Bumping an ancient thread to add my thoughts on my newly installed AFE carbon elbow with the Dry S filter.
It's an excellent OEM+ option for enhancing the quality and accessibility of the intake sound, but won't necessary raise the top end loudness much. I can definitely understand folks who say it doesn't do much or can't hear it above their modded exhausts; I think where this works really well is with a stock exhaust which is what I have, and where the expectation isn't for loudness, but rather tone.
So what does this do that's not often said:
- Right away from low RPM and low load it adds a quiet layer of bass noise. No louder than stock, just adds a bit of bass. It probably won't be noticeable to most, but it adds a nice subtle edge to the ambience.
- It gives you a bass-ier growl at a much lower RPM and from much lower load. This is what I mean by accessibility of the intake sound. From say 2500rpm on up under moderate load (accelerating just a tad faster than casually) the intake unlocks those bassy, growly tones. As opposed to stock, where the engine can sound kind of wheezy revving under lighter load and you don't get that bark unless you're at 4000+ rpm, deep into the throttle under high load. What this means is that you get to hear the nice sounds more often. It's easier to access. You don't have to be mashing it around.
- At high load higher RPM as has been said by other folks, it brings a much harder edged and deeper tone that sounds fantastic.
Issues. The caveat is I got the elbow used (and put a brand new filter on it), so may not be reflective of what you get today:
- The surface of the carbon elbow where the filter clamps to is wavy in spots and may potentially cause issues with sealing. In one spot I found sand when I removed the used filter. Thankfully the filter has several ribs and the sand didn't get through the last rib, so the previous owner was fine. To fix this I sanded the surface and skimmed epoxy over bigger dips to fill them in a bit.
- The surface of the carbon elbow on the plenum side had an indentation in the tip of the oval shape just past the opening. It looks like pieces of carbon were being folded in on itself but was not pressed well against the mold. Again the concern is that the silicone coupler that goes on this end won't seal well. Again my solution was to sand the surface and slowly build up that spot with epoxy.
- The hose that connects mid-elbow is an extremely tight fit. Does not slide on easily like OEM.
- Lastly, I cannot get my airbox lid to close all the way and there's a 5mm gap where the elbow enters the airbox. Tried for a very long time to adjust the position of the elbow and couldn't get it done. I'm sure it won't affect anything but 'll have to figure something out here to fill that gap for no other reason than OCD.
Overall, first impressions, I really like how this sounds and for me does the perfect job of enhancing the engine's sound in an OEM+ way. I just wish I got OEM+ fitment and build quality. Hopefully this was just my example, as I've not come across similar complaints.