Happy Easter to all. I was looking online at an air intake for my 99 xj and was looking for your professional opinions. I use this as a dd and weekend warrior trail rig almost every weekend all summer long. Not so much into the rock crawling as I am to getting muddy. Here is what I'm thinking. I can't justify cutting a hole in my fender to install a snorkel, even if they are killer. Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you.

 

I have it on mine. I like it, but it does have a couple of drawbacks.

Pros: Marginally improved throttle response. Sounds mean inside the cabin. Real cold air to the engine. Higher intake to avoid water ingestion. One guy here even made a "snorkel" for it to get it even higher. Frees up the airbox space for a compressor, 2nd battery, horn, etc.

Cons: No significant gains in hp or torque on a stock motor. Those claims are mostly bogus. It pulls air from the same area that feeds the cabin air intake, so engine (intake) noise is piped directly into the cabin. At cold start there's a rather noticeable sucking sound, which I tell people is the sound of money being sucked from my wallet. After the engine warms up the sucking sound goes away, but mine whistles a bit when I get on the throttle. I have mitigated the whistle somewhat by grinding away the firewall a little where the intake meets the hole I cut there, but I can't seem to get that whistle to go away altogether.

Some people find the increase in cabin noise annoying, but I have gotten used to it and really like the way it sounds at WOT. There are some videos on Youtube of what it sounds like in the cabin. You should listen to them before cutting a hole in your cowl.

If you do decide to buy it, the best deal around is usually Advance Auto. They list it on their website at the same price as everyone else (~$145-150), but Advance ALWAYS has active coupon codes to get discounts on the parts. I had mine shipped to me for $117 all in with a $40 off coupon. Don't just go by the deals they're advertising on their site. Search Google for additional coupon codes, because sometimes the best ones are not even advertised.

 

I've heard a lot of poor reviews that it has a lot of whistle!

 

If I do decide to move forward with this, do you have any recommendations on how to drill the necessary hole in the firewall the easiest way?

 

use a holesaw

 

I have been running this intake for over a year now. Agree at cold start its a little loud but goes away. Haven't run into any issues with it playing in the mud. I used a regular hole saw to cut the hole in the fire wall

 

Just be warned if you drive your jeep in rain/snow ... Not a good idea

 

You need a 3" bi-metal hole saw, which will run you about $15. You mount it on a drill. It uses a mandrel bit in the middle that drills a pilot hole to keep the saw from walking. Don't push; let the saw do the work. And measure twice, cut once, because you don't get a do-over.

The hole saw will leave behind a lot of shavings. You may find it desirable to open up the cowl and stick something in there to catch them so that they aren't sucked up into the intake when you install it. You may also want to drape a catch cloth in the engine bay to catch shavings.

Depending on your year, you may also have to remove your under-hood light. On mine the intake mounted right under the light so that it would have made a sickening crunching sound had I closed the hood.

Otherwise just follow the included instructions. It isn't rocket surgery.

 

Baloney. It takes air from the protected side of the cowl and is angled so that water doesn't flow into it. The only way you have a problem is if the drains on each side of the cowl are plugged with leaves. It's easy enough to verify that by dumping some water in there and watching to see if it drains out behind the front wheel.

 

i had this style intake on a 91 XJ and absolutely hated it because I was getting water through the intake constantly. You couldn't give me the intake for free and pay me to install it again.

 

Sounds like installation error to me.

 

I to have not had issues with water an its always parked outside my jeeps a 98 not sure it there was a cowl design change tho. Wouldn't think so

 

or a terrible design.

 

There have been two versions of the Spectre intake. One version for the older XJs bent around and attached on the driver's side, like so:



That side of the cowl is not protected from the elements, but there have still been plenty of people who have run it without any issues.

The version for 1997 and up attaches on the passenger side (as shown in OP's pic), where the cowl is completely covered. There is no possible way for rain or snow to reach the intake there unless the user installed the intake incorrectly or the cowl drains are plugged. If they are, that's a user maintenance issue and not a problem with the design of the intake. Furthermore, if there's enough water standing there to enter the intake, it would also be flowing into the cabin air system and onto the passenger side floor, because that side is where the cabin air intake is, and it's less protected than the cowl intake. This is the version OP is looking at (pic from my own Jeep):



And here's a shot from the FSM showing how the cowl is covered on that side:



I'm not sure where JPXJMOAB's installation went wrong, but from all I've read, his results seem to be pretty unusual.

 

I have the Spectre and Live in Alaska and have had no probs with snow or rain..





As for being loud in the cab only for the first few as it warms up, but after that I dont really hear it anymore.

As for whistle I had one, then I went and got rid of the rough edge where I cut with the 3" hole saw and made it smooth, whistle gone.






This pic is after the filter..you can see how clean it is,no water or junk getting in.


Dont forget to use sensor safe RTV when instaling..

If you want to hear what it sounds like in the cab, Here is a vid of mine.
it is only loud when getting on the gas..