Review R2C MaxFlow CAI
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,112
Likes: 4
From: Charlotte, NC
They finally finished road construction in my sub division, that combined with the pollen hell subsiding seemed like a good time to go for a filter clean.
Popping open the hood I was surprised to see that both heat shields developed a rip on the seam between the back and the side where it mounts to the car. Add to that the failure of the gasket to stay on top and we have a generally unreliable heat shield design. Ed commented a while back that they redesigned the heat shield gasket attachement however I doubt they fixed this latest problem. We'll see if I'm just lucky of if this too is an inevitability for other owners. For now I just removed them both and will see if I notice a difference... I highly doubt I will.
So on to the cleaning. I tried using the air blower attachment I have for my air compressor. Not overly thrilled with it's ability to clean this air filter. A few large particles were loosed, however several were fairly stuck in the fibers and would probably withstand a hurricane. With the wire mesh covering the folds it's a piece of labor to clean this filter. The Filters were also gray so I also wanted to see how they held up to a washing. Water did a better job judging by the color of the water an few additional large particles, however the very nature of the fibers to grab and hold on to particles and mesh preventing access to the folds also means that you're most likely not going to be able to get every last large particle out. Probably not a serious concern, just other oil-less designs would probably lend themselves to an easier and more thorough cleaning. Whether or not they filter as well is beyond my ability to test.
So, given the choice would I buy this system again... probably not with systems like the Takeda at a much lower price. Will I seek to replace it with a Takeda.. no, it still works and does the job well.
Popping open the hood I was surprised to see that both heat shields developed a rip on the seam between the back and the side where it mounts to the car. Add to that the failure of the gasket to stay on top and we have a generally unreliable heat shield design. Ed commented a while back that they redesigned the heat shield gasket attachement however I doubt they fixed this latest problem. We'll see if I'm just lucky of if this too is an inevitability for other owners. For now I just removed them both and will see if I notice a difference... I highly doubt I will.
So on to the cleaning. I tried using the air blower attachment I have for my air compressor. Not overly thrilled with it's ability to clean this air filter. A few large particles were loosed, however several were fairly stuck in the fibers and would probably withstand a hurricane. With the wire mesh covering the folds it's a piece of labor to clean this filter. The Filters were also gray so I also wanted to see how they held up to a washing. Water did a better job judging by the color of the water an few additional large particles, however the very nature of the fibers to grab and hold on to particles and mesh preventing access to the folds also means that you're most likely not going to be able to get every last large particle out. Probably not a serious concern, just other oil-less designs would probably lend themselves to an easier and more thorough cleaning. Whether or not they filter as well is beyond my ability to test.
So, given the choice would I buy this system again... probably not with systems like the Takeda at a much lower price. Will I seek to replace it with a Takeda.. no, it still works and does the job well.
Hey Red,
Last year just before winter, Ed called me in to replace the gasket.
It's a MUCH better material. Wraps around the curves smoothly, and I believe it is steel belted. It grabs the edges, not glued, and not a big hollow tube like the original.
I recently took a look at it, and the gaskets are holding up nicely.
I'll look again at my shields, now that you bring that up.
Take care,
-Ryan
Last year just before winter, Ed called me in to replace the gasket.
It's a MUCH better material. Wraps around the curves smoothly, and I believe it is steel belted. It grabs the edges, not glued, and not a big hollow tube like the original.
I recently took a look at it, and the gaskets are holding up nicely.
I'll look again at my shields, now that you bring that up.
Take care,
-Ryan
They finally finished road construction in my sub division, that combined with the pollen hell subsiding seemed like a good time to go for a filter clean.
Popping open the hood I was surprised to see that both heat shields developed a rip on the seam between the back and the side where it mounts to the car. Add to that the failure of the gasket to stay on top and we have a generally unreliable heat shield design. Ed commented a while back that they redesigned the heat shield gasket attachement however I doubt they fixed this latest problem. We'll see if I'm just lucky of if this too is an inevitability for other owners. For now I just removed them both and will see if I notice a difference... I highly doubt I will.
So on to the cleaning. I tried using the air blower attachment I have for my air compressor. Not overly thrilled with it's ability to clean this air filter. A few large particles were loosed, however several were fairly stuck in the fibers and would probably withstand a hurricane. With the wire mesh covering the folds it's a piece of labor to clean this filter. The Filters were also gray so I also wanted to see how they held up to a washing. Water did a better job judging by the color of the water an few additional large particles, however the very nature of the fibers to grab and hold on to particles and mesh preventing access to the folds also means that you're most likely not going to be able to get every last large particle out. Probably not a serious concern, just other oil-less designs would probably lend themselves to an easier and more thorough cleaning. Whether or not they filter as well is beyond my ability to test.
So, given the choice would I buy this system again... probably not with systems like the Takeda at a much lower price. Will I seek to replace it with a Takeda.. no, it still works and does the job well.
Popping open the hood I was surprised to see that both heat shields developed a rip on the seam between the back and the side where it mounts to the car. Add to that the failure of the gasket to stay on top and we have a generally unreliable heat shield design. Ed commented a while back that they redesigned the heat shield gasket attachement however I doubt they fixed this latest problem. We'll see if I'm just lucky of if this too is an inevitability for other owners. For now I just removed them both and will see if I notice a difference... I highly doubt I will.
So on to the cleaning. I tried using the air blower attachment I have for my air compressor. Not overly thrilled with it's ability to clean this air filter. A few large particles were loosed, however several were fairly stuck in the fibers and would probably withstand a hurricane. With the wire mesh covering the folds it's a piece of labor to clean this filter. The Filters were also gray so I also wanted to see how they held up to a washing. Water did a better job judging by the color of the water an few additional large particles, however the very nature of the fibers to grab and hold on to particles and mesh preventing access to the folds also means that you're most likely not going to be able to get every last large particle out. Probably not a serious concern, just other oil-less designs would probably lend themselves to an easier and more thorough cleaning. Whether or not they filter as well is beyond my ability to test.
So, given the choice would I buy this system again... probably not with systems like the Takeda at a much lower price. Will I seek to replace it with a Takeda.. no, it still works and does the job well.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,112
Likes: 4
From: Charlotte, NC
Yea I talked to Ed months ago about sending new heat Sheilds.. they were still working on them. As usually with a small operation, I'll probably have to call and ask again. Thanks for the info.
I just got my R2C intakes yesterday, I haven't opened them yet but I hope I have the somewhat updated/revised intakes like extended hoses and new heat shields you guys are talking about
Hey Red,
Last year just before winter, Ed called me in to replace the gasket.
It's a MUCH better material. Wraps around the curves smoothly, and I believe it is steel belted. It grabs the edges, not glued, and not a big hollow tube like the original.
I recently took a look at it, and the gaskets are holding up nicely.
I'll look again at my shields, now that you bring that up.
Take care,
-Ryan
Last year just before winter, Ed called me in to replace the gasket.
It's a MUCH better material. Wraps around the curves smoothly, and I believe it is steel belted. It grabs the edges, not glued, and not a big hollow tube like the original.
I recently took a look at it, and the gaskets are holding up nicely.
I'll look again at my shields, now that you bring that up.
Take care,
-Ryan
Now if the heat shield is coming apart at the seams, they need to get on that too. I think a few spot welds inside (so the filter hides them) would really help.
------------------------
Dan, I have my fingers crossed for you! If you don't have the new longer hoses/gasket, just call them up. They will ship you the new stuff in a few days.
Okay heres my short review.
Packaging-everything packaged well
Install- Pretty damn simple. This was the first REAL mod ive ever done on my own. The closest technical thing ive done was adjust my coils myself. I went out to pepboys bought the sockets and stuff needed($20) read the directions used my head and it went well. Only thing that pissed me off was the side hose on the intake and the hose clamps. They included an extended hose but i chose not to use it cause i didnt need to it was the clamps that were my problem. Fitment was good to
The passenger side Heat Shield at the bottom right corner was like cut but still smooth I called R2C to see if this was normal, Ed said he will check and never called me back. Not Cool. Anyways I installed it everything went well except for the clamps
Sound- I have tanabes and hfcs. I revved and heard the r2c i was like meh. I drove around and its ok, then i do WOT and whoaa I was impressed. It makes some good noise, I can't compare it to any other intakes cause all ive heard in person were fujitas, and its a lot better than those.
All in all im happy with it, a bit pricey but install was easy I did it myself with a little help I called stoof once to ask him why infinitis hose clamps for the side intake wont come off he said use pliers and it worked.
Oh and power, idk butt dyno didnt feel much if anything its a slightly stronger pull mid 2nd gear to end of 3rd. I have 5AT
Packaging-everything packaged well
Install- Pretty damn simple. This was the first REAL mod ive ever done on my own. The closest technical thing ive done was adjust my coils myself. I went out to pepboys bought the sockets and stuff needed($20) read the directions used my head and it went well. Only thing that pissed me off was the side hose on the intake and the hose clamps. They included an extended hose but i chose not to use it cause i didnt need to it was the clamps that were my problem. Fitment was good to
The passenger side Heat Shield at the bottom right corner was like cut but still smooth I called R2C to see if this was normal, Ed said he will check and never called me back. Not Cool. Anyways I installed it everything went well except for the clamps
Sound- I have tanabes and hfcs. I revved and heard the r2c i was like meh. I drove around and its ok, then i do WOT and whoaa I was impressed. It makes some good noise, I can't compare it to any other intakes cause all ive heard in person were fujitas, and its a lot better than those.
All in all im happy with it, a bit pricey but install was easy I did it myself with a little help I called stoof once to ask him why infinitis hose clamps for the side intake wont come off he said use pliers and it worked.
Oh and power, idk butt dyno didnt feel much if anything its a slightly stronger pull mid 2nd gear to end of 3rd. I have 5AT
Ed loses track of things once in awhile. He also travels a lot because they sponsor a lot of dirt track cars/races around the country.
Keep bugging him and he will be more than happy to help you out!
Keep bugging him and he will be more than happy to help you out!
Update:
after getting a good amount of driving time with these, i can say i am happy with them. I find myself going a bit faster than normal to hear them which isn't a good thing but the contrast between the noise from my engine bay, and the noise from my exhaust is pretty sweet. Ed called me back I missed the call he left a voicemail I didn't call back because everything seems fine with my intakes EXCEPT I did notice when in 3rd gear WOT 5k till redline I get a weird vibration noise I cant really describe coming from the passenger side, only WOT in 3rd gear at high rpms though and I have 5AT. Other than that these intakes are good
after getting a good amount of driving time with these, i can say i am happy with them. I find myself going a bit faster than normal to hear them which isn't a good thing but the contrast between the noise from my engine bay, and the noise from my exhaust is pretty sweet. Ed called me back I missed the call he left a voicemail I didn't call back because everything seems fine with my intakes EXCEPT I did notice when in 3rd gear WOT 5k till redline I get a weird vibration noise I cant really describe coming from the passenger side, only WOT in 3rd gear at high rpms though and I have 5AT. Other than that these intakes are good
