[Wiley Marmot]

If everything goes as planned; I'll trade in my 2013 ST for a low mileage 2016 RS (Nitrous Blue of course!) this Tues (2/23/21). Pretty stoked as I've wanted one since they came out, but was unable to afford one then!

The car is very clean inside and out, has a clean CarFax, and appears bone stock with the exception of: One of the two previous owners installed a K & N CAI on the car. I've used plenty of K & N filters and kits on various cars, motorcycles, etc over the years, but I've got to admit this CAI has what I'd describe as "minimal" heat shielding at the filter to keep hot engine compartment air out. The Steeda CAI on my soon to be former ST has a much better engineered filter box that seals against the underside of the hood, and uses part of the stock intake system (routes up from the bottom of the radiator to the box surrounding the air filter).

What's the community take on the K & N unit?

I was looking at a Mishimoto CAI system at RalleySportDirect.com---they seem to be a much better enclosed CAI/filter. Anyone with experience with that system? Pros vs Cons?

I've been using an early FSWerks 93 octane tune in my ST (VERY pleased with it!), and though the RS requires premium fuel and has a more aggressive factory tune in it--I'd still like to upgrade for some more HP and torque (the RS will not be rallied, raced, etc) that is eminently streetable. I'm not interested in data logging or other advanced features that Cobb and others offer with their tuners. Any experienced based recommendations for a streetable 93 octane tune would be very welcome! Pros vs Cons?

The tune would be combined with the CAI mentioned above and eventually a Borla cat back (bone stock motor internally; stock turbo and intercooler).

TY!

 

[Pokerrun388]

Congrats on the ‘16 NB RS! I’d love to see a pic of it... You should join the RS forum because they’ll be more helpful on this topic. I used to be on there but they banned me for no reason.


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[Wiley Marmot]

Congrats on the ‘16 NB RS! I’d love to see a pic of it... You should join the RS forum because they’ll be more helpful on this topic. I used to be on there but they banned me for no reason.


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Didn't know there is one. Thanks for the tip! Just created an account there.

 

[hEaT]

Agreed, the RS forum is going to be a more active place to have your questions answered.

Consensus on the CAI topic is that the ETS is one of the "best" for adding power. The stock airbox is more than capable on a stock turbo set, and theirs is 3" from the turbo to the filter. Most others still use the 2.75" filter outlet. Personally I am not a fan of the Mishimoto products, and have seen multiple failures (not with their intakes though).

Regarding tunes, lots of choices out there. If you want to follow Randy, he started his own tuning business at Tunewerks. Mountune no longer offers custom tuning (as that's what he did there). FSWerks does offer RS tunes, as do Tune+ and Freektune. All of those options will be fine for you. If you are tuning the car with any of those tuners' OTS maps, you should datalog and provide the tuner with the logs to make sure everything is running as it should. If you are not willing to datalog a few pulls after flashing, then I would keep the tune stock.

Also, throw a set of 1 step colder plugs in before tuning, NGK 6510s and gap down to 0.026 - 0.028". Tune+ sells them pre-gapped, or you can get them elsewhere and gap yourself.