removing the air box...need advice

Towelboy

Member
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'05 mazda3 2.3sp
Is it possible to remove the factory P5 air box and air dam (in front of radiator) and just attach a cone filter? If so, will it do any damage or will it add any power/throttle response? I don't care if it looks good, I just want a little better performance and a little growl under the hood. Do I really need a SRI if I just remove the air box and attach a cone filter? Will it give me the same results?
 
but in reality...
at the cost of a cone filter $20+ tax at your local autozone I would just get the SRI, KYMP5 has them for around 50 shipped (with the cone filter obviously)

but if u want to save bucks than your answer is yes...
 
you can also get the ebay intake for like $40. people here say it works fine....
 
protejay5 said:
you can also get the ebay intake for like $40. people here say it works fine....
You could, but I would replace the filter it comes with with a K&N. That costs $$$.
 
i've got the monsterflow sri ( with foam filter) for $45.00 right now , we are moving the shop so everything is going out at cost- chris
 
Well, my main question is...would connecting a cone filter in the place of my airbox give me the same results as a SRI? I know it will not look as good as a pollished SRI, but looks do not matter to me. I just don't want to unplug things to connect a short ram when I could just connect a cone filter to the MAF. Would that cause problems or give me better throttle response/power?
 
An SRI is a better value. They cost almost the same as a cone filter by itself, and they have a smooth, metal body which will reduce turbulane in the air. Either way, the result in power wil be about nil, but the sound will probably be better with an SRI anyway. I'd go with a short ram.
 
i had a cone on the end of my MAF for a while and when i went to a sri i noticed a small difference but nothing spectacular. a sri looks better and sounds a little better than just a cone filter
 
Ok, I guess you guys have won me over. Now, should I get the Ractive or the Monsterflow? About the same price, any difference between the foam vs the cone filter?
 
ive never messed with the foam so i cant give you an good answer there, FC3, you know what the differences are?
 
If I were you and are looking to save money, I would just get a drop-in K&N ($30)filter and cut out the bottom of the stock box as someone previously mentioned. I did this before getting an AEM SRI. It makes the car sound better and you get better gas mileage. You will get slightly better performance by getting a Ractive/Monster intake but the filtering is not as good as a K&N.
 
Towelboy said:
Ok, I guess you guys have won me over. Now, should I get the Ractive or the Monsterflow? About the same price, any difference between the foam vs the cone filter?
a paper filter will out flow a foam filter brand new, but once dirt starts getting on it a foam will out flow the paper, I usally sell just the monster flow filter for $60.00, but i have a few sri kits that need to go before we move shops- thanks chris @ spd racing
 
here ya go
 

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with my Ractive, I could not figure where to secure the damn J bracket to secure the filter. so now i periodically have a little rattle againt the plastic container. I will fabricate somthing to secure that.

maybe with the monsterflow, since it looks foam and plastic at the filter portion, that rattling would be less noticable (but not gone completely)

just thinking out loud here....
 
elias1974 said:
with my Ractive, I could not figure where to secure the damn J bracket to secure the filter. so now i periodically have a little rattle againt the plastic container. I will fabricate somthing to secure that.

maybe with the monsterflow, since it looks foam and plastic at the filter portion, that rattling would be less noticable (but not gone completely)

just thinking out loud here....
I can sell you one of the filters if you want i have to get rid of these pronto before we move our shop
 
i had relocated my coolant tank before i installed my ractive intake and was not aware of any rubbing there. ill dig around and see if i come up with anything
 
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