Look around and find a picture of a modified aem/ms intake. The filter is turned down and slightly angled backwards. I think this would be much less likly to suck in water, plus its the prefered design by some race teams. I have used the aem intake in a huge dowpour on the racetrack. No issues with water.

 

^ Good Idea !! Thanks.

 

I may have found my solution . Ive been asking people with the CAI that seem not to have any problems in rain and car washes and its seems that people with the sock have absolutely no problems. So i will definitely put the sock over it. Oh and another thing i found out.
http://www.aemintakes.com/air_bypass_valve.htm
so putting the sock and this show give me a peace of mind

 

that is just way too time consuming, plus the filter is behind your bumper, I have one and I just turn my car off at the car wash and then its good

 

K&N makes a snow guard sock if you know the dimensions of the filter. Its the one im using on my rear mount turbo because it is so low. I have ran it in the rain with no issues yet.

 

Do you have trouble restarting your car after ?? I know for a fact the car wash that ill use sprays the front right on... and im worried if i turn off the car, i wont be able to turn it back lol.

 

1) Always drive with the rain sock on. There are negligible differences between driving it with and without it.

2) The rainsock will provide basic protection from most splashing and rain. However, through a torrential rain storm if you're driving at highway speeds, the water will eventually make it through and soak the filter. It this happens, you will get the occasional CEL/flashing/stuttering. Easiest solution to that is, reduce your speed, which in turn reduces your revs, which in turn reduces your RPM (less suction), which in turn also reduces the impacting speed of the rain water onto your filter.

I have personally experienced flashing CELs driving at 120 km/h on the highway during a rainstorm in 6th gear, accompanied by engine stuttering with any attempt to go any faster or application of throttle. The outside temperature was 20 degrees.

3) A wet filter is not as bad as it seems. It is when the wetness freezes that you're in big ****. Freezing temperatures will happen to you because you live in the same City as I do. A lot of americans say they have no problems because they live in climates with no freezing temperatures. A frozen filter will cut air flow to your car and your car will die from oxygen starvation. It will not start until you thaw the filter out and dry it a bit.

Don't forget that through the windchill effect, even though if exterior temperatures are above zero, your filter will experience temperatures colder than that as your car is moving. That effect is amplified with higher speeds as well.

I have personal experience to back this up.

4) The solution to your car wash problem is to keep a thick microfibre towel in your trunk. Reach in and "Casually" drape it over the CAI filter before going into the car wash. The casualness of your draping will ensure your engine still gets air to maintain idle and low revs to get you moving in and out of your car wash. This microfibre towel will act as the water absorber as its getting blasted.
When you exit the car wash, take it out, squeeze/rinse. Put it in your trunk. Take a second dry microfibre towel and reach in to blot out any more excess water thats left on your sock. There will no doubt still be some left.

Then, drive normally.

 

see I was scared about that but said hey I'll try it whatever and, it started and all was good.. so its what I do from now on. depending when you get your intake, im meeting a guy in toronto,(member here) to give him my extra bose speaker for a case of beer, and we will be installing it, ur welcome to join us then we can install your CAI

 

Thanks for the long detailed explanation Andrew. Despite the fact that you advised me millions of times not to go with this intake LOL. I really want an intake and im set on this one. The sound got to me. Ill try what you told me when i get it. Summer, spring and fall shouldnt be a problem cause temperatures are fine and the rain isnt a big deal just drive slow and low revs. Its winter thats a pain cause the car wash is usedd and if it gets soaked it freezes. Anyways thanks again brother

I am planning on ordering the intake end of april so well see how it goes and if you end up driving to toronto i would really appreciate some help installing it .

 

^ no problem we can give it a try, same time do the guys speaker... were gonna have to take your bumper off, if you choose the AEM or MS, get the AEM and get a mazdaspeed sticker lol

 

^ LOL i was thinking the same. I think ill just get the AEM and use the AEM sticker. I did find a few MS but the price is crazy high.

 

lol just take the sticker off and put on the ms no one will know lol.. have you ever taken the bumper off before ? i'll bring my tools aswell just incase.. Have to take off the side door, never done that but i'm sure I can figure that out

 

I tried to take it off once but fix something (forgot what :S) .. and gave up cause i didnt have enough time to do it. I had to go somewhere. Apparently thats the hardest part of installing this intake is the bumper removal.

If by door you mean door panel and the secondary panel behind it. I might be able to help you, ive done it before, i dropped something between my window seal and had to remove my door panel. Not too hard i could probably do it alot easier this time.

 

ok good on the door, I still have my old debit card between the door on my mazda 6 lol.. the bumper should not be too bad some screws and clips and should be off

I may do my plugs and coils aswell lol.. haha

 

Sounds good. My rear pads are almost done so i have to replace those too. Ill probably do that the same day with the CAI install.

 

yeah, sounds good mine are still good, but it would be nice to see how its done.. so you think you would be available on may 18th.. ? if so what time

 

Is that the day youre planning to come down ??? Ill probably be free all day if i dont have work. I never changed pads before ive seen it done, seems easy. I was kind of hoping youd be able to help me with it LOL cause i dont wanna **** up anything.

 

haha maybe the 3rd rx8 guy can help us ( the guy getting the speaker ) but should only be like one bolt and some vise grips to pull the cyclinder back place new pads then bolt it back and thats all

 

Yea lol. Ill bring the DIY just in case :P.

 

okay sounds good, `what is the best time for you on may 18th ?

 

Im not 100% sure yet cause i dont know if im working that day or not. Ill let you know when the time comes closer

 

bumper removal= piece of cake.
intake installation= easy peasy (make sure you install BOTH screens)
brake change= can be a PITA if your calipers are siezed up.

If I lived closer to you guys, I'd join for the fun!
A suggestion to you, Rotary is to keep your OEM intake and use that in winter.

 

^ Thats another option !!! Is to swap to stock intake in winter. You know what i will probably do that. Just to be safe and have a piece of mind . Thanks !!!!!

 

no that's not what I meant... I mean there are three sections in between the maf and the filter remove a couple of them and leave the one that attaches to the filter and just leave all the crap in the bumper but make sure it doesn't fall through the hole and then just attach a different filter to the section with the maf on it


your cold air filter will stay in the bumper and probably still get wet but it will have a chance to dry before you put it all back together when you get home from the car wash

 

I tried washing my car (after 1 year of thoroughly avoiding it) and sprayed the water right in front of the bumper, through the grill and in the air dam.

After i finished washing my car.... i turned it on and drove back home.

I also drove all the way across switzerland in a storm at 100km\h without problems.

Puddles in rome are so deep that you spray your oil coolers and they make a lot of smoke actually...

That's pretty much what the intake can take, just don't be a ***** and live with it with no problems.