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-   3rd gen Engine/Drivetrain (https://www.mazda3club.com/3rd-gen-engine-drivetrain-57/)
-   -   Ractive short ram intake...any good? (https://www.mazda3club.com/3rd-gen-engine-drivetrain-57/ractive-short-ram-intake-any-good-19868/)

TheMAN February-16th-2003 10:16 PM

I'm certainly not... but IMO, it's way better than what CAI setups we have so far ;)

Scarmiglio February-17th-2003 02:42 AM

Funny, K&N recently released a cold air intake of their own for the 2.0L. Apparently they thought that the Injen was a good design, as theirs is almost identical. Of course, it being K&N and all, the intake is going for $399. God only knows why K&N thinks that people who own an economy car (no offense) are willing to spend this much on an intake, but they do. Frankly, I think that the Injen is worth the money on the looks alone, but as people here buy air intakes for power (wink, wink) I guess the looks don't matter.

Air intake power is almost entirely in your mind anyway. Your brain hears more noise when you floor it and that translates to feeling like you're going faster. If you've ever been in a Mustang or a Camaro when it was at WOT, it feels damn fast (and noisy). However, get in a BMW 540i and you hardly even feel like you're moving because it's so quite and smooth.

Obviously, write-offs are great, but leasing a car is like renting an apartment. It isn't yours, you're just borrowing it, and you'll never own it - let alone pay it off and not have a car payment for a while. I realize that with business write-offs this is beside the point, but if you really want to tune your car, buy it first. Lord have mercy on you if you ever get audited with all the stuff you seem to be writing off. It's all fun and games until the tax man comes a knocking!

By the way. Neither AEM nor Injen use K&N filters, but this hardly matters as K&N filters aren't that special anyway. It's just a name. As a matter of fact, HKS foam-style filters have been shown to work better long term than K&N filters anyway. K&N's claim to fame is that they were the first ones to create a high-performance replacement for OEM/FRAM-style paper filters. Don't get me wrong, K&N filters are well-made quality filters, but as long as you don't buy no-name filters on ebay, you are likely to get a decent product (AEM/INJEN/HKS/APEXi).

As far as ebay goes, good luck getting your money back or making a warranty claim with most of the people who sell on ebay. Most of those guys are not making any money on the product in the first place. They've only been in business for a couple of months and haven't figured out yet that they're going to go BK in another couple of months. Auto parts don't have margins like clothing manufacturers. If an aftermarket auto part is marked up more than 30% then you're doing well. Keep in mind that no-one sells Injen/AEM intakes for retail price to begin with. I believe that the Injen retails for $330 and yet most places sell it for $250. Any guesses on what cost is? No one can stay in business selling an intake for $200 when they're buying it for $180 unless they're selling a boatload of them - which none of your ebay retailers are doing.

Arguing on a message board is pretty lame. People come here for information, not to read what a couple of uninformed fools type to each other. Why don't you guys get on ICQ together so you can talk trash in real time and leave the rest of us out of it?:bonk:

N2OInferno February-17th-2003 02:55 AM

Where did you see that the foam HKS filters are better off? I'm not trying to start an argument about that, I'd just like to know. Sounds like a good read to me.

Also, all this velocity-based intake function stuff isn't really getting to me. I owned a Mustang for a while and there were quite a few ram air kits out there, which in essence is the same thing that you guys are trying to simulate, it seems. Pushing air into the intake.. But air isn't going to be forced into the intake in an open engine bay any more than what it sucks in, so I don't understand how velocity has anything to do with it. Also, a ram-air setup doesn't start effectively generating power until you start going fast, but it is also directly velocity related, unlike having a short ram filter in your engine bay, I'd think. That's because most correctly designed ram air systems flow straight into the intake, and don't flow all over the engine bay. In this way, it does "force" air into the intake and that's where you draw your power from.. Although, like I said, you need good speed to make a ram-air system work effectively.

With all of that said, has anyone ever had experience with the DGM ram air intake? I was just curious if it's designed well and if it actually produces any power.

Mach 1 February-17th-2003 07:36 AM


Originally posted by Scarmiglio
Obviously, write-offs are great, but leasing a car is like renting an apartment. It isn't yours, you're just borrowing it, and you'll never own it - let alone pay it off and not have a car payment for a while. I realize that with business write-offs this is beside the point, but if you really want to tune your car, buy it first. Lord have mercy on you if you ever get audited with all the stuff you seem to be writing off. It's all fun and games until the tax man comes a knocking!
Of course this is all true, and Unclebuz was extremely unwise to lash out at me and make remarks about education, when he was actually making the stupid comments.

Exactly like you did with the follwing remark:


Originally posted by Scarmiglio

Arguing on a message board is pretty lame. People come here for information, not to read what a couple of uninformed fools type to each other. Why don't you guys get on ICQ together so you can talk trash in real time and leave the rest of us out of it?:bonk:

I may be a lot of things, but an uninformed fool isnt one of them. So why dont you go f--- off. If you dont want to read what is written here, then dont. I was attacked by an idiot for no reason and tried to defend myself while ending the argument and keeping the bitching to a minimum, because I already know this isnt the place for it. If you cant see that, then guess who the uninformed fool is? Try the mirror.

Scarmiglio February-17th-2003 11:16 AM

As far as foam filters (HKS) vs. gauze filters (K&N), I got that information from tests done by true flow (www.trueflow.com). They have run tests and found:

"With engine protection in mind we also recommend our foam filters. While we offer gauze filters as an alternative, foam filters offer superior filtration (dirt catching capability) without decreasing the engine's performance."

Hey Mach 1, telling me to F-off goes a long way toward making you look like less of an uninformed fool. Thank you for helping me make my point. ;)

Makaveli February-17th-2003 02:16 PM


Originally posted by Mach 1


I may be a lot of things, but an uninformed fool isnt one of them. So why dont you go f--- off. If you dont want to read what is written here, then dont. I was attacked by an idiot for no reason and tried to defend myself while ending the argument and keeping the bitching to a minimum, because I already know this isnt the place for it. If you cant see that, then guess who the uninformed fool is? Try the mirror.

Do you have the capabilities to lead a normal conversation in real life? Doesn't seem so as you tell people to F off instead of saying 'Thanks for the info'.....

Anyways, cheapest intakes that I've seen are from a local shop here, 120$ CDN I think for the Ractive intake including the filter....

Mach 1 February-17th-2003 02:26 PM


Originally posted by Scarmiglio

Hey Mach 1, telling me to F-off goes a long way toward making you look like less of an uninformed fool. Thank you for helping me make my point. ;)

Actually, thank you for helping me make mine, you just proved it again.

TheMAN February-17th-2003 02:35 PM

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