I have a 2005 Spectra EX, 5 spd, w/9500 miles, purchased new last Dec.
I have had the kfx cold air intake unit installed now for about a month (did it myself). The unit does not come with instructions. A few photos would have been nice, but I got kfx and a nice user on this forum to post some, and I finally figured out that I had to cut away some of the metal under the battery holder tray to fit the pipe down into the wheel well. Perhaps the '05 has a smaller opening than previous years, I don't know, but the design of the metal brace is such that it required using tin shears and trimming about two inches on each side, and peeling it down. Then the pipe fit through nicely. BUT, another problem then occurred: the battery will no longer sit squarely on the tray due to the pipe being so close!! I had to grind down at an angle the little metal bracket that holds the battery down in order to get it to fit on the lower lip of the battery, because the battery had to sit in the tray at an angle. After all that I was finally able to reconnect the battery and start the car.....
Everything worked just fine, but when idling it sounds just like a Hoover vacuum is running under the hood. Then I romped on the gas -- and it is _so_ loud -- it amplifies every little engine sound. You can even hear the butterfly valve opening and sucking in the initial blast of air! I got this big grin on my face and went for a test drive around the neighborhood. At 4000-4500 RPM it gets way loud and I swear it sounds like a supercharger growling under the hood! It is really a deep throaty growl sound, too. Makes me feel like I'm 18 again. The power curve HAS moved up a little also, with peak horsepower now happening about 700-800 RPM higher than before. Would have been nice to be able to dyno before and after but I'm not that rich.
One of my neighbors down the street (who is a jackass) hates it and does stupid things when I drive past his house on the corner. Since he's just a butthead I enjoy flooring it past his house every time I can. Heh heh - sounds like I'm acting 18 now, too!
Gas mileage: after a month, I am still having a hard time getting the same amount of fuel into the tank to get a perfect measurement. However, initial calculations show that my fuel mileage has actually _improved_ since removing the very restictive stock airbox! My morning commute is about 40-45 miles down Interstate 5 at 70 MPH and I was getting about 25 MPG - now I'm getting 28-30 MPG. However, if I "play" a lot and keep flooring it like a racecar, my mileage drops to about 22 MPG.
So, final review is "two thumbs way up". Cheap way to increase HP _and_ piss off that stupid neighbor you don't like at the same time! :)
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