Ok, I figured it was about time to chime in on my thoughts. I figured it would be better to start a new thread so the different reviews can be referenced seperately.

In brief overview, it took me a little while to get enough seat time to come up with a full appreciation for this upgrade. I was pleased with it from the get go. Now that the car has adapted to it 100%, it is absolutely amazing in every way. I now have a newly developed hatred for the traction control system, as it now violently engages an a regular basis. I should also consider buying stock in Michelin, as the rear tires as suffering ALOT!

As has been stated before, the install can be done by a trained monkey in about 1 hour. It is that easy. The only two points of contention were during the removal of the Radiator Passthrough and the bottom clip holding the factory intake to the throttle body. Both of these issues are easily handled with a long, flat Head Screw Driver. In some aspects, the NeedsWings setup is almost over-engineered. Rob included a nicely finished Horn Relocation bracket that worked very well and required no problems to install. The hand fabricated brackets that were supplied were of excellent quality with excellent attention to detail. Even the underside of the brackets are lined with felt to keep from rubbing the paint(this was installed behind the grill where you will never even see it, that's how much attention was paid to this design).

Rob had told me that he was still playing around with filter sizes, and the one that he supplied me had not been tried before. I was pleasantly surprised, as was Rob, that this particular K&N DID NOT require the use of the Horn Relocation Bracket. There was more than enough room to reinstall the horns in the factory locations once the Filter was fitted. I did find that the rubber elbow that attaches to the Throttle Body and the Rubber Radiator Passthrough Tube required a little lubrication to put together as they were a VERY tight fit, which is a good thing(less chance of unwanted movement). My only cosmetic complaint, actually had nothing to do with the intake itself. Once the intake is installed, there is no way to attach the belt cover to my satisfaction, so I will probably end up not using it at all. Oh well, the price you pay for progress I suppose.

Now on to the meat of the matter. You would have never been able to convince me that a simple intake would be able to wake up ANY car to level that this one does. I've had intakes on most of my previous cars, and none have made a noticable difference to the Butt Dyno. This one really does! The sound it makes is quite pleasant overall as well. When cruising around duringr normal everyday driving, you won't even notice it's there. I consider that to be a bonus, as I was affraid it would be too noisy and compromise the Classy Character of the car. Under a small load(not requiring a downshift), the supercharger makes a nice muted whine that lets you know it's there. Under Full load it grows from a subtle whine to a wail that is enough to scare small children and animals as it sucks in copious amounts of air. The only other sound it makes is a unique high pitched whistle that coresponds to light throttle input adjustments. You can only hear this with the windows down in my car. It sounds a little like a vaccum leak and some may find it slightly unpleasant. It is not a loud whistle, but its pitched just high enough to irritate a sensitive ear. That's just one more reason to FLOOR IT! It doesn't do it under large throttle inputs.

Now, as far as drivability, that is where this thing really shines. The intial throttle response(now that the ECU has fully adapted) is much more pronounced and aggressive. For those that think a Sprint Booster is too aggressive, this intake may make for the common ground you are looking for, with teh added bonus of and actual power increase. Midrange throttle response seems to be about the same, but I would not want it to be herky jerky on the road at speed anyway. The car is MUCH quicker under moderate acceleration that it was before. It make such effortless power that you have to pay attention not get ahead of yourself. Under these conditions it really drives home how much this system helps the mid-range breathing of this car.

Now, when you decide that it's time to play, HOLD ON! Off the line it launches so hard that it literally scared me the first time. It reaches 70 MPH before you can even react. That combined with the traction control, makes for a wild and violent ride. The traction control tries to keep it all together in a straight line and has a habit of cutting in and out with very abrupt timing. If you are planing on launching the car that hard, just hit the ESP OFF button and let the car do its thing. Even with the system off, the Stability control won't let it get too out of shape, and it's fun to crab walk off a stop light from time to time. If you do plan to take full advantage of this new found grunt, you might want to keep a close eye on the rear tires, as they won't live very long. I haven't had the opportunity to dyno my car or take it to the track, but the estimated gains of 25 HP seem conservative in my opinion.

So overall, if you are looking for a relatively inexpensive upgrade that makes huge HP per $, then I would strongly suggest purchasing this system. If you just want a more responsive driving experience without compromising comfort, this is also for you. The only two complaints I can think of(and I did have to think to come up with them) are the high pitched whistle that low speed throttle adjustments produce and the Factory Belt Cover not fitting snuggly. That's about it. I'll add more as I think of it, or if anything changes. In summary, BUY IT! YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!

11/05/07 7:07 P.M. EDITED FOR GRAMMAR AND SPELLING, I done did fail engrish... ENJOY!

 

Nice review.
Sounds like Rob did a great job on this.
Can't wait to see what else he comes up with.
(also, can't wait for spring when I bolt one of these on mine ).

 

Good right up, nice honesty. My question is what about the factory system makes it so restrictive. I believe even members on this forum that replaced the factory filter with K&N felt no difference. Any idea on Dyno numbers with K&N replacements vs. the Needswings set-up.

 

I plan to dyno my car in the coming weeks.

When I do, I will dyno it with stock filters, then with K&N's, then with K&N's and the SL55 Y-Pipe.

As far as the factory restrictions - the Y pipe that merges both inlet tubes into the throttle body at the back of the engine is one huge restriction.

But, before that, where the air enters the front air dam - the holes are small and restrictive. THEN, the air filters sits right by the engine and gets hot. All of the air passing through is therefore heated by the filter. So, not only are you getting hot air - but your engine isn't getting it smoothly and efficiently, and not enough.

Needswings intake is great for power - I will likely end up with one. My only complaint is the removal of the original engine cover. And, that is not a big deal to me...but it is to some others.

Excellent write-up NeverEnough.

SQ

 

I replaced my OEM filters with K&N's, I think I could tell a slight difference. It seemed like you could hear a little difference too. In my opnion the main restriction in the OEM set up is where the intake tube's go into the grill area. There is also possiable restriction in the "Y" pipe when you have an intake hose off because of the shape of the opening. But then again when you really think about it, the opening is oval, but it is the same size as the round part coming from the filter housing. One other thing to consider, when you are blowing through a tube, pipe or what ever the fewer bends or any other obstacles the easier it is to blow threw. But when you have a pullied up supercharger sucking like hell, I think the only thing you would really need to be concerned about is actual restrictions. BUT THAT'S JUST MY THOUGHTS. I could be full of poo.
[ EDIT] I look at it like this, for a supercharger, it's the volume of air avaliable for it to suck.

 

I told ya it takes time for the ECU to fully adjust. I knew mine got faster with after a few hundred miles as well. I can't wait to start reading responses when you and others install the pulley's on this car. Your gonna think it has turned into the millenium falcon!

 

I'll be interested to see how badly the fuel consuption is affected after the Intake, Pulley and ECU are done. I know we didn't buy these cars for the fuel economy, but that does factor into my decision as far as mods go. I drive 40 miles a day, and if it hits it too bad, then I don't think I'll be able to justify it.

 

I still get near 300 on a tank. Same as before any mods.

 

If that holds true after the ECU upgrade, then its all good.

 

ECU upgrade is actually advertised to increase fuel efficency. Check it out www.inmotionusa.com

 

Well, that is true, but my own personal experiences have proven otherwise on two applications. I had an Upsolute Chip on a 1.8T MIV Golf, and Diablo Chip on a Focus SVT that dropped the fuel economy about 10-20%. I'd like to see that cliam be accurate for once.

 

Very nice review. This may sound like a dumb question, but would this mod void the Chrysler warrantee in any way?

 

This is all very interesting - I have replaced stock filters with K&Ns and noticed a throatier sound but little if any performance gain. After my car woke up (it now has 2800 miles on it) (See thread on 2500 mile wake up) I would be amazed at how fast these things must be getting with the CAI. Is there any difference in the Mercedes intake set up of these cars that might point to the printed difference in HP between our SRT-6s and the SLK32 AMG?

 

How much doews the system cost??

 

Same intake setup for SRT6 and SLK32 AMG. Different engine/belt cover though.
The SRT6 probably puts out 349hp just like the SLK32 AMG. Noone has proven that there are any differences between the two engines. Word on the street is that MB didn't want the SRT6 matching the SLK's numbers.

svo - I believe the NeedsWings CAI is ~$500.00.

 

Chips and power programs on NA vehicles usually do result in lower fuel mileage, but when done on supercharged and turbo charged engine usually result in the same or better fuel mileage if driven easy. In reality most people modify and driver harder resulting in less fuel mileage. My Duramax is 360/650 from the factory. It is reprogramed with EFI live and runs 500/900. If I drive normally to conservatively I get about two more miles to the gallon over stock.

 

great write-up, i appreciate all the detail

engine cover, at this point if it were to be put back on it would just be held on with the one centerd clip, i ran like that for a while and it stayed put without any concerns. if needed we could build a bracket to help support it so its rock solid (or at least stronger then oem)

as for the whistle, please aim me the info at which rpm / tps scenario your seeing this at

 

I've been talking to Rob about the minor "whistle" issue. He hasn't heard it on his. I was wondering if either of the other prototype testers have heard this. We are trying to see if it's just my car and what is causing it. Also, I kept the Horns in the Factory Location. I'm wondering if I'm hearing the air whistling around them... Pleae let us know if you have heard this and how you have your horns mounted. Thanks.

I'm going to relocate the horns tomorrow and see if that cures it. BTW, the whistle only happens between 2000-3000 RPM with 30% or less throttle input.

 

I hear it on my car, but then again I have heard it on just about every other car/truck with an aftermarket cold air kit consisting of the conical air filter. The engine is now breathing with ease instead of sucking through a straw.

The baffling in the OEM air intake system quites all that noise down which is why you don't hear it on the stock system.

My horns are utilizing the new bracket from Needswings.

 

This sounds doesn't bother me. I'm just being a perfectionist I guess. If I can eliminate it, I'll be happy, but I'm not going to make a project out of it. It's so minor I only noticed it a couple of times at low speed with the windows down until I started listening for it. Most probably will not notice it.