So I was removing my front bumper to get the grill off for the paint shop. While I was there I saw this little box (resonator) and thought I should remove it. I have done that to my previous TL and pretty much every car that I have had that has a resonator. Lets just say the resonator have gotten ridiculously hard to remove. I spent two hours trying to get this damn thing out and there is no way in hell its ever going back in.

I though for sure it would have been an easy process but nope. I had to remove the intake box, removed the battery thinking that I could remove the battery tray, then realized that the battery tray removal would take an additional hour by itself. So I strong armed the damn ducting out, removed the resonator, put everything back together and took it for a drive.

Im sure your next question is "was it worth it?" Well yes and no. The intake sounds great now, and its equivalent to the Takeda intake sound, but the time spent removing it and the frustration that set in half way through makes it not worth it.

Im glad its out and I get to enjoy the growl of the egine and it takes away the frustration from the removal.

So if you guys want to remove the resonator it will change the sound of the engine just be prepared for a retarded battle against some pretty stiff plastic

 

any noticeable performance gain?

 

Actually yes. As weird as it may sound, I had a two hour drive tonight and the thorttle response is a lot better. I know its not my imagination because my girlfriend noticed when I stepped on it to pass a car, it reacted a hell of a lot better than before. Im now more glad that I did it lol./

 

This is where the resonator connects to the ducting. I reinstalled the resonator only because it holds the brake ducting and there is no way the duct would stay in pace without the resonator. The resonator does not block any air or have any adverse affect on the intake when the ducting is removed.




This is how it looks when you open your hood and you see the intake scoop sitting there. The ducting goes under the battery and try and loops out to the side in front of the wheel well then back up to the air box.


Looks a little restrictive to me

 

Did you say you ended up re-installing the resonator?

My car is actually in the body shop to repair some front end damage. They called and told me that the resonator was cracked and they would have to replace it. I'm wondering now if I should just tell them to remove it :-P

 

I removed the resonator ducting which completely removed any air going through the resonator to the intake system. The resonator is still there because it holds the brake ducting in place. If it werent for that I would have removed the resonator completely. I hope this makes sense.

 

I did this awhile ago.

My thread shows the picture of part of the resonator bolted back in to hold the brake duct, but it's disconnected from the intake tubing.

https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-performance-parts-modifications-295/cold-air-intake-diy-awd-728069/

 

Nice pics! Sounds like a huge pain in the ass to remove. If you go for the Takeda intake instead, do you leave all that ducting in place?

 

Short answer yes

 

Yeah but is it worth the 200 for the same affect??

 

I thought i put up the post but guess not...

Is this the NEW MURKEDA? LOL!

 

Sure is. The Murkeda intake lol.

 

Is there a way to just remove/cut a portion of the intake, or do I need to remove the bumper to get to it. I'm not sold on the aftermarket intake because what I've read said hp seemed to go down. Looks like gutting the stock intake is the best way to go.

 

I'm curious, where did you read this? I've only read positive things about the Takeda intake. Why would HP go down on a less restrictive intake?

 

^^^^Here you go:

 

Thanks Marco. The MAF sensor issue is a real possibility. The ECU is tuned for factory parts so changing the intake could feasibly have a negative effect. However, I would tend to think Acura designed this intake not for straight performance, but as a compromise between performance and ride quality (not too loud). I would expect a less restrictive intake to provide more power, equal power, but definitely not less power. Strange. Really someone needs to dyno this thing properly before and after. I know that is time consuming and expensive though. Oh well....

 

^ Agreed, The twisty baffles of that intake are meant to tame that roar to a whoosh. I never could understand how those engineers come up with such restrictive intakes and exhausts. Check out this down-pipe (top) on our RDX's:

 

^ thats ridiculously restrictive. I can only imagine how much power was freed up from putting the aftermarket DP in place.

 

Reviving this thread....

So to remove resonator DUCTING ONLY (or to cut it so that resonator box is no longer directly attached) do you have to remove the bumper? It seems that nothing really needs to be removed from the cars intake system except to either remove the ducting (between resonator box and upper intake) or to cut it and potentially add in a velocity stack.

 

Someone has actually dyno'd the takeda intake and it does provide about 5 whp.

 

i've also read posts where people who installed the Takeda were convinced their car lost power.

 

Lol, the car don't lose power but you don't gain 100whp either... I didnt feel any power loss here.

 

We swapped out the stock intake for a Takeda short ram on the Dyno (so weather and dyno calibrations would not be a factor). Takeda considers this to be a cold air intake (CAI) because it takes air from the remaining stock system which Acura considers to be a CAI. Here are the results (about 5WHP and 6 torque).





Source: https://acurazine.com/forums/perform...8s-19s-911877/

 

so potentially +5HP, +6torque...
what about sound? Does it have a little more of a growl with the Takeda?

 

The sound is insane past 4.7k rpm.

 

lol insane... not sure I like the sound of that...I want to add a little more growl so it sounds meaner. But I don't want my bluetooth calls to suffer if it's stupidly loud.

What's it like up to 3500 rpm? Noticeable difference?

Anyone in Southern Ontario have one installed? I'd love to hear it.

 

Lol. Didnt meant insane by TOO loud, just sounds good.


Theres a few other on youtube. I took one in WOT also.

 

The sound is entirely dependant on your throttle position, you can drive around normally under light-moderate throttle and nobody will even know you have it installed, it's when you get heavy on the throttle that it begins to sing.

 

By insane he means it adds a huge smile to your face.

 

^This just made me place an order for a Takeda Black SAI. My Christmas gift to myself.

 

Someone above said that Takeda considers this a cold air intake,it is not. The stock resonator tube that remains in place after installation of the Takeda will allow outside air into the engine compartment, being that it is not enclosed around the filter it will never be effective as a true cold air intake like the IceBox.

Two things i noticed when i had the Takeda were.......engine would bog down at rpm over 6k and during warm temperature the car would lose power,most likely to heat soak.After removing the Takeda and going back to the stock intake those issues were resolved and the car pulled better.

I believe many people associate the growl from the Takeda with an increase in performance,something similar to a placebo effect of having a loud exhaust.

I currently have the IceBox and if i had to make the choice again i would definitely go with the IceBox again or stay stock.Others may have a different experience, i am just sharing mine.

 

So would you say icebox outperforms stock? Mine will be here shortly so I will be able to provide a review of icebox/j pipe v2 combo soon.

 

I did the IceBox and the lightweight pulley the same time,i love the result of both mods.
The removal of the stock restrictive intake resonators, replaced by the larger diameter tubing and less restrictive IceBox opens up the engine nicely.

 

godamnit I'm too rookie for this stuff.

I'd love a relatively inexpensive mod (under $1K) that could add A BIT of sound when I rip it - not when I'm driving nice (under 3000RPM).

Losing ANY performance is a big minus.
Adding performance not a huge deal... I doubt I'd notice 5HP anyway.

 

Typically a less restrictive intake will cause a VERY slight loss of low end power with a decent upper RPM gain. At the end of the day I think most people buy intakes because they're fun to install, sound cool, and give you a little extra pep during spirited driving. I just ordered one for my car and I will give a dead honest review on it after install (it should arrive next Tuesday).

 

sounds great - thanks! I look fwd to your results! How much did you pay for it? Installing it yourself I presume?

 

Yes I'll install it myself, I'm in Canada so I bought from a Canadian supplier to avoid customs charges. Total cost was $290 CND or $250 USD including tax and shipping. I think a couple suppliers in the US sell it pretty low, I saw it listed at $180 USD on one site (not including tax/shipping of course).

 

What "Wreck" mentioned is correct. During normal / regular driving you will not even know you have an intake, open the throttle and the Takeda does sound awesome , not intrusive at all.

My biggest issue with it was during the summer months when it got hot, humid and muggy. The car lost power, you would not notice it it the morning due to the cooler temp but doing the same drive in the afternoon it was noticeable. Stock I had no issues.

The other difference between the IceBox an the Takeda is where it draws air from. The Icebox tubing runs to the side of the car just behind the bumper/ skirt area. The stock resonator which the Takeda get some extra air from is at the front by the grille area, IMO the location for the IceBox is better for cooler air.

 

The three main mods I think worth doing are:
- Long J Pipe with cat delete ~ $425-$475
- CT Icebox ~ $495-$525
- Lightweight crank pulley ~ $200
So roughly $1,200.

I picked up Icebox and J Pipe from the BM.

You might pick up 12whp, maybe 20whp... that is a hotly debated topic here.

I think the J Pipe and Icebox have little to no downside. With J Pipe, I think the car just drives better (has a nice tone with stock piping) and pulls to redline with much more authority.

 

^^^ very nice list, I would add the HPFC.

That is one of the mods that I really enjoy having on my car.