Generic Cold Air Intake (AEM replica) Review      Page 1 | 2 | 3 for 2001-2003 Honda Civic EX manual transmission

Installation was pretty straightforward, I knew what I was doing so it did not take too long, but one funny thing about this particular intake is that, and if you noticed from the picture, it did not came welded with any brackets!! It didn't matter much to me, as I found a way to mount the tubes onto the provided transmission bracket. (Refer to the installation article) Again, the transmission bracket really makes the installation much easier, so the generic definitely gets some points for that. But the missing brackets on the tubes offset the ease of installation from the provided transmission bracket. The filter was a bit tough to get onto the lower tube, because of its short flange length. During installation, it kept slipping off as I tried to tighten the clamp for the filter. Other than that, and the lack of brackets, the overall installation was about medium in difficulty.

During the test drive, I can immediately tell that the low end of the powerband has been affected. Throttle respond feels to be the same, but the car bogs a bit if I try to do a launch from 2,000-3,000 rpm. It wasn't as bad as when I had my InJen SRI, which I really felt a major lost in low-end torque. I couldn't even spin the wheel with the InJen SRI. Overall the lost of hp/torque in the low end isn't really noticeable, and that is a pretty good thing. After 4,000 RPM, mid range power seems to be pretty decent. The rpm climbs faster, indicating a possible increase in torque, and nearing the upper RPM ranges (5,000 RPM+) the needle climbs up even faster than before with the stock air box. Notice how I am not talking much about how I think if the car accelerates faster or not… so far, I can't tell any difference in acceleration, if anything, I know I'm not going any slower. If this intake gives any hp/torque increase, it wouldn't be more than anything in the ranges of 1 to 3 hp, and an equivalent amount of pounds per feet of torque. An increase of 1-3 hp, contrary to popular belief, isn't something you feel, unless you're super sensitive... and I seriously doubt it when a person claims they feel an 1-3 hp increase. It's most likely a placebo effect.

The intake tone is definitely "cool" it's only loud when it's supposed to be loud. During regular driving, intake tone is the same as stock before 3,000 RPM... around 3,000 to 4,000 RPM, there's a noticeable increase in volume and tone (deeper) of the intake. After hitting VTEC at around 5,000-5,500 RPM, throttle volume and tone increases even more all the way to redline. The tone wasn't buzzy or too deep, it was pretty aggressive, and similar to that of the high wailing you'll hear from an import bike. When I step on it, there's about 3 different tone and volume I'll encounter as the RPM climbs.

Generic Cold Air Intake (AEM replica) Review      Page 1 | 2 | 3 for 2001-2003 Honda Civic EX manual transmission