What's going on guys, new to the forum here! I just picked up my 2020 Ultra White/Circut red RC-F! I absolutely love it! I've seen some mixed opinions on upgrading the Air-Intake. From what it looks like there are about three intakes that people have suggested! Just wanted to get a few opinions on if I should make the change and if so which one to pick!?

1) AFE TAKEDA STAGE-2 PRO 5R COLD AIR INTAKE SYSTEM
2) AEM COLD AIR INTAKE 21/780C
3) RR RACING INTAKE SYSTEM

 

Welcome to the site. Lot's of GREAT information here and lot's of GREAT folks to share it with. Much has been written about intakes, do a search and you find them. Here's just one:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rc-...r-the-rcf.html

Lou

 

Congrats on your 2020 RCF. Like FlowRider said, lots of threads on it. I have the Takeda Stage 2 AFE Power. It is the full system with a wet velocity stack filter, part of the airbox replacement and the pipe. I chose it because it changes the sound volume quite a bit and makes the midrange more peppier. Very happy with it. No regrets.

 

I was planning on getting the Tom's CF air tube mainly for looks and that it kept the two breather hoses on the top. I see a hose on the right side of your intake pipe. Is there another outlet for the other hose or is there another way?

I like the intake pipe you have, The only thing that annoys me is the fake cabon look of the box. Not sure why the just didn't do normal black plastic..lol. I like that the intake pipe matches the R color for the intake manifold.

-Nigel

 

I believe Tom's is only just the pipe and it does not have a big conical filter. You will not notice any difference in noise with just the pipe.

The two holes you are talking about are connecting to the hoses that were originally connected to the OEM pipe. You just have to reposition them a bit since the location of the two "snorkels" is in a different spot. The OEM pipe has the two snorkels where the pipe connects to the throttle body while AFE Takeda has it on the pipe.

If you want to go more aggressive, you can get the AEM full intake system. It replaces the OEM airbox as well and the flap system (3600 rpm for 2015 - 2019 RCF and 2800 rpm for the 2020 - 2021 RCF). I wanted to keep the dual mode flap so AFE was the best option for that.

The installation was very straight forward. I completed it start to finish in just 20 minutes. Here is a video I used to learn how to install it

 

Great video! I love how the Takeda pipe looks and matches the intake manifold! Install looks super easy and quick, which is nice. I'm on the fence if I want to introduce more noise. I love hearing stuff, I just don't want to get to the point that I did with my STi and it's just loud everywhere. I'm sure the induction noise would sound better with the AFE Takeda though. I like how the video showed where the tubes went on the pipe and that it retains them. I've seen other intake tubes and you end up getting other lines/filter to run it elsewhere in the engine and I don't want that. The Tom's looks good, plus it's CF. I feel like it would be a nice touch in the engine bay but it's expensive...I'm sure the quality is there though. I completely agree with you though on keeping the dual mode flap. I would not want to change they system so that. The Gruppe M intake system looks bad *** but is crazy expensive. At least we have options for the car which is nice.

-Nigel

 

So if I just want the biggest increase in noise (and HP as a side benefit) and no more flap at 2800 but always open, what are my options? Does the TE have any different intake setup?

 

TE has the same intake flap setup as the standard 2020 RCF. If you want the whole flap system to be removed and want the car to have traditional type of cold air intake system. That is, lots of air being fed into the intake regardless of speed then AEM cold air intake is the one for that. It removes the stock airbox and puts a new airbox in place, which does not have a flap system.

 

So now I want to ask a question on the secondary flap. If removing that does it cause any type of CEL or code? On my Daytona 675, I had to disable the air flapper in the intake or it would throw a check engine light. It was easy via software to disable but wasn't sure on the RCF.

I'm more than likely going with the Tom's cf intake tube and the RR racing cf heatshield.

-Nigel

 

I had disconnected the vacuum line when I got my RCF originally. No CEL. I did not like it. Yes, there was a lot more nice growl just over idle load, but it felt torque-less below 3600 rpm. Dealership reconnected and I never looked back. Yes, it is quiet below 3600 rpm, but the torque difference was pretty surprising from what I could tell. Anyway, as long as you cap the vacuum line while removing the stock airbox, I have never heard anyone having any CEL. You can try it out as it is very easy and simple. See how you like it.

 

Yeah I'm also curious to what the answer is to Nigel's question

On my IS-F I just plugged the vacuum and it threw no lights

@05RollaXRS - Is it the same plug type as on the RC-F? That way I can save ~400$ and just plug the line to get the sound at low RPMs

 

I responded above. See my post.

 

Disconnecting it won't throw any codes but no real point of doing so. Like mentioned above ^^

Nigel, let me know when you're ready for that Toms intake.

-Josh

 

Yes, if I understand your question correctly, you can do the same thing as you did on the ISF. I also had it disconnected for a few months when I first purchased it. No CEL. Has a lot of growl from 2000 rpm to 3600 rpm that is missing when it is closed. However, I like the torque delivery (or at least how my mind perceives it) with the baffles closed.

 

I felt the same when I tried it. Opening the 2nd flap all the time makes the car sluggish at low rpm. But isn't the 2020 model already changed from 3600 to 3000 rpm?