My last mod- a complete surprise (AFE)

[PropellerHead]

The interesting thing about this last mod is that I had ZERO intention of actually doing it. I had such a ZERO interest that when I saw it on sale at ECS Tuning, I thought Oh. Well, yes. It's an intake and it's on sale, but it's for a V8. No worky on my 3.0. And so I moved on. But then, as many of you may have read, I found THE ONE. A V8. *THE* V8. I was so tickled that I immediately made transplant plans with the Eibach sways and Sirius modules from the 3.0. Even the full size spare and lifting straps weren't safe from my 'Just the way I want it 4.8is' project. And then I remembered. Ohhh, yeah. That AFE at ECS... For over HALF OFF, I just HAD to do it. I mean, who CARES if it doesn't really do anything but sound good? I have a confession to make:

I didn't really care.

I SO didn't care that I transferred the sways, Sirius, did the X pipe, and drove the thing for almost TWO MONTHS with the intake sitting patiently in my garage. Waiting.

"Who cares!" I thought. "The guys say it doesn't really DO anything, anyway!"

And so, to the meat of this thing: I drove it.

HOLY SH!T! For the super discounted 1/2 off price of $150, this was TOTALLY worth it! I felt a difference on the first drive. The really weird thing? I didn't HEAR a thing different. It sounded like it had for the past few weeks after the X pipe. I expected this big ole SUCKING sound like I heard from other CAI's, but I didn't hear a thing! All I saw was the DCS light flicker on one particularly aggressive left turn. I DID hear the left front wheel slip and grab for traction, but that was it.

The other very interesting thing? It seems to hesitate less in sport mode when looking for 2nd. I noticed the hesitation right away. Like I was in a Dodge Durango with dumbed down software to protect the transmission. I sort of figured that it was a factory softened shift to save the diffs. Of course, we're in no danger of chirping second or anything silly, but the shift is much more crisp, and the delay is WAY shorter to find the gear.

Also interesting is the down shift. In sport mode, I would sometimes get that funny little lurch that folks here have said means your transmission is cocked. Now, with only 11,000 miles in 7 years, my trusted indy thought this might be fuel delivery. So, I've run a few tanks of injector cleaner to test the prognosis. It has been better with that recent regimen, but today there was the intake. It's not GONE by any far stretch, but it is BETTER. Much smoother shifting it appears in ALL directions.

Now, in case you're wondering, the answer is no. I have not checked the old filter. It very well COULD be caked with mud. If it is, the message of the day is to simply change your OE filter with another and enjoy. Maybe THAT $20 part was all I needed. Who knows? In the end, I got to fiddle with the car on a nice day and add a blue filter to a blue car. Something about that makes me grin.

Thanks for reading!