Around a month ago I swapped the standard airbox with K&N Panel filter & the original battery to an ITG Maxogen & Varley Red Top.... First I must say thanks to Smoggymark for many PMs with help and instructions on how to fit the thing... 
Also thanks to Daemon Tweeks for providing a great price on the battery.
I was scepitical on what exactly would be achieved by replacing my original set up - I'd read a lot of threads about different set-ups with very contrasting views and opinions (not just on this forum) but it was the ITG that stood out - reported increases in power and I was also very intrigued by somebody's comment on here : it sounds like a whale following through... haha
Smoggymark was able to supply me with the Maxogen (again a great price) and it came within a few days & Daemon Tweeks also got the battery to me very quickly allowing me to fit the thing only 3/4 days after I first thought about the idea. With the help of Mark & threads on here I set about dismantling the car... Managed to fill a fairly large box with the original air filter system and part way through I remember thinking 'Should all this be coming off?!' Next was the battery - this was replaced with the very lightweight Varley and pinned into place in it's bracket where the original was with a DIY strut attached to secure the end of the new induction kit. Next was the hose and ITG... Everything in place and secured I went into the car and got myself ready for launch... But nothing happened I shat myself 'What the f$£k have I done to my car?' Turns out it wasn't earthed properly - this was easily fixed by a trip to Halfords to collect a longer lead.
Once fitted I was able to power up the car... Nothing out of the normal noticed until I went for a test drive - I thought I had a nice sounding noise from the original set up but this is that x 100 - It gargles like something else... Foot down : BRRRRRRRR - even in high gears and low acceleration. It was the middle of the day when I took it out so I couldn't get much out of the test cos of other traffic but I was already pleased at what had been achieved though perhaps a little bit oo-er over the louder noise. Now it's been on for a month I'm more used to the noise so that's not an issue though one slight drawback is my reduced MPG - I cant help but boot it when the opportunity is there...! The noise of the kit sucking in the air when you reach approx 6k RPM is something else.
If people are considering changing to an aftermarket induction kit I would absolutely recommend this set up. The smaller battery isn't a necessity but having one does help with the positioning of the filter. In terms of performance - It's hard to say... It could be a placebo effect but the car does feel better having this on - the ECU hasn't been negatively affected - there are no flat spots or anything like that. Would love a remap to get the best out of this + the enlarged throttle body already on the car but that's on a back burner for now.
The set up is below - probably recognisable from Marks pics on here previously...
Anyone looking to improve their system - give Mark a PM and I'm sure he'll sort you out a good price on the ITG...
Also thanks to Daemon Tweeks for providing a great price on the battery. I was scepitical on what exactly would be achieved by replacing my original set up - I'd read a lot of threads about different set-ups with very contrasting views and opinions (not just on this forum) but it was the ITG that stood out - reported increases in power and I was also very intrigued by somebody's comment on here : it sounds like a whale following through... haha
Smoggymark was able to supply me with the Maxogen (again a great price) and it came within a few days & Daemon Tweeks also got the battery to me very quickly allowing me to fit the thing only 3/4 days after I first thought about the idea. With the help of Mark & threads on here I set about dismantling the car... Managed to fill a fairly large box with the original air filter system and part way through I remember thinking 'Should all this be coming off?!' Next was the battery - this was replaced with the very lightweight Varley and pinned into place in it's bracket where the original was with a DIY strut attached to secure the end of the new induction kit. Next was the hose and ITG... Everything in place and secured I went into the car and got myself ready for launch... But nothing happened
I shat myself 'What the f$£k have I done to my car?' Turns out it wasn't earthed properly - this was easily fixed by a trip to Halfords to collect a longer lead. Once fitted I was able to power up the car... Nothing out of the normal noticed until I went for a test drive - I thought I had a nice sounding noise from the original set up but this is that x 100 - It gargles like something else... Foot down : BRRRRRRRR - even in high gears and low acceleration. It was the middle of the day when I took it out so I couldn't get much out of the test cos of other traffic but I was already pleased at what had been achieved though perhaps a little bit oo-er over the louder noise. Now it's been on for a month I'm more used to the noise so that's not an issue though one slight drawback is my reduced MPG - I cant help but boot it when the opportunity is there...! The noise of the kit sucking in the air when you reach approx 6k RPM is something else.
If people are considering changing to an aftermarket induction kit I would absolutely recommend this set up. The smaller battery isn't a necessity but having one does help with the positioning of the filter. In terms of performance - It's hard to say... It could be a placebo effect but the car does feel better having this on - the ECU hasn't been negatively affected - there are no flat spots or anything like that. Would love a remap to get the best out of this + the enlarged throttle body already on the car but that's on a back burner for now.
The set up is below - probably recognisable from Marks pics on here previously...
Anyone looking to improve their system - give Mark a PM and I'm sure he'll sort you out a good price on the ITG...
