BrianFiebig
Member
- :
- 08 SPEED 3
SO, my AEM CAI arrived today, after a week long journey courtesy of UPS from California, via eBay (paid $105 for it, counting shipping, good deal. NOW STOP SNIPING ME ON EVERY FORGE BPV ON THERE!!!).
Ahem
Took me right on two and a half hours to get installed, had the most trouble with the stock clamp on the pipe connecting the Turbo Inlet to the air box, the corrugated looking thing, because the screw had wiggled its way to the bottom of the pipe and it took me about half an hour of cursing to get it rotated around to the point I could get a pair of pliers on the bolt in the absence of a 10MM wrench. Other thing I had trouble with was the screw and compression fitting holding the air diverter doodad in the fenderwell. I just could NOT get a tool on the screw, and I had zero leverage on the compression fitting, so I resorted to more familiar territory, i.e. I used my thumb as a fulcrum and my 197 pounds as leverage and yanked until brute force overcame injected molded plastic.
The rest was pretty simple, stumbled a little with the return pipe from the turbo back to the intake, I was deathly afraid of breaking that rigid pipe thing, and the headlight ballast with the do not touch sticker on it cost me 10 minutes (put it on wrong TWICE before I really looked at the pretty picture supplied by AEM)
SO, got it all on, tightened it up, wound it up, retightened, took a shower, got the kid dressed, got in, and off we went.
On ignition and at idle, I couldnt really tell a difference, a little more rumbley, if a inline 4 can be said to rumble. Low RPM away from a start same same too. Then I decided it was time to see what the hype was about, and found an onramp.
Up to about 2500, its pretty much the same, perhaps a little more thrust against the seatback. Then the fun started. a suction sound from the intake, rapidly building to a shrieking whistle at about 4750, where it gets drowned out by the motor in rambunctious mode. DEFINATELY more thrust on the spine. Went to third at 5K, got a whooshing sound as I mashed the clutch, came off the pedal, and was rewarded with a 2 second chirp of the tires before the computer took over, and a nice crackling from my spine. Who needs a chiropractor, I GOT ONE OF THESE! Wash, rinse, repeat going into fourth, except it was just a chirp and a single flash from the silicon brain. Cut it off at 85 shortly after going into 4th, had the kid with me and when I purchased the car my salesman made me promise not to do anything completely stupid or insane while in the operation of the car, and going bat-shyt with my kid in the car qualified as both. Her squeals of delight and her "wow, daddy car fast and loud" was enough.
The grin firmly afixed on my face, I spent some time driving normal. 2500 to 3K shifts, rewarded with the whooshing sound punctuated with a pulse of sound on shifts. Loud enough in both cases to draw the attention of the drivers around me, and an approving smile from the guy in the bug-eye WRX at one point. Now to see what happens to the milage. Last tank was 25.08 per gallon mixed bumper to bumper, around town, with a little open highway time. Also have to find some open road where I can launch and fly.(burnout)(burnout)
So yeah, worth the muscle strain, blood loss, skinned knuckle. Get one.
Ahem
Took me right on two and a half hours to get installed, had the most trouble with the stock clamp on the pipe connecting the Turbo Inlet to the air box, the corrugated looking thing, because the screw had wiggled its way to the bottom of the pipe and it took me about half an hour of cursing to get it rotated around to the point I could get a pair of pliers on the bolt in the absence of a 10MM wrench. Other thing I had trouble with was the screw and compression fitting holding the air diverter doodad in the fenderwell. I just could NOT get a tool on the screw, and I had zero leverage on the compression fitting, so I resorted to more familiar territory, i.e. I used my thumb as a fulcrum and my 197 pounds as leverage and yanked until brute force overcame injected molded plastic.
The rest was pretty simple, stumbled a little with the return pipe from the turbo back to the intake, I was deathly afraid of breaking that rigid pipe thing, and the headlight ballast with the do not touch sticker on it cost me 10 minutes (put it on wrong TWICE before I really looked at the pretty picture supplied by AEM)
SO, got it all on, tightened it up, wound it up, retightened, took a shower, got the kid dressed, got in, and off we went.
On ignition and at idle, I couldnt really tell a difference, a little more rumbley, if a inline 4 can be said to rumble. Low RPM away from a start same same too. Then I decided it was time to see what the hype was about, and found an onramp.
Up to about 2500, its pretty much the same, perhaps a little more thrust against the seatback. Then the fun started. a suction sound from the intake, rapidly building to a shrieking whistle at about 4750, where it gets drowned out by the motor in rambunctious mode. DEFINATELY more thrust on the spine. Went to third at 5K, got a whooshing sound as I mashed the clutch, came off the pedal, and was rewarded with a 2 second chirp of the tires before the computer took over, and a nice crackling from my spine. Who needs a chiropractor, I GOT ONE OF THESE! Wash, rinse, repeat going into fourth, except it was just a chirp and a single flash from the silicon brain. Cut it off at 85 shortly after going into 4th, had the kid with me and when I purchased the car my salesman made me promise not to do anything completely stupid or insane while in the operation of the car, and going bat-shyt with my kid in the car qualified as both. Her squeals of delight and her "wow, daddy car fast and loud" was enough.
The grin firmly afixed on my face, I spent some time driving normal. 2500 to 3K shifts, rewarded with the whooshing sound punctuated with a pulse of sound on shifts. Loud enough in both cases to draw the attention of the drivers around me, and an approving smile from the guy in the bug-eye WRX at one point. Now to see what happens to the milage. Last tank was 25.08 per gallon mixed bumper to bumper, around town, with a little open highway time. Also have to find some open road where I can launch and fly.(burnout)(burnout)
So yeah, worth the muscle strain, blood loss, skinned knuckle. Get one.
I loved my AEM too. So much so, I got one for my new car!!!!
