K&N Cold Air Intake De-Mystified Please?

[vibedrive]

I have come across some after-market improvements on this forum, and the one that I am focusing on is the change out of the stock Cold Air Intake to the K&N Cold Air Intake. Can anyone lend more information to this project? I searched and found the How-To and it looks fairly complicated, but not beyond my level of skill/tools.
In what way will this change the sound of my 2006 Vibe? Is this a "muscle-car" sound?
Is it really only a 2 mpg improvement over stock?
What we your personal goals when you decided to do this? Results?

Thank You,
Kip
Tacoma, WA

[Brandort3]

I just installed mine last Monday. Mine is the K&N Typhoon and i love it. In the box it show's a dyno-chart of the Toyota Matrixs' motor (which is basically the same motor.) on how much horsepower was gained and it gained between 10-11 Horsepower and it is a lot more responsive than before. As for sound, it gave it a much deeper, throatier sound. When you get it up to higher RPM's is when the sound really peaks and sounds amazing. I would recommend it definitely. I know the installation on the '06 Vibes' is slightly different with one of the vacuum hoses. Best of luck with getting it worked out!

[vibenvy]

I just installed mine last Monday. Mine is the K&N Typhoon and i love it. In the box it show's a dyno-chart of the Toyota Matrixs' motor (which is basically the same motor.) on how much horsepower was gained and it gained between 10-11 Horsepower and it is a lot more responsive than before. As for sound, it gave it a much deeper, throatier sound. When you get it up to higher RPM's is when the sound really peaks and sounds amazing. I would recommend it definitely. I know the installation on the '06 Vibes' is slightly different with one of the vacuum hoses. Best of luck with getting it worked out!

Exactly what he said ^!

I have had a K&N Typhoon CAI on my 2009 Vibe GT for almost 3 years now and I highly recommend it as a first, if not only in my case, engine mod for any vehicle that has an intake available for it. It gives the engine a more pronounced sound. Nothing major, but definitely noticeable. To me, an intake and stock exhaust provide a perfect engine sound. Loud enough to be enjoyed by the driver, but not loud, raspy or droning like a lot of vehicles with aftermarket exhausts.

I have seen a steady 1-2 mpg increase (conservative estimate). The engine is breathing better with the bigger, less restrictive intake tube, thus giving better airflow which leads to the power and gas mileage increases. When you first install the intake, you may actually notice your mileage go down. Don't worry, this is totally natural. You will want to be stepping on the gas all the time to hear the "new" sound of your engine. Once this phase passes, you will most definitely see a slight to moderate increase in gas mileage.

I believe the power gain for K&N's intake for the 2009-2010 2.4L Matrix/Vibe (the one I have) is 9.06 horsepower. It definitely accelerates a bit quicker. It certainly doesn't provide a massive power increase, but it's definitely enough to make your Vibe a little more fun to drive and a little quicker taking off from a stop.

The last benefit of an intake is the fact that it will look a lot better under the hood then the stock stuff.

All around it's a great mod for any vehicle and driver.

Check eBay for the best prices.

[ponta2147]

According to their own tests though, there is a marginal decrease in horsepower in the lower RPMs (you know, the ones you should live at to increase fuel economy ) But I don't think the 2.4L engine would hit 33.9mpg without that intake installed (considering it's rated 29mpg highway)

[vibedrive]

Thank You for these replies. I think I'll commit.

[Brandort3]

I would also recommend looking at Amazon for prices. They are very reasonable.

[tokenlocal]

Hey guys. New to the site. . . love it like I love my little Vibe. . .

At any rate, I have an 07, 1.8L, automatic and I'm interested in installing an aftermarket cold air intake. I live in an area with very short off-ramps on the hwys, many are off & on, and need a little more "umph" when I step on the gas. I'm finding info/manufact on earlier models, up to an 06 and on this site I find folks talking about 09-010s. Is there nothing out there for an 07? If their is a part out there, how hard is for a guy who can change the oil and a headlight to install? I appreciate any and all input. . .

[Brandort3]

^^^^^

Check out the intake we've been talking about. I love it and i'm positive they have them. Check out the K&N website to check and see. I don't see why they wouldn't have one for an '07.

[ligion]

is there an advantage to short ram vs cold air?

[tokenlocal]

K & N does not make a part for an 07 or an 08 model year. But, there are a couple of companies that do. I'm curious to know the answer to ligion's question. I'm also curious to know if it's possible to install the new air intake and a straight tail pipe without changing the engine sound? I'm not interested in the sound, would actually prefer it remain the same, and only want the increase in performance.

[vibenvy]

is there an advantage to short ram vs cold air?

K & N does not make a part for an 07 or an 08 model year. But, there are a couple of companies that do. I'm curious to know the answer to ligion's question. I'm also curious to know if it's possible to install the new air intake and a straight tail pipe without changing the engine sound? I'm not interested in the sound, would actually prefer it remain the same, and only want the increase in performance.

From what I have heard and read, they both give about the same gains. The only difference is one provides gains at lower RPMs and the other provides gains at higher RPMs (can't remember which is which).

I prefer SRIs because you don't have to worry about the possiblity of hydrolock.

Typically, if you change anything with the exhaust, it will change the sound of the engine. How much depends on what you change. I personally think my 2009 Vibe GT sounds amazing with just the K&N CAI. It gives a little more sound to the engine without being too much of a drastic change in sound. I would recommend getting an intake and not even touching the exhaust. Especially if you don't really want your Vibe to be louder. I personally think aftermarket exhausts are a waste of money unless you have some really powerful Muscle car or something. I had a full header back exhaust (Pacesetter 4:1 header - 2.25" stainless steel mandrel bent dual outlet piping - Magnaflow catalytic converter - Magnaflow 22" resonator - 2 Magnaflow oval bodied mufflers with tips) on my former 2002 Pontiac Sunfire GT and all it really seemed to do was make a lot of noise and cost me a lot of money. Huge waste IMO. If I could do it over, I would slap on an intake and not touch the exhaust at all.

[Vibewagen]

I couldn't resist but buy one of these Cold Air Intakes...
My Vibey is 07. K&N don't have one for this year therefore I decided to buy a Typhoon that is for 1.8 Vibe but for 03-04 or something.
When I started mounting it I found out there are some major differences:
a big hose that goes to engine top (whatever that is)
and a small hose that runs in the stock filter housing (in the manual) that I couldn't find on mine.
Basically I have no problem returning the CAI to amazon - I got it with free 2day (Prime) shipping for less than $170.
I just so love the way K&N looks like and was wondering if somebody hacked it so it fits my model (2007) car.
If I return it - what CAI can I install? Brands and models, anybody?

So here are both pictures, from manual and my vibey:

intake-2.JPG (96.08 KiB) Viewed 7076 times

intake-1.JPG (96.58 KiB) Viewed 7076 times

[vibedrive]

Searching the K&N site shows nothing that fits your '07.... better call them for some help: 877-787-8989

[vibedrive]

Maybe you google'd and saw this one:
http://www.carid.com/2005-toyota-matrix ... 60474.html

[Salsa Guy]

On that item that's circled in red you'll need to add a breather filter, about $10. Look around on this site I have a picture of it posted it's very simple and doesn't affect the performance any. When installing the CAI or SRI PLEASE disconnect both sides of your battery. It could save you $100 and a lot of time.

BTW I have a SRI for sale. It's non-branded but I can throw a TRD sticker on it for you. It runs great and no codes. Very simple install however I'd a new filter for it but the one that's on there is still in good shape.