K&N Typhoon 69 Series Complete Cold Air Intake for 2003 Honda Accord I4 Sedan
Part 2
Performance
8/10
This area may be very biased and swayed on my part, so bear with me. My car was not dyno’d before the installs, nor has it been dyno’d to this day, so actual horsepower increases are a mystery. Thus, all I can rely on is the ever-popular “butt dyno”. So, after resetting the ECU once the mods were in, I’ve been riding with the intake for about 2,000 miles now, and from what I can tell, the intake definitely gives the car more horsepower, torque, and overall “oomph” in every gear… for an I4 anyway. I cannot attest to other peoples’ suggestions that intakes made them lose some low-end power, but I can attest to the gains. There is more power overall, especially in the mid- to high-end. If I’m sitting at a light and then I punch the gas, there is more push under the hood, and when the gears change my stock tires do slip a bit, which never happened before I had the intake installed. So, I cannot give any fancy specs or charts, but there are improvements in the power band from what I can feel from accelerating, especially from stop-to-go and on the highway, ramps, etc.
I said this area would be swayed, however, because if you remember, I also installed the bypass valve and the performance headers at the same time. So, how the intake performs solo in our engines I will never know. The bypass valve obviously affects horsepower a bit, as the dry charger mesh cover on the filter may also limit power a bit, but the big factor here is that the DC Sports headers are also in, so measuring performance is hard. The guy who installed all the pieces said that he test-drove my car the with intake only and he acknowledged that there were power increases. After the car cooled and he took it out again with the headers in, he said that the car was breathing even better and the power increased even more. So, the intake obviously has an effect, but as a solo piece, I personally cannot say how responsible it is for the increases. Nevertheless, it’s doing its job, and with the headers (but no performance exhaust, yet) its breathing like it should.
As for gas mileage, I think any intake, which increases air flow, will eat up gas slightly quicker than a stock engine as more fuel is needed for the mix, so my mileage has gone down a bit. How much? Well, nothing drastic from what I can tell. I don’t really pay attention to my mpg to be honest with you since I don’t drive long distances very much and my driving style is pretty sporadic (city vs. highway), so I cannot list accurate numbers here. What I can guess is that I’ve lost maybe a mile or two per gallon, but don’t quote me on this! Remember, it is an I4 ulev model, so this affects the numbers here a bit. But, I’m pretty sure that the numbers have gone down. Maybe I’ll start paying closer attention in the future.
I guess I’ll stick this last topic under performance too. The intake does vibrate quite a bit, especially when laying your foot on the break slightly or turning the wheel all the way to the left or right (I have no idea why this is, however). So, this initially drove me nuts because despite the intake’s rubber vibra-mounts, if the car’s fan kicked in (which also shakes like hell on our 7th Gens) then the intake would shake even more. This is due to the fact that the engine compartment is so cramped, so the intake pipe sits right up against the metal interior of the wheel well. Thus, this would make a knocking noise, shake the steering wheel, and accentuate any rattles in the dash. Needless to say, I fixed this very quickly. I removed the front bumper, located where the intake was rubbing, and stuck two-sided 3M adhesive tape in between the pipe and the wall. I know, a bootleg fix, but it did the job. It dimmed the vibration considerably, so for a free mod, I was pleased. The only downside is that now that the winter is here, the cold weather is undoubtedly making the tape harder and the vibrations are coming back a little. So, we’ll see with this one. But basically, all noises and vibrations aside, a solid 8 here in the 4-banger.
A tight squeeze
The filter inside the bumper with the dry charger mesh cover on
Overall
8/10
Overall, a good investment, and a simple, practical, nice upgrade IMO. You just can’t go wrong with an intake. If I didn’t have to deal with the weak noise and the vibrations, the intake would easily get a 10 from me, but, as with all parts, nothing is perfect. But, I’m glad I got it, even gladder that I installed the AEM bypass valve, and the DC Sports headers for more breathing potential, and I’ll be even happier with my custom exhaust (future upgrade).
Well, I hope you enjoyed my K&N product overview. Please take this with a grain of salt, though. I am a beginner, I didn’t install the intake, each car is different, and each I/H/E setup will perform differently as well. But, K&N is worth it and I’m sticking to it. If anyone has any questions or comments, PM me at striktlyaccord, or IM me at StriktlyBzniz. Also, check out the ride at
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/1409017. Thanks.
Linear Mode
