Got the K&N tonight and installed it in about 30min. Very easy to install.
It came with all the hardwear besides the little allen key to tighten the clamps. It should have came with it.

Heres what I think about it.

Fitment is pretty damn good. I have noticed a little rubbing when taking off slow (automatic also) so Im just going to put some rubber stripping around the cut-out. I suggest this anyway to reduce scratches

Sound is great. It really sounds mean around 3500rpms and man when it gets to 5600rpms it screams. Then the tranny shifts. haha.
I really like the highpitched whistle at half throttle. It can be heard when the car is stock but with the intake its loud. Sounds cool. :D

Performance is great. Once it gets around 3500rpms it picks up hard. For some reason I think the low end power was reduced. The car just doesnt have that hard take off like it use to. A couple times it felt like it was bogging through 1st, but once it reaches that 3500rpm mark its gone.
When I first installed the intake, reset the ECU and went for a drive I felt no power increase at all!!!! I couldnt even hear/feel VVT-i. I drove the car for a little while and then the power came on.
Maybe I should reset the ECU again??? Or just wait a little while as the intake and the newly oiled filter to break in??

I'll be taking it to the track tomorrow to see if it made a difference.

Cools. I was just about to order it. Do you happen to have the model # handy? And what finish did u get? :)

Forgot to ask u where did u get it from and how much was it?

Do not reset the ecu again. Once you reset it the ecu has to relearn the fuel curves and adapt accordingly to your driving style. It can take a few days to get back to normal. Also the loss in low end does not exist. What happens is that the increase in top end makes it feel like you have less low end than before but in actuality it has stayed the same.

Cools. I was just about to order it. Do you happen to have the model # handy? And what finish did u get?

Forgot to ask u where did u get it from and how much was it?

I believe this it the part number. 69-8607TS
I ordered silver, seems to be the best color plus the place I bought it only had silver. It has a lot of metalic flake in it. Looks great IMO.

I bought mine from www.Vichubbard.com, it totaled to $257 with free shipping.

I'll take some pics once my mom gets home.

Do not reset the ecu again. Once you reset it the ecu has to relearn the fuel curves and adapt accordingly to your driving style. It can take a few days to get back to normal. Also the loss in low end does not exist. What happens is that the increase in top end makes it feel like you have less low end than before but in actuality it has stayed the same.

huhhmmm, Really??
So that means beating the crap out of the car once I reset the ECU wasnt the best thing to do?? The first time I drove the car down the road it felt like I was towing something. Really sluggish. Once I drove the car around for about 30-45min the power regained.
If the car takes a few days to get use to the intake would that mean taking it to the track tonight might result is slower times??

Also I thought of something that could create a ram air effect. That little cover under the driveside headlight can be taken out. Right behind that is where the filter sits. If I go to the track tonight thats going to be popped out. :D

yep do not reset ecu again like jdawg said... it takes time for ecu to re-learn stuff

P-I-C-T-U-R-E-S

Please! It looks similiar to the one AEM still hasn't put out...

yep do not reset ecu again like jdawg said... it takes time for ecu to re-learn stuff

I sure hope it learns sometime soon. The car is slow as hell. I have new 1/4 mile times. Im starting the thread soon.

Pics will be posted probably tomorrow. Im giving it a good clean and taking pics for the tC calander.

Also the loss in low end does not exist. What happens is that the increase in top end makes it feel like you have less low end than before but in actuality it has stayed the same.

Also, about this. I have proof that the low end torque is gone. My 60's are horrible. The car seems as if its falling on its face from a stand still take off. :?

maybe you should dyno it with and with out the new intake to see if there realy is a diffrance im still thinking about ordering this but i wont if there is a drop in low end power

Well people are saying 2-3days should be around the time the ECU takes to noticed a aftermarket part. It needs to get use to the different air flow.

After the cars is on its 3rd going onto its 4th day and it still has its crappy take off the intake will come off. Either that or Im resetting the ECU again.

What I have noticed with the intake is better throttle response and also that the car doesnt eat anywhere near as much gas as it use too. I guess the added air leaned out the Air/Fuel mixture somewhat.

Hmm, mine didn't take days before it adjusted. Wonder if the K&N guys did something different to mine since mine was installed by them.

My car was one of the ones they prototyped the CAI on.

Did they reset your ECU also???

VVT-i does not kick in. . . this is not a Honda or the Celica GTS VVTL-i motor. We do not switch over to a more aggressive cam. The valves are infintely variable in timing.

My whole question is why would you reset the ECU in the first place. Wouldn't the ECU recognize the new hardware eventually, and adjust accordingly to the new replacement part?

And in doing so, does this change any other characteristics in the other parts of the car...

Rumor has it, that the K/N and AEM, are virtually one in the same, so how did one pass and the other didn't?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/20005/2004_0310Image0015.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/20005/2004_0310Image0017.jpg here is mine i like it so far

Heres the pics. One thing I love about the silver is its identical to the SSM on the tC. I mean it even turns that dark grey with the right amount of light.
Sorry for the night pics. I went all out cleaning it today.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_a/740109_29_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_a/740109_30_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_a/740109_31_full.jpg

Cardomain sucks. Hold on. I'll post the pics and link to the site.
If the pics dont work, go here.
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/740109/5
If they still dont work, check later. Sorry.

naztyTC, did you notice your low end power reduce??? I seriously dont know what happen but our tC is slow. :?
I was thinking of taking off the waterjacket???

Not sure if they reset the ECU or not, I wasn't in there watching as they did it.

K&N and AEM are not the same. I was even talking to the K&N guys and they said they get a lot of people with AEM stuff and replace it out with theirs. From what he also told me... a lot of other companies usually use only a couple cars to test out their systems while K&N uses at least 6 different cars to get a good average of how their stuff is performing.

Just an update.

Tonight the car felt really lively. Im not sure if it was due to the colder weather. I dont think that was it since the last week or so FL has been somewhat cool.

Maybe the ECU is still tuneing slightly. I noticed a slight difference from a dead stop run. A few times the car seemed to choke on fuel and then pick up. The last couple of test runs the car just took off. Felt really nice also.

About the "water jacket", I was wondering if you could just take that off. That's only there if the filter is submerged, right? I mean, it won't kill the engine if the filter gets wet right? Water still won't go up there I'd assume.

Im going to take off our waterjacket. I dont know about others but my intake sits pretty high above the plastic guard. Even if it flooded around here water wouldnt get up to the plastic guard.

Little bits of water wont hurt, its just having the filter submerged that causes problems.

I took off the Jacket to see if it made a difference. I thought it pulled a lot harder with it off. Then after driving the car around it got slow again.

Then it hit me. I feel so stupid. The reason why the car feels slower with the CAI on is because its heat soaking. I pulled over and touched the intake pipe. Sure enough it was hot as hell. Next mod, heat wrap. Too bad they dont make heat wrap that looks good.

the K&N FIPK2 systems are made from molded plastic.

When those babies are eventually made (hopefully soon enough) you'll be alset. Only intake I'd ever buy again, not only are they plastic, they come with heatsheilds.

I'm waiting for Injen to hurry up and release their CAI for the tC.