Cold Air Intake

K

Kyle04Mazda3s

Member
:
2004 Mazda 3s
Hey everyone,

I am researching cold air intakes for my 2004 Mazda 3s manual. So far I've found AEM, K&N, and Injen kits. I was wondering if there was a superior brand for my car or if it's just buyer preference. Does anyone have any information or suggestions for me? Thanks for your time!
 
Injen!!!! I own one and love it! Sounds great and has good performance!

In my personal experience I have found that short rams on a Mazda 3 lose a freaking crap load of low end so its almost as if the car bogs terribly and if you put the pedal to the floor its like your going no where (happend to my friend also)! So I would definitely say get a full CAI! (Injen of course :) hehe)
 
Kyle04Mazda3s said:
Hey everyone,

I am researching cold air intakes for my 2004 Mazda 3s manual. So far I've found AEM, K&N, and Injen kits. I was wondering if there was a superior brand for my car or if it's just buyer preference. Does anyone have any information or suggestions for me? Thanks for your time!
Click to expand...



Injen all the way, if you go with AEM of K&N the filters sit in the worst spot possible, If you look at the driver side wheel and look towards the front of the car you will see the vent in the plastic fender liner, well the AEM and K&N sit right there, now imagine if you were driving in rain, or light rain at that fact. Now the Injen sits under the fuse box, behind and below the driver side headlight, plus the injen gives a more deep sounds when driving. Only down side is you have to position the tubing the right way so it doesn't rub against the fan hardware. id give it a 9/10.
 
+1 on Injen, I had it for a few years while I was still NA and loved its sound. Remember to unhook the MAF wiring from the battery box though, or else you'll have to extend and repin the MAF wires since they'll eventually get pulled loose while the engine torques... super common problem when using an intake on the 3.
 
TRUE said:
05mazda3bud whats ur impression of ur grounding kit? what brand?
Click to expand...

Well seriously its as easy as going out to ace hardware and buying parts. I spent 18 dollars on my grounding kit. Use 6-10 gauge wiring and get large enough loops for the end of the wires. Ill give you picks to your email if you need to find out where they go. And you can definately feels theres no lagg when you hit the gas. I recently saw an Autoexe ground kit for 235 dollars and i was like really? how could someone be that dumb
 
I have an 02 mp5 and i was deciding between the Injen CAI and the K&N CCA, because i've heard great things from Injen, but my step dad who works on cars says that K&N is always the way to go...any help?
 
well k&n filters are good, no doubt about it. but its really a generation thing, all older people say k&n is the best and nothings better. but for tuner cars like ours, go with the injen, good build/sound/gains, injen is a well known and proven brand in the performance world! and i heard terrible things about the k&n typhoon if your looking at that!
 
Canada?

Anyone know where in Canada to get an Injen CAI? I've look at a lot of places and no one seems to carry them. I'm in South Ontario, any info would be great! :)
 
this is what it would look like just without the spash shield
 

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I'm going to bring this thread back up. So I'm finally getting around to fixing my wife's 3. Last winter a run in with an small iceberg in a parking lot caused the air box to break into a few pieces. It only damaged the baffling not where the air filter sits (part of the reason why I didnt fix it right away). So anyway long story short the OEM replacement part is crazy expensive. So much so that I could pick up an aftermarket CAI for the same price. However rather then spend the $220 on this Injen CAI... has anyone tried the eBay knock off version? It's $53 and the piping looks identical.

Here is a link to the intake I'm talking about... eBay Intake link
 
my dude rob has one of those on his car, he said he had to customize it a little bit to fit because it didnt fit directly out of the box (i forgot what he said he had to do, im pretty sure it was heat up some of the silicone tubes so they would expand so they fit where they were spose to) and he said he does get a CEL after a hard rain, prolly because that filter has an open mouth and its not closed off like the injen so rain drops can roll down ur hood line into the engine bay directly on top of the cone (this mostly happens in sedans, but he had a hatch and had cel issues), but thats unconfirmed. i have the injen cai and ive never had a problem once and no customization! its really your choice, but you get what you pay for, cheap for cheap or price for nice! :)

in which ever way you go, id suggest to cover up ur wheel well :)
 
o5maz3subd,
any chance i can get thsoe pics too? i was thinking of doing the grounding myself as well. thanks, in advance.
 
TRUE said:
my dude rob has one of those on his car, he said he had to customize it a little bit to fit because it didnt fit directly out of the box (i forgot what he said he had to do, im pretty sure it was heat up some of the silicone tubes so they would expand so they fit where they were spose to) and he said he does get a CEL after a hard rain, prolly because that filter has an open mouth and its not closed off like the injen so rain drops can roll down ur hood line into the engine bay directly on top of the cone (this mostly happens in sedans, but he had a hatch and had cel issues), but thats unconfirmed. i have the injen cai and ive never had a problem once and no customization! its really your choice, but you get what you pay for, cheap for cheap or price for nice! :)

in which ever way you go, id suggest to cover up ur wheel well :)
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Do you have a shield around the air filter on your Injen setup?

If this friend of yours only had problems with the couplers... that really isn't much. Also sounds like if he would have put a shield around it then he would have had potential water issues. I'm pretty sure I could make myself a shield to go around the air filter, plus I buy Samco Sport couplers to replace the crap ones that are supplied with the kit. All of which would be much cheaper then buying the Injen kit for $222 (cheapest I could find it). However my main concern was with the piping quality... as in that they actually fit up right and are not bend wrong.
 
CSVT#49 said:
Do you have a shield around the air filter on your Injen setup?

If this friend of yours only had problems with the couplers... that really isn't much. Also sounds like if he would have put a shield around it then he would have had potential water issues. I'm pretty sure I could make myself a shield to go around the air filter, plus I buy Samco Sport couplers to replace the crap ones that are supplied with the kit. All of which would be much cheaper then buying the Injen kit for $222 (cheapest I could find it). However my main concern was with the piping quality... as in that they actually fit up right and are not bend wrong.
Click to expand...

well some people have trouble with the cheaper intake piping but then some peoples fit perfectly, im not sure why. but its really hit or miss. as far as i know he dint have any type of water protection. i however tho have an injen hydroshield over my cone filter and i blocked off the vents in my wheel wells to prevent water slashing up from the tires on to the cone. i also have all my factory splash guards and shields
 
To install Injen CAI am i gonna have to remove front facia or anything??? Or can i just do it with hood open?
 
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