Hello again,


After roughly a week on the AWE exhaust, I decided to free up (or at least attempt to) the air going into the engine as well. There were a number of varied response and feeling regarding the new comp intake from Fabspeed, but I was very intrigued and decided to pull the trigger on it. Alex was excellent to deal with and it arrived on my doorstep in Boston a day and a half after ordering it.

As I had expected (from the pictures) the piece is absolutely gorgeous, so even if there was nothing going on performance wise, I was still gonna be pretty stoked on the way my engine bay looked. Is that a good reason to do something? I suppose it's really all up to you.

The number 1 reason that I ultimately decided to do this, was to pop my DIY cherry. I've always been mechanically inclined (thanks dad) and enjoy tackling things myself...but only when I'm very confident I can eventually do it, or at the very least not make it worse . I digress. For anyone choosing to purchase this unit, the best piece of advice I can offer is to be very patient while lining everything up, and keep all the bolts finger tight (or a bit looser) while you position it around. Attaching the support bracket for the intake with a box wrench (because I'm the guy that leaves his socket set in New Jersey) prompted a number of profanity laced outbursts...most likely also brought on with the stress work in the AM. Also, don't use a $#%@$ box wrench down there...use the socket wrench, it wold have made eeeeeverything better.

I would also note that the rubber grommets for the heatshield required mild shaving to fit into the holes where the stock airbox used to live.

Once everything was finally lined up (my OCD required 6 separate installs to finally ge it right...it's an issue) it looked fantastic. Much cleaner and better looking engine bay (my opinion of course) and I'm a total sucker for carbon fiber.

On the performance front, it definitely makes my exhaust bark a bit more and the gurgle upon getting off the throttle is much more pronounced. Personally, I dig that. I have about 20 miles on it so far and I feel like it pulls a bit more above 4k than it did before, possibly allowing the exhaust to do its thing a bit better. I'll post additional thoughts as I'm taking tomorrow off and going on a serious drive to see a man about a Kimber.

All in all, I'm pleased. Tackled my first car DIY and didn't bone anything along the way. To boot, I think it makes the note better...good stuff all around. Thanks for reading.


-Alex

 

Sounds good... thanks for posting your experience so far. I too am a big fan of added sound, hp, and cf for looks.

Did you get special "6speed member" pricing? PM'ed someone at Fabspeed last week about it, but no response.

 

Yeah, I did...Alex took care of me on it.


-Alex

 

It is a pretty intake, may have to hit up Alex on that 6speed pricing.

 

How about some pictures!

 

Here ya go NorthVan. The second picture is of the bracket that secures to the engine block. I need to make an adjustment to that tonight, so I will snap a picture of where it connects as well.




and the finished (at the time...) project




-Alex


PS,

Thanks for the rep!

 

Alexman,

Thanks for the post. This very intake may very well be my first DIY mod for the P-car. I think it looks great!!! Although, my car only has 5K miles on it, and I think the stock engine bay looks great too.

I'm also very interested in an exhaust . . . I just need to wait and go to a few of the P-car meets to hear and see which is better in person.

Congrats . . . project looks great!

 

The CF looks very nice! I am not a fan of CF, but would like this since it is hidden most of the time.

 

Thanks Phoenix,

I was checking out your sig and I bet the white with cocoa is the just the *****! Sick color combo. I'll post a pic of the part that gave me the biggest hang up in hopes that you can avoid my frustration. Definitely check out some exhausts, they're all very different and I think you may be surprised at what you end up loving...the decision making is half the fun. Good Luck!!


-Alex

 

I hear ya, I'm still undecided on my feelings on CF on the interior...I think i love it, but I'm not sure. In the engine bay, I think it looks very purposeful though.


-Alex

 

I think the use of CF inside and outside is overdone. Unless it is designed for weight reduction, I think that it is a waste.

 

Very nice

 

yes its not quite as easy as the video looks!. For a start the rubber inserts for the heat shield do not fit in the holes and i did have to shave a little off with a Stanley knife. Even still i could only get the dam things started by hand. in the end I put the fasteners in hand tight(just so i had something solid to hit!) and wait for it....close your eyes...got a block of wood and a hammer to push them on there way!!. also the AL bar that attaches to the block does not sit any where near flat on the carbon intake on mine. this is because it would have been impossible to get the red hose on at the business end. so i literally just got the AL support fastener started(to allow max adjustment at the other end) then fought with getting the red hose on for 5 minutes. once the hose was on i went back and tightened the AL support bar as far as i dared.!!. it looks real slick now it in though!
I already had the full fabspeed kit apart from the intake on the car. it sounds fantastic(more exotic note) and a lot louder when when accelerating hard but no louder when cruising. there is not doubt it is possible to feel a gain in power. how much?..i don't know but it feel quicker. would i recommend it. yes, you must get it!.

 

very nice!!!

 

where did you order it from?