christianbe

Well, here it is on the old gal... http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SPE-9948/



Here are my thoughts on it thus far. It was a very simple install process which I knew it would be due to the numerous reviews of this product already out there. That being said the ONLY reason I purchased this product was to raise my intake level up for water crossings and such. IF there were any horsepower gains (I knew there would be little if any) that would just be the icing on the cake because the stock intake actually did a good job at bringing in the fresh air. In the many reviews that I read, there was always a mention of it being loud inside the cabin which I expected as well, which isn't a huge issue to me either since my Xj is a 1992. After 20 years on the road she is pretty noisy so adding a little on top wont really hurt anything.

All that being said, I was planning on being extra tough on this product from a review standpoint because of my experience in the aftermarket industry. I am the director of marketing and a engineer/designer for Arrington Performance / www.shopHEMI.com and aftermarket is what we do although its on a different platform. We know what makes them go and how to make them last. There are a lot of us here that are Jeep enthusiasts including myself so I couldn't wait to see what I was getting for my $150 plus shipping. I have to say that I definitely got my moneys worth with this product. It was easy to install and my intake is now at a much higher level than previous with the stock instake. Its also nice just to be able to take your hand and lay it on the driver side of the cowel and feel the cold air rushing in. That being said it is fairly loud inside the cabin, but let me explain before you make a judgment call. During the warmup cycle of the engine, I have to admit that its pretty annoying... at idle and through about 2k rpms its like a hissing. However, after you get the thing up to temperature its all but invisible at idle and up through 2k rpm. What I think is really cool about it is how it sounds when I get on it. MEAN! Over the next couple weeks I will try and figure out what if any effect it has on my gas mileage and report back here. I know there is a competing product out there called "THOR" which I might also give a try, but I have to tell you that for the money I think this is a great product if you can tolerate a little extra sound inside the cabin.

Click-Click-Pull

Very cool... can't wait! Thanks for the write up

christianbe

You are very welcome.

XJ-92

looks good. this is actually my next upgrade once i get paid from work.

DieselD

Got one too! I'm planning on opening the hole in cowl equal to the tubes opening and making the edges smooth and adding RTV around it. I'm thinking that may quiet some of the hissing and scraping like noises from it. I noticed the 3" hole is round (obviously) and the tube that attaches to the hole is more like an oval.

Where'd you order your from? I got mine from summit, they had free shipping.

93XJLI

i've read a lot of complaints about the filter being too small, getting dirty quickly, and causing issues (no air=no power, timing getting pulled, etc). thats the only thing i worry about with this setup. its something i want to do, since with my larger MC and relocated washer fluid bottle behind the stock airbox, i need a new airbox/filter to do the cowl intake.

jtodaro

How is the intake to hood clearance with this installed?
Would one of the TB spacers and this intake present a problem?

DieselD

Yea a TB spacer wouldn't work.

Clearance is close but enough. Make sure you don't mount it to high on the firewall like me. Lol.


As to the filter getting excessively dirty. I haven't read any one complaining about that. Just the usually debate of paper vs high flow dirt particulates and what not. That said it does need to be serviced with oil. I will see soon. I need to take it off and install 784s, its will be right at about 3k since install. With a 1500 mile trip in there. I'll post how dirty it is or isn't.

93XJLI

it IS an oiled filter? ugh. i'll probably be making my own thing then.

DieselD

Yea and this is on my DD. For the wheeler (which I want this I take on to save space and raise it) I've been looking for a filter that fits and is paper... no luck yet.

christianbe

I installed it last weekend bro, and I made sure to shop-vac out the cowl really thorough before final installation, so it should be all good. That being said I will be pulling it out this weekend to check it, because I read some of those same reviews. I will post back here and let you know what my findings are.

I have some buds with the THOR cowl intake on their XJ's and I am probably going to order/install one of those as well, just for comparisons sake. Different noise levels, possible HP gains, etc... I'll let you know what I find out.

93XJLI

Werd. I did the cowl intake on my old XJ and it was great, I used to love pretending it was a boat. Just don't have the room in the current rig.

Tazer15

Just to add some input here hope it helps the xj/mj crowd out.I have a Macs cold air intake on my LJ.Im making one for my sons MJ now may sell a kit but need to do the testing first.Now that I have mine to look at the MCAI uses weather stripping all the way around the edge of the cowl and has foam plugs for holes that may let dirt in.It also uses for lack of a better word a ram air intake(cheap plastic scoop seen them in 4wheel parts catalog) on top of the cowl you just cut a square hole in the vent install the provided filter holder and it gets another paper square stock filter there.Not sure ill go that far yet im in the middle of figuring out what cone style filter I want to use and something nice and clean to do with all the vaccum lines he has a renix so its a mess.Mainly doing this to fix his blowby issue just adding the CAI while im in there.Mine works awsome sounds great and doesnt get overly dirty. They do use an oiled K&N cone on my system which I dont like but it hasnt caused a problem.Im putting a v8 in the jeep so I wont worry about changing mine.