Intake for 8.5 gen daily driver?

[skullhuntre]

Intake for daily driver

Hey everyone I'm new to the forums and I'm new to owning my own corolla and first car. It is a 2002 corolla s with 25,000 miles on it that I bought from my grandma who never revved it and kept it in mint condition.

Now I have been searching the forums and web for information between a cold air intake or a short ram intake. I would go with the cold air personally but I am not comfortable doing a custom job on a car I have never worked on and one that has a MAF sensor. I know the benefits to a CAI outweigh the benefits of a SRI but here is what I want, maybe you guys can help me decide between a custom CAI for my car or a weapon R secret intake (SRI).

I am a daily driver and commute to work about 70-100 miles a day.

I live in Miami Florida, city driving but on workdays I am mostly on the highway and don't need to rev ecause I want to save gas.

I understand without forced induction the car won't get huge gains from bolt ons but I do want to have the agressive sound of a tuner car; I'll forgo performance I can barely feel for a sound that makes the car sound great.

My car is automatic 4 speed

I would like to get throttle response more than top speed.

My budget is $300 max for the intake and possibly $800 for a cat back later on.

Thanks for your help guys I really dot know what to choose and I didn't find tooo much info on the search >.<

[PhatRoyale]

El Prototypes did make a CAI for the 8th gen a few years ago.... they still pop up on ebay from time to time.

[iskate631]

hmm. personally i wasnt sure you could get a CAI for this car, i have the same 02 corolla in a sport but a manual. i wanted a CAI but couldnt find one anywhere. performance wise an intake wont do much of anything for this car, although i think you were saying you didnt mind that as much if i read correctly? i have an injen SRI, and the only reason it really makes any sound is i have a manual and will wind out my gears. couple friends say it actually sounds pretty nice when im taking off but in the car itself you cant hear anything other than the motor. if you want to go sound wise id say for the exhaust.

either way it should be good for a daily driver, they can actually increase your mileage slightly and will draw in colder air than stock when your driving around in hot climates. although ive yet to hit the summer heat yet or have a computer hooked up to see the exact temperature draw difference.

if you want to save gas though i dont see why youd want to "feel the induction sound" at 5k? at that point your car will be dumping gas. also i will mention your car has low miles and is in excellent condition, i wouldnt advice driving it that way if your planning on holding onto this car over 150k miles

[skullhuntre]

Originally Posted by iskate631

if you want to save gas though i dont see why youd want to "feel the induction sound" at 5k? at that point your car will be dumping gas. also i will mention your car has low miles and is in excellent condition, i wouldnt advice driving it that way if your planning on holding onto this car over 150k miles

Well I drive under 70 on the highway when theres nothing to do but on the weekends when im free with the car, a few revs to feel the power is what I am looking for. So in a way, yes I want to save gas, but no I dont plan to trash the car redlining it, just a few times when I give it gas.

Also im not sure if I mentioned but the Weapon R seems easier to install and I wouldnt have to worry about finding a fitting for the MAF sensor where the cold air intake DIY, I dont know how that will happen and I dont want to end up messing up the car with a "project" instead of a certified Aftermarket intake kit.

So your suggesting CAI<SRI for my driving profile?? I wasnt sure which one you were gesturing at.

[iskate631]

im not really suggesting either for its your decision. personally id say the SRI would be alot easier, it comes with instructions and is straight bolt on including the MAF. if your not too technical with cars id say do that unless you think your up to the challenge of making your own CAI. making it yourself youd have to worry about leaks and such, but if your following a DIY you should be alright. neither will make much difference power wise, but i got my SRI for 170$ in which you could probably make a custom CAI for less, with it pretty much doing the same thing for cheaper. if the DIY is for the 8.0 which doesnt have a MAF sensor id be a little unsure about doing it, considering you dont kno the technicalities and wont necessarily know how to modify it in.

[skullhuntre]

Alright sounds good to me, I'm going to go with the weapon r secret intake then, I'll look for a review on your intake as well and take it from there. I can't find a full cat back system from the 8.5 gen but I guess I'll just find a good muffler. I was thinking HKS but any advice for muffler shopping? Or it's another preference to the sound. Thanks for your help

[iskate631]

well for the catback, ive heard running a 2 1/4 pipe from the cat into i think a magnaflow muffler sounds really good, im actually going to try that out once i get my car back on the road.

[RoachRolla]

^yup

[iskate631]

^^^ontop of the fact i believe it frees up some horsepower due to flow restrictions from stock piping and the resonator.

[Salty_Dog]

As has been mentioned, no one makes a CAI for this car anymore. The only thing you can get is a SRI. Aside from some el cheapos on eBay, only Injen and Weapon make SRIs.

From personal experience, I would not recommend an SRI. The filter sits right above the exhaust manifold and just inhales hot air; completely defeating the purpose of the intake. I bought a used Injen just to try it out, and it hurt my performance so bad that I took it off the same day. I put in a K&N filter and it did better than the Injen.

If you insist on getting one, PM me. I'll sell you my Injen.

[CorollaTRD99]

Originally Posted by skullhuntre

Intake for daily driver

Hey everyone I'm new to the forums and I'm new to owning my own corolla and first car. It is a 2002 corolla s with 25,000 miles on it that I bought from my grandma who never revved it and kept it in mint condition.

Now I have been searching the forums and web for information between a cold air intake or a short ram intake. I would go with the cold air personally but I am not comfortable doing a custom job on a car I have never worked on and one that has a MAF sensor. I know the benefits to a CAI outweigh the benefits of a SRI but here is what I want, maybe you guys can help me decide between a custom CAI for my car or a weapon R secret intake (SRI).

I am a daily driver and commute to work about 70-100 miles a day.*

I live in Miami Florida, city driving but on workdays I am mostly on the highway and don't need to rev ecause I want to save gas.

I understand without forced induction the car won't get huge gains from bolt ons but I do want to have the agressive sound of a tuner car; I'll forgo performance I can barely feel for a sound that makes the car sound great.

My car is automatic 4 speed

I would like to feel the induction sound around 5000 rpms*

My budget is $300 max for the intake and possibly $800 for a cat back later on.

Thanks for your help guys I really dot know what to choose and I didn't find tooo much info on the search >.<

get a weapon r sri with the ram kit, instal and work the ram rube around ur battery to the front of the car and u got yourself a sri/cai my friend. i actually have this in my car and has a big umph to my car. i just dont force it too much untill i get my forged pistons and stuff

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Would be best to just make your own CAI. All it takes is a couple of alloy pipes, joiners and clamps (and the pod filter of course). Mine cost me about $130 NZD all up to make. Just takes a little patience to cut the pipes to the right length but it's definitely worth it in the end. Really improves the look of the engine bay too.

[skullhuntre]

Originally Posted by Kiwi-Corolla

Would be best to just make your own CAI. All it takes is a couple of alloy pipes, joiners and clamps (and the pod filter of course). Mine cost me about $130 NZD all up to make. Just takes a little patience to cut the pipes to the right length but it's definitely worth it in the end. Really improves the look of the engine bay too.

This is all really helpful but I have not found a DIY for this car that has a MAF sensor in the tutorial. Once again I am new to cars and dont want to mess with something custom made myself and end up having a problem later on. But I do like the idea of getting an extension and having the short ram end up right in front of the driver tire. In essence, that would be a cold air intake; the weapon R kit would come with a MAF sensor attachment, I'd just have to route the tube where the filter connects back down below the battery and in between the rain guard/tire.

Or I could just go to a auto store and build my own CAI, in theory it sounds simple enough, get the cold from outside the engine to a place where the air can travel back up to the engine bringing in cooler air that the OEM snorkel grabbing hot air. My only concern is the MAF sensor and how that will play out. After I got the intake, I did want to take the car to a cheap dyno i know here miami and have him see if everything works well with the ECU and an Aftermarket intake just to be safe.

any thoughts on my plan?

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Originally Posted by skullhuntre

This is all really helpful but I have not found a DIY for this car that has a MAF sensor in the tutorial. Once again I am new to cars and dont want to mess with something custom made myself and end up having a problem later on. But I do like the idea of getting an extension and having the short ram end up right in front of the driver tire. In essence, that would be a cold air intake; the weapon R kit would come with a MAF sensor attachment, I'd just have to route the tube where the filter connects back down below the battery and in between the rain guard/tire.

Or I could just go to a auto store and build my own CAI, in theory it sounds simple enough, get the cold from outside the engine to a place where the air can travel back up to the engine bringing in cooler air that the OEM snorkel grabbing hot air. My only concern is the MAF sensor and how that will play out. After I got the intake, I did want to take the car to a cheap dyno i know here miami and have him see if everything works well with the ECU and an Aftermarket intake just to be safe.

any thoughts on my plan?

Is the MAF sensor on your car part of the factory airbox or is it incorporated into the piping? I've never worked on a 2002 Corolla so wouldn't know. If you've got a link to the MAF sensor attachment of the weapon R intake that would be helpful.

If you can incorporate it into the piping, then you'd just have it on the pipe that the pod filter connects to. You'd just need to extend the wiring a little.

On my old set-up I had an SRI with a tube leading from the hole in the engine bay where the standard intake resonator used to be, straight to the pod filter. It was still sucking in hot engine heat but helped a little. It would be best to just go with the CAI rather than stuffing around with a SRI (unless you make your own custom air box for it to keep the heat out).


Here are some shots of the set-up I had previously. I cut a small portion of the splash tray out from the bottom so that the air could gush up and enter the flexible tubing leading to the pod filter:











Then I moved on to the custom CAI, and now the pod filter sits right in front of the front wheel (sits further away than it looks in the photo). The piping in the engine bay now runs extremely cool and I can definitely notice an increase in performance since it has been installed. Your set-up would obviously take a different route, but the concept is the same. You wouldn't need anywhere near as much piping as mine either which would cut down on costs a bit, but this should give you some idea:

[skullhuntre]

Very nice and clean setup kiwi. But to be honest, I don't even know what the MAF looks like =( such a noobie at this but I guess we all start somewhere. I do know that the OEM airbox housing for the car is pretty big and has one small tube that connects to the engine (what it seems). Heres a rough picture of the battery/airbox before I purchased the car.



Also, assuming I do go and make my cold air intake alone, where would I get an the parts necessary for this project? Im not sure if I an get the tubing like you have in yours at an autozone or home depot, perhaps a CAI universal kit?

P.S. If you notice, I would have to relocate the battery somewhere, unless I can drill a small hole below the OEM airbox to route back into the driver fender? I wanted to route it close to the fog-lamps but with my S, they already are being used in space and the only safe place away from the rain would be the typical spot very similar to where your filter is now.