So I find myself stopping at McGrath Acura (after the Chicagland ITR meet)
to say hi to Bob who sold me my 98. At only 10,000 miles he said it was the cleanest one he has seen.
Anyways, one of the mechanics comes out and says if I want more air intake and a throatier growl on VTEC to remove the air filter cover.
Since I am trying to keep the car as close to stock, I say sure lets try it.
3 screws and the cover comes off, and indeed I do like the sound, thing is will removing the cover hurt the engine at all? (I mean other than risking intaking something other than air.)
Thanks.

 

Sounds mean, but hurts performance. Keep it on. Good to meet you yesterday Glenn. We both have virgin engine bays.

 

Yes keep it on if you want the best throttle response.. Off for impressing the crowd
with intake noise only..

 

Removing the filter doesn't hurt the engine at all. What you have effectively created is a ‘short ram’ intake.
On the plus side, you have a lower resistance less restrictive flow to the engine (and a VTEC sonic boom sound).
On the minus side you will be ingesting the hot, less dense air from inside the engine bay.
The gains achieved by removing the filter is way overshadowed by the losses from the hot air. In short, you’ll get more power with it on.
IF you want the awesome sound AND power, I recommend a cold air induction system like the AEM or (my personal favorite) the Comptech ICEBOX.

 

Thanks you VERY much for your excellent advice.
I am so glad to have access to such sound advice, while owning this most exciting car.

 

I would also like to point out that the stock airbox design is apparently quite good and if I had to do over again I would most likely just put a K&N filter in the stock unit.

 

for stock, the best thing you can do is add a K&N, Comptech, or Spoon Drop In Filter and leave the intake AS IS! Believe it or not, the stock intake serves a purpose. Every bit and piece does more than just keep it quiet... it also produces power by making it quiet. The resonance chambers produce sound waves that cancel out the noise, but also use those sound waves to cram in more air.

 

K&Ns are bullshit. http://www.seansa4page.com/resource/airfilter.html

I'll keep my engine clean rather than add 1 measly hp.

 

Sorry, but that argument is as much bullshit as the filter.
The author obviously did not understand how K&N filters work.
It has nothing to do with the filter surface area, and everything to do with the
charge of the filter oil. The negatively charged oil attracts small particles, especially ones that could
go through a paper filter.
Its simple, the K&N filter does filter better, and it does last longer.
I can't say wether it truly makes power, but it certainly feels that way.

aet

 

I'm a K&N filter fan.

K&N Filter
Foam filters