i have a friend with a 00 si, and he ran without an intake for a couple days.(the clamp broke that connects the filter to the intake pipe and it took him a few days to realize it fell off) He didnt drive on any dirt or gravel roads but now he says his car doesnt feel as strong. i cant really tell just from riding in it but i guess he would know better than i would. he changed the oil and says it still feels the same. If you get particles of dirt (blown up from the road, or from in the engine bay) but nothing big like gravel or anything like that, could your engine be hurt? I would think it would just blow out but i guess during combustion the dirt could scratch the cylinder walls? tell me what you think.

 

He only thinks it's slower.

I bet he's fine. Fine dirt can cause scratches on the cylinder walls, but just tell him to do a compression test if he's worried. I'm willing to bet everything is fine. Same thing happened to my B16A and it runs stronger than ever.

 

it's probably just mental thing. But most likely he's fine. Small amounts of dirt is BAD, but if you can't tell difference and he can it might be just a mental thing for him or something. But like the last guy stated do a comp test and actually know if there is any damage or not.

 

placebo effect

 

He's just imagining things.

While I strongly advise AGAINST it, I have had to run a few weeks without an intake.......and everything was fine.

 

so a compression test would definetly, for sure, tell if there is any problem?

 

He forgot to turn off the A/C before racing.... y0!

Hehehe