That actually included the entire run of the intake back to the plenum.

Temperature increase in the air intake is probably far more important than any perceived ram effect, pick cold air up, and keep it as cold as you can.

If I were waterboarded into fessing up a difference, I’d say that there might have been a more heady rush to redline. That said, I would still have spent the money to test the E39 M5 Shark version, had I not sold the car shortly before the Shark for it was available for sale… unlike the Shark versions I had before, on this one, JC makes a specific numerical hp/tq claim…

Run the car out of gas and fill it up with the highest octane Chevron gas.

Pick a ½ mile or so steep hill and run it full throttle from a standing start, noting time and speed at the top. Do this three times.

Remove the air cleaner element and run the hill three more times.

After reviewing your data showing the times and speeds are appreciably the same, pull out the owner’s manual and spend your money doing maintenance items that improve vehicle safety, reliability, and efficiency.

By the way, you can use this very same test on all the latest breakthrough miracle products designed with the express purpose of getting you to pull out your wallet, including those employing magical magnets and crystals made from secret materials not shown on the Periodic Elements charts.

I’m actually hesitant to get an aftermarket pipe on my bike to give it ~ +5hp or so (on top of the 103 or so it sports stock) because I don’t think I’ll notice the difference.

Now give me a 20-30% gain (60-90hp on the STi or 20-30hp on the bike) for $400 and now you are talking.

I don’t believe you. Please show me the specific reference to those devices. The Magnuson-Moss act allows you to use aftermarket maintenance or repair items that are not provided free of charge by the warrantor. It does not allow you to modify the vehicle outside of its design limits.

As for the Camry, I’ve seen it done. It isn’t pretty.

/Subaru guy myself
//That wasn’t obvious, was it?

Of course my car has a cold air intake stock. If you get one that goes in a place with no splashguard (like the wheel well) and drive it in the rain, you will have problems. But they do make a difference on most cars. Can’t speak about Toyotas, but why you would put one on a camry is beyond me.

CAI is NOT a waste of money, assuming you’ve already:
1) have Full Exhaust
2) have Cobb AP/OpenECU/Tune capibility

a CAI will rob power from many stock setups, as the stock ECU cannot comprehend having that much air.

For instance, Toyota considers too much air a failure condition, and will retard timing to get back to the “correct” amount of HP.

Bottom line, like many modern engine upgrades, you need to worry about the electronics just as much, if not more so, than the traditional (CAI/Cat back/etc) bits. (Not saying electronics are everything, but almost any change will require new ECU tuning on most modern engines)

This sounds like the Accessport, only with less functionality. The AP allows you to switch between maps on the fly, going from a “stock” 91 octane map to an aggressive 93 octane map, and back again should you not be able to get 93, all on the fly. It can also alter the amount of boost, which for turbos, can mean much higher HP gains (at the expense of engine life). It can also get rid of boost restrictions, making more torque at lower RPM (again, at the expense of overall engine life)

An interesting effect of the Accessport’s ubiquity is that many tuning companies, from Cobb itself, to Perrin and PDX, all offer their own AP maps to go with their intake/exhaust solution.

With the Shark, it’s not surprising that it couldn’t do very much for an NA engine. There is only so much you can do without forced induction.

I would also wonder if OpenECU supports BMW. If so, you could get the same effects as the Shark with nothing but your own computer and a much cheaper cable.

PS: CAI is completely overhyped. Generally they rob power, the only benefit is increased intake roar. Don’t tell that to any ricers, though, because they’ll tell you their butt dyno says it gave them 50hp, on top of the 10hp from the sponsor stickers.

one other thing changing the tune outside the testing station really fools with the testers heads, you won’t pass of course but it was amusing to see the state employee trying to figure out why the computer wasn’t giving him any readings at all.