daisey350

Hey fam, I recently did something kind of wild but it turned out better than I could have hoped, so I thought I would share the instructions if anyone wants to do the same. it's both easy and affordable and in my opinion, a substantial upgrade. In this post you will find a list of parts required, cost breakdown, tools, instructions and pictures.

This is on a 2020 IS350 F-sport AWD, but should work the same for other models (however do your own research to confirm).

Backstory: I had ordered the RR Racing carbon intake tube but have not yet installed it. I decided on this part because it's affordable, looks great, and I've never been a fan of aluminum intake piping, both because it sounds kind of like a tin can, especially at higher rpms, and metal also has high heat-transfer properties. This carbon tube is designed to fit to the stock airbox, and i thought about getting a drop-in K&N filter, but I really wanted a cone filter (better sound, appearance, and performance). Whilst browsing at Napa, I came across a universal Edelbrock cone filter that included various size rubber adapters and was rated for up to 470hp. I bought it, popped my hood, eye-balled it, and figured out a plan to make it work.

Parts:
RR Racing Carbon Intake Tube $140
Edelbrock Pro-Flo Air Filter $66 (part# 43641)

Tools:
10mm socket with extension
Flat head screw driver
Dremel with a cutting wheel
Dremel with a sanding wheel
(You can also use other cutting and sanding tools, but this is what I recommend)

Total time: 1-2 hours.

Step 1: Disassemble the stock intake and airboxes, everything right up to the throttle body. Take the hose clamps off the stock pipe as you may need them, and chuck the old piping aside.

Photo of stock intake assembly.


Step 2: You will need to cut a section off the stock upper airbox which houses the MAF sensor, both to be able to use the sensor and as the adapter to go from the piping to the filter. Cut as far down on the round piping section as possible. I was able to get about 3/4inch below the MAF sensor, which left enough space to mount the cone filter to it.

This is where I cut the section off. I used a paint marker to mark it. You will have to cut through some of the airbox moldings, but you will sand that off later.

Another angle:



Step 3: Sand down the section you just cut off so it is perfectly round, and fit it to the filter. In this picture you can see the section I cut off, after it has been sanded down to its round, and fitter to the filter (sorry I don't have a picture of it not in the filter).


Step 4: (Bonus step) I also cut the front section out of the lower airbox. This isn't necessary, but I decided to do it in the moment for a few reasons. For starters, I thought clearance with the new filter might be an issue. Turns out it's not. However, I also wanted to reuse the lower intake box sort of as a splash guard and to help redirect air to the filter, especially with the ram-air piping coming from the front bumper. And I figured cutting the front of the airbox open would allow even more air to come in from the bumper.

The lower intake box with the front section cut out, and original metal clamps removed that section the top part of the airbox.

Step 5: Continue with regular reassembly as per the instructions from RR Racing, and once done, sit back and admire your new custom Edelbrock/RR Racing Carbon intake.



Review: I've installed lots of different types of intakes in cars over the years, and I have never heard anything that sounds as loud and as throaty as this does. It is genuinely absurd. Even my GF thinks so. Under load from 3-5k rpm, it almost has V8 tones. And no rasp or "tin" sounds at higher rpm. As for performance, I don't expect much out of intakes, and I did Brisk LGS spark plugs at the same time so that will play a role, but it definitely feels like there's more throttle response and dare I say it seemingly pulls harder in the mid to high rpm range like it's not being choked for air. I think for $200 and less than 2 hours of your time, this is a must-have upgrade, even just for sound and appearance alone.

Happy modding and let me know if you have questions or input. Cheers xD
-Daisey350

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for damage you may do to your car. Do at your own risk and always seek the advice of a professional mechanic.

TJ7490

Good job on the install and appreciate seeing pics with the DIY thread. Idk if you are aware or not but it's already been proven through numerous independent testing that cone filters actually hinder performance on the 2GR. The stock airbox has been proven to be better than a cone filter and less susceptible to heat soak.... only to trumped by the F-Sport intake box. So although it may be visually and audibly more pleasing, it would be inaccurate to say it provides better performance vs a high flow OEM Style air filter. Any gains you believe to feel are a result from the installation of the RR Carbon Intake Tube (unless you had a very dirty/clogged OEM Filter).

Even still,

daisey350

I actually wasn’t aware of that, but good to know. As I mentioned I don’t really expect noticeable power gains from an intake anyway. And it could be the result of the spark plugs I did as well, as the original ones were in rough shape. So perhaps it was placebo effect, but I’m still happy with how it feels. I certainly didn’t notice a decrease in performance, so I’ll call that a win.

here’s a question, can the performance of a cone filter be corrected/improved with a tune? I do plan on tuning soon once I do a few other mods.

Eventually a supercharger will be going on it anyway (I think D3 might have one in the works) so at this point I’m happy with sound and appearance.

TJ7490

The issue with using a cone filter on the 2GR just comes down to heat soak. Essentially the effect on performance is a reduction in power due to the increase of IAT (Intake air temps) from being openly exposed to the heat collection in the engine bay. Although testing has shown that more consistent results are achieved using an aftermarket intake tube matched with an enclosed air filter box, there has not been substantial testing with a vented Carbon fiber hood installed. Since hot air rises, there is a chance that having a vented hood would solve the heat soak problem from the use of a cone filter. Regardless, the heat soak effect is not as noticeable since the vehicle will mostly be in motion at close to all times.

As for the question regarding the tune... Yes a tune can be beneficial and is often required depending on the dimensions of the intake tube (such as MAF Scaling), but a lot of aftermarket intakes retain the factory pipe size to help mitigate the immediate need for these kind of adjustments. Although a tune is beneficial, the STFT/LTFT should be able to adjust enough to compensate for the change to an open element filter. The main performance advantage from tuning comes from adjustments to how lean the ECU is willing to allow the engine to run at each load level alongside ignition advancement in order to extract the most power possible while still maintaining what is considered to be safe operation. There's other parameters that can be/may need adjusted to improve drivability but for basic bolt on projects, AFR/Timing adjustments are typically the main adjustments made. Once you start changing components such as injectors/fuel pumps/regulators/MAP sensors/etc, things start becoming more complex.

Side note, if spark plugs were in poor condition prior, the replacements should increase the smoothness and efficiency of the engine as you mentioned. Definitely a worthwhile maintenance procedure.

daisey350

So, fun little bit of information to add to this post. I remembered that my OBD2 scanner can read intake air temperatures. Unfortunately I never tested it with the stock air box, but I tested it out today with the custom intake and here are the results:

When travelling at a constant speed of 70km/h, with an ambient air temp of 21 degrees Celsius, my intake air temp holds steady at 28 degrees Celsius. So 7 degrees warmer than ambient. Intake temperature obviously drops with speed increase. I saw as low as 20 degrees at 1!?km/h.

So yes there’s definitely some heat soak under normal driving conditions but it’s pretty minimal. I have a Camry with the 2GR and stock airbox, I might run a test on that and see what the intake temps are to compare.

also sorry it’s not in freedom units