Phase VI - Breathing Better With a Intake

So now with the exhaust in place and adding some extra power and sound it was time to look at the intake system for an upgrade. Since there wasn't much on the market at the time from the big players in the industry we started nosing around and found that America's favorite air filter maker, K&N, had plunged into the import market and produced a system for the RX8. Dubbed the typhoon, this baby was a polished design over 3" in diamiter caped off with their time tested filters nicely trimed in real carbon fiber. After making a call to K&N we learned that the system was claiming about 10 H/P for the intake and that they used the carbon fiber not only for looks but the extra cost was worth it to reduce the amount of heat soak. Hmmm….Good enough for us. We ordered it on the spot.

A few weeks later the box arrived and we were surprised to see the size of the filter. Our fist instinct was that the shipping department made a mistake and sent us an intake for a Hemi Ram Truck. Not so, this thing was made for the RX8 and looked as though it was capable of inhailing small children if they strayed too close to the front of the car. A small evil grin spread across my face and I went right to work.

The kit comes complete with all nessasary hardware and detailed instructions so installaton was very easy and took about a half hour. All the vacume hoses were reused and had their own connection points that presented no unexpected surprises. The large filter takes up the entire space left behind by the stock air box and even comes with a bracket so the stock engine cover can be reused. Once the install was finished we started the car and let her idle for a few minutes and checked for leaks. No leaks. At idle the intake is audible enough to be heard out side the car with the hood closed. When you step on the gas is sounds more like an angry Darth Vader inhailing with the force of a ShopVac, sucking in everything within a 2 foot radius. I swear I could feel the sucksion pulling my clothes of my body. I guess this is what it must feel like to be close to a black hole.

Out on the street the intake almost sounds like a turbo spooling up in between shifts. A little extra punch can be felt at take off and throttle responsiveness is increased all through the RMP band. Again my evil grin reappeared and with the new intake dubbed Darth, I drove off into the night running each gear to redline. Man I love this job!