil cooler. (in front of the radiator top driver side)
Appearance: I bought the dark grey colored tubes to match my pulleys and keep the bling out of the engine compartment. They look amazing! I open the hood and there are these ominous tubes that lead downward and out of sight. It compliments my header pipes well because now I can actually see them! It's understated awesomeness. These are obviously my own thoughts. If you are looking for more bling factor, get the chrome ones. The paint helps prevent the scratches that come with sliding metal across metal as well.
Performance: Looking at the dyno charts, there was a large performance gain across the board. It may be difficlut to discern the difference between the pulleys and CAI, but it is known that most of the gains from CAI's are at the top of the rpm range. Pulleys I believe on average are about 5whp throughout the rpm range. The results are untuned and AFR's were between 13.5 and 13.8 throughout most of the run, with the exception being 4100-5000 rpm where it peaked at about 14. It's easy to see because the curve is slightly different there. Look at the dyno sheets and interpret them as you see fit.
Conclusion: With most of us seeing diminishing returns on our mods after our first one, I was surprised to see 10WHP throughout the entire rpm range and up to 16 more above my last dyno. I do not really hear any sucking sound from the CAI, nor do I hear any exhaust pitch changes. There may be a slight difference, but I do not notice it. I highly recommend this over the Injens and Stillens based solely on value. Performance seems on par with it's competitors and I don't have to oil my filters.

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