1998 Toyota Camry XLE Short Ram Intake Questions

[INDCWBY]

I popped the hood on my wife's 98 Camry and saw that the Air Intake Hose was tearing from the throttle body end, past the clamp. I called around for parts pricing and was told that it may cost me as much as $78 for the replacement part alone on the standard Air Intake Hose.

I figured that if I am going to spend that much on a replacement, why not a Short Ram Intake? I'm not expecting performance from this car, but have heard some folks say that it sounds better with the SRI.

1) Has anyone modified their air intake box to fit an SRI setup? That would be more ideal than purchasing a heat shield.
2) I've only found Injen and Weapon-R having a kit for the 98 Camry? Anyone have suggestions of other brands (possibly cost effective)?
3) Is there a noticeable difference in performance and/or mileage?

Any instance with this will be greatly appreciated.....

[xpeed]

SRIs usually don't give you any gain in performance, sometimes you even lose 1 or 2hp due to lack of decent heat shield or plenum. I'm actually in the process of custom building my OEM airbox to fit a SRI as it will draw in cooler air from my OEM cold air piping.

[INDCWBY]

Question for you xpeed: Will you be utilizing both the both existing components of the air box? (Top snap off lid and bottom). If its doable, I'm planning to hit up my local salvage yard and get another one from there.....

[xpeed]

That's what I'm aiming for. I'm figuring out how to use the stock box so that the filter will be inside the box at all times.

[INDCWBY]

So, I was doing some surfing via youtube and I saw someone connect a hose from the filter to the OEM Air Inlet near the bumper. Does that make it a bootleg CAI?

[Creeps228]

To answer you question, yes its a bootleg CAI. The best bet is to go custom, like xspeed said air fliter in air box is the best bet, so you can go further and figure out how to turn it into a cold air by changing the OEM tubing/piping. Possibilities are endless but SRIs arent good at all, I actually hate mine and I'm frustrated that I threw away the OEM air box.

[The Camry]

Just for the record though, it does sound beautiful. I have a 2.2 four cylinder so I can't entirely vouch for that statement on a 3.0, but it sounds like a bigger engine on my car. I built mine because the factory piping had a hole burnt in it and i figured id just use a sri pipe and a cone filter and save the effort of looking for an OEM replacement. I noticed no change in gas mileage however, but like xpeed said, you won't notice a real positive change unless you do a true cold air intake.