Engine CAI installed

CAI installed

OK - got to tell everyone all about it.

Instructions were shit! Everything was all good until it came to mounting the two VSV's to some stupid bracket beneath the brake master cylinder - a bracket which my car does NOT HAVE! I mounted them to the little bracket that was supplied in the kit - and THAT bracket had nowhere to mount. Toyota jipped me, or I'm just blind or retarded or something b/c I ended up mounting it to the fender - the brace that secures the brake line to the fender. I had to get a 3/8" male-male adapter and splice 2 hoses together to get enough slack in one of the hoses - ther others worked out alright, thank holy freaking everything! Still perturbed by that! Took me from 9AM to 1PM to install the friggin thing! Many obsenities later, it was on and running.

Impressions:
sounds nice - not a great deal of performance gain *AT FIRST*. I suspect it'll take a while for the ECU to relearn everything, since it was reset. No surprises there - plus it was hot as Hell outside today.

I just now finished doing the TB coolant bypass. This will make a big difference I think. The pipe was cool until about 7-8" from the TB - because there was hot coolant running through it I suppose. Anyhow - the bypass cooled things down a lot! That was pain in the ass as well! Ended up cutting one of the hoses accidently and draining coolant freaking everywhere! So, that took some time to straighten out. But it's fixed. Better power now! Pulls VERY strongly from 4K-redline. That's where I like it, so it works!

I may post pics later. If you've ever saw a picture of a 2003 Corolla w/ a CAI, then you've seen mine. White car, blue intake - nothing special (to you all). A treasure to me, but then again, it's my car.

Late,
Trav

sounds aggrivating. What brand is it?

He said, "Toyota jipped me..." so I assume he got the TRD. I don't know man, but my install wasn't anywhere near as harrowing as your's and I have the TRD. About the biggest pain I had was figuring out how to get the filter behind the foglight without tearing it up.

I think he meant Toyota jipped him as in the mounting area. I think it's a different intake because he also said blue intake.

Yeah - it's an AEM brand. My troubles may have been confounded by the fact that I started installing @ 9AM and didn't finish until 1PM. Well - I had been awake since 10AM THE MORNING PRIOR and had worked all night. I was a little off - know what I mean? Still pisses me off, but I got over it after I've been driving the car a while. It's faster - haven't broken the sound barrier yet, but I feel it coming It was worth my $200 definitely!!! My friend Kel says it sounds "sexxxxxy - REAL dam sexxxxxxxzy!"

And yes - Toyota jipped me of a bracket. They DID leave a bolt off of the exhaust heat shield, which I had replaced under warranty. That and now this stupid bracket - what's next, I discover GM parts on my car.

Y'all listen for that sonic boom,
Trav