borisoft

I'm looking into getting a Cold Air intake on my 1.8L '98 ES. Question is, will an intake designed for the 1.8L '99 ES fit my car? Is the layout of the engine any different in both models? I was looking into a Ractive, HKS supermegaflow, or an essentialspeed maybe. I'm sure one of you guys knows. Thanks.

midnightblue97

the 99 intake, more than likely won't fit because its a different engine. You could buy the ractive I guess, but AFAIK its not a cold air since you said you were looking for one. I don't know about the HKS as I wasd unaware that they made one for the second gen.

turbonium959

You can build your own for less then $50.

borisoft

So is that effective? Is it noticable? I'd imagine having the pipe going down further is more effective than having a cone filter. How was it welding that red beam to the pipe?

turbonium959

I just needed someting sturdy to make sure that there are no vibrations and CAI was solid. I do plan autocrossing, and you will not pass tech inspection if you have things loose in the engine bay. So, I had it measured out by eye, and tack welded with my assistant manager's help. And as with all the intakes, the power gain is marginal and noticeable only at higher RPM, and you do lose torque and acceleration, but again marginally. And of course, you have got to love the sound it makes! Good luck with your plans.

midnightblue97

Where'd you pick up those pipe clamps?? I can't find any 2.5" for mine. After that all I need is a Crankcase breather.

Samus

keep your cold air 9-12" from the ground. this will resist its urge to suck up water and be punctured by rocks. people who put it so low are running the same risk my friend pete did with his 02 eclipse. he drove through water, engine sucked it in, compression slamed the water and it blasted his connecting rod into 3 large chunks (those who wants pics, email me i have o'plenty, it aint pretty.)

the air in front of your engine compartment is practically the same temp as the air under it. besides, the ideal place to mount the cold are is to the right of the a/c cooling fan, away from the radiator heat.

Samus

ohh yea, forgot. those with 2nd gens, just build ur intakes, they're cheap to make and hella cheaper than the reactive which has debatable performance increase.

borisoft

Okay, so i'll build one then. Where do you recommend i get the piping and clamps? What type of filter (and size) should i go with? K&N? Thanks.

Oh yeah, what do you guys think about heat shields around the cone filter? Is that worth it?

turbonium959

I used a two inch exhaust pipe, only because we had some scrap ones all over the place at work. Rubber elbow and connectors are from Home Depot, and the filter is a universal from Autozone ($20). As for the pipe for you, I would recommend a u-bend pipe from JC Whitney, and then cut it out to any measurements you might make.

Samus

I've also seen people buy 1.8L kits and hack them up to make them fit around the first bend from the manifold ,which practically needs a 90' angle.

borisoft

Here are some pics of my 1.8L 1998 engine. You guys tell me what will fit it. Im about to just get the ractive (which is like under $100 right?) and just get a better filter, just need to know what website sells the damn thing. I saw it like last week but can't seem to find them anymore.

firelizard

You could saw off part of the air box and stuff in a cone filter, no?

cornercarve98

The airbox will actually detatch from the MAF sensor. So you could stick a filter right on if you wanted. I have a nice (haha) Autozone intake pipe and filter for my 1.5. The power gained or sustained is at the high end (around 5000 or so) while you lose a little bit of low end...well not that I had a low end to begin with, the engine being so small. The response from a bigger intake and filter is better, plus I found it smoothed my idle a bit. I also found that with the flat filters in the stock airbox, only 1/4 of the filter was actually noticeably being used (!). The rest of the filter area caught whatever was left. For you California drivers (or any place that has a lot of smog) with stock filters, this is very noticeable where 90% is going through your filter.

Intakes sound fun when you dip into the throttle. So you'll at least have that if a performance increase is not noticeable (though with a 1.8, it should be---more cubic inc...er I mean liters).

firelizard

Anybody have pics of their setup?