Journey for the perfect CAI / Mishimoto CAI Customization

Starting to dive into modding my car and started with a Cold Air Intake. I was searching for a cold air intake that offered two things:

1. Increased performance
2. Aesthetically pleasing.

I was at a crossroads to go for the Mishimoto intake or the PRL Motorsports intake. I understood that the PRL motorsports intake was the best value in terms of performance gains, but the cheap looking black plastic box just really steered me away from it as it did not fulfill something I was looking for aka being aesthetically pleasing when looking at the engine bay. So I decided to order the Mishimoto intake because they had dyno sheets claiming decent gains, and the carbon fiber lid looked awesome.

Below is picture of it after installation:


Although I was pleased with how it looked and sounded, I was disappointed with how it performed. There was a noticeable loss in throttle response and low end torque. The difference wasn't massive but I drive my car about 50 miles a day and it was VERY noticeable to me. I had a friend drive it with the OEM intake and with this intake he agreed that he could feel the loss of torque as well. This was discouraging to have these kind of results. After comparing the stock intake to this Mishi one I was trying to figure out what could be causing it. The only real difference is the cone filter which in theory should be less restrictive so I ruled that out and the hole in the front of box. I assumed it must be the hole in the box causing it to suck in hot engine bay air instead of using the factory snorkel only like the OE intake. I decided I would make an airtight cover for the hole to test my theory.

Below is what I came up with:





What you see above is some orange plastic I had laying around in the garage, along with a rubber hose to line the outside of the hole to make an "airtight" gasket. I bolted together a piece of plastic on the inside and outside of the box to sandwich together against the gasket and the box. I drove it this way simply as a test that was proven to be successful. Low end torque and throttle response was restored by using the factory snorkel only instead of also having a mixture of hot air coming in from the engine bay. Now from this stage and knowing my idea had worked I had to come up with a better looking solution which can be seen below:



The finished product is a custom made 3k twill matte carbon fiber cover that matches the Mishimoto lid for the intake quite well. I ordered a Carbon fiber sheet and used a Dremel to do a rough cut and then wet sanded it down to get a near perfect shape and made a much better gasket using the a type of hose that would be used for vacuum lines in the engine bay so I knew they were heat resistant just like the carbon fiber would be. With this setup I have the performance and looks I was hoping to get. Mishimoto should sell these as a closed system to begin with. Either way with a little TLC was able to get a setup I am very pleased with. To finish this setup I plan on switching to the PRL Silicone intake tube as well. I will post more pictures tomorrow.