Perrin True Cold Air Intake Installation and Review!
 

Here it is Ladies and Gentlemen the review you've all been waiting for!

I present to you the Perrin True Cold Air Intake!


The Prep!

The intake comes in a simple box with everything you will need.

http://i.imgur.com/E9iTtjQ.jpg?1

As with all large Perrin orders you will get 2 license plate frames and 4 Perrin Logo stickers.

http://i.imgur.com/1W9ksuF.jpg

The kit also contains a filter (Pre-Oiled,) the intake pipe and all the required hose clamps and bolts/screws.

http://i.imgur.com/MKC7d3N.jpg

What You Will Need:

2 Thin Flathead screwdrivers (or 1 plastic clip removal tool if you have one)
1 10mm socket
1 12mm socket
1 8mm socket or Flathead screwdriver
1 12mm closed end wrench
1 #1 Philips screwdriver

That should be it!


The Installation!


Let me preface that this install is FAR more involved than your average intake. If you're looking for something you can remove easily and return to stock within a short period this intake is not for you. The install however is not TERRIBLY diffcult I would give it a 2.5 out of 5 in the difficulty scale. to put that in perspective the AFE Intake and Airaid Intake would rate at a 1 out of 5 on the difficulty scale.

It also helps to have 2 people for this install, it however is completely possible to do this install by yourself, I did! It just means it will take a little longer and you will have to be extra careful when removing the front bumper.

For this intake you are REQUIRED to remove the front bumper, there is no getting around it, it is the main reason I rated this install a 2.5 on the difficulty scale. In fact most of this installation guide will pertain to removing the front bumper.

Start by removing all of the clips and bolts under your hood along the front edge of the bumper above your brand emblem. There are 5 bolts and 2 plastic clips. Pop the plastic clips with your two screwdrivers by placing one on ether side of the clip and popping each side up together. This is the easiest way I have found to do this and will make popping the ones under the car easier as they are usually encrusted with dirt and are much more difficult to pop. Sorry I forgot to take a picture of this top piece but they are pretty obvious. remove the hood gasket piece and place it off to the side.

Next pop all the clips in your fender wells, turning your wheels hard over to one side will make this easier. These clips have a philips head that you turn and they then pop up a little to get the flat head screwdriver under it to pop it the rest of the way.

http://i.imgur.com/Xhl6k0Q.jpg

There are 4 of these clips, one next to the side marker and 3 on the bottom of the fender guard.

http://i.imgur.com/bHK1TzW.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kwaYmxa.jpg

Next remove the 2 silver bolts under the front bumper seen on ether edge of this picture. They are 10mm bolts. Then remove the three clips in the center on the three blue tabs. No other clips in this area need be removed, these are the only clips that attach to the bumper. These are the clips where it would be useful to have 2 screwdrivers as they are difficult to pop due to dirt and grime in this area.

http://i.imgur.com/5rvf9C7.jpg

Please excuse my curb rash in this next pic, it will be fixed soon :)

Now remove the two corner clips on the left and right underside corners. You can see the two holes where I removed these two clips here, sorry I forgot to take the pic before I removed them.

http://i.imgur.com/8SZZoVB.jpg

Next remove your side markers, this step is a little unnerving but it's not difficult, just be gentle and work slowly. Gently pull out on the top rear corner of your side marker until it pops out. The rest of the marker should follow. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO LOSE THE LITTLE METAL CLIPS ON THE BACK OF THE SIDE MARKER THERE SHOULD BE 3 OF THEM.

http://i.imgur.com/THvyLyw.jpg

Next slide the side marker out. The plastic connector is kinda weird but there is no reason it needs to be removed from the side marker

http://i.imgur.com/iXPDoEQ.jpg

Unplug the plastic connector from the car and place your side marker off to the side where it wont get damaged or scratched.

http://i.imgur.com/zXaJ2yo.jpg

Next, it may be difficult to see but there is one more clip on each side you need to remove in the side marker area. They are a little tricky to pop but they are the last thing holding the bumper in place.

http://i.imgur.com/dYjPYn8.jpg

If you have a buddy have them hold the bumper during this next step to keep it from hitting the ground and falling off, if you don't then just work slowly and be careful. Be ready to catch the bumper as you pull it off. Start from one side and pop the bumper off where the side marker is. It will pop out, go slowly to make sure you do not break any plastic clips.

http://i.imgur.com/PRvl5nV.jpg

Move across the front bumper and the bumper should come off pretty easily.

http://i.imgur.com/PRvl5nV.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/bDK567m.jpg

Place you bumper off to the side somewhere where you wont get scratches.

NOW ONTO THE ACTUAL INTAKE INSTAL!!

Remove your stock intake if you haven't already. It's pretty quick and easy.

Next remove the six plastic clips holding the front air dam in place. You can see where one of those clips went in the following picture. Also remove the two radiator header bolts on the drivers side of the car. These are 12mm bolts. I don't have a picture of it because of it's awkward placement but you also need to remove 2 MORE header bracket bolts located low in the engine compartment centered in front of your exhaust header and in between the two radiator fans. I could not get these out with a ratchet so I used a 12mm closed end wrench. If you have large hands this will be tricky...I had trouble getting my fingers on the bolts to undo them by hand once I got them loosened.

http://i.imgur.com/VmH6lY3.jpg

Okay, grab your new intake tube and lift up on the radiator header and slide it into place. Make sure the support tab lines up with the proper hole in the radiator header. Take the supplied M6 bolt and flat washers and secure the intake tube in place temporarily. Do not tighten the bolt all the way yet. Replace the 4 major radiator header bolts you removed earlier and tighten them down. Replace the two plastic clips in the top of plastic air dam, then take take the air dam and push it closer to the radiator. Then take the metal brackets in the kit and attach them to the outer two sets of holes in the plastic air dam making sure the plastic clip comes up from the bottom on the rear hole. Then clip the front of the metal brackets into the original holes in the car. This is required to make room for the large filter inside the bumper. You can see these metal brackets and their clips and installation in the following pic.

http://i.imgur.com/nEJSCc7.jpg

Remove the wire hose clamp from the stock intake tube and replace it with the hose clamp provided by Perrin. Loosen the stock air intake from the throttle body and twist it downwards slightly and then mate the Perrin tube to the stock tube. Making sure they line up properly. Once you do this you may retighten the hose clamps. Then tighten the M6 bolt on the radiator header to secure the intake in place permanently.

Remove the Perrin from it's bag, some gloves would be good because the filter is oily and makes a mess. Wipe off the excess oil from the inside of the filter where it attaches to the CAI tube, this is important as oil in this area may cause the filter to slip off the intake tube under heavy vibration. Then install the filter onto the intake and tighten the hose clamps!

http://i.imgur.com/JG8l9FC.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/YMMjeqO.jpg

Remove the stock MAF sensor from your stock intake and place it into the Perrin CAI Tube and secure it using the supplied screws. Replug the MAF sensor into the car making sure none of the cables are touching any moving parts.

http://i.imgur.com/cmRrJu7.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/P0SDYLa.jpg

Replace your front bumper, pretty much exactly the same way you removed it in reverse. Take your time making sure everything lines back up and tighten all the bolts. Double check all your connections and bolts to make sure they are tight and secure.

BASK IN YOUR GLORY!!!!

http://i.imgur.com/gn1L4Wb.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/pHloKa3.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/1T73nAq.jpg


The Review!

This wont be much of a review sound and performance wise as the car never left the garage. Unfortunately it's winter here and the roads are covered in salt. Also as you can tell my car does not have winter tires so it hasn't left the garage yet.

The install went fairly well, as I said previously I was working by myself in my garage. Of course this was easier for me as I (as you can tell) own my own garage lift which makes working on my cars far easier than most. Any problems I had were due to ether my own stupidity or difficulty deciphering the pictures in Perrin's instruction manual. I would ask Perrin that maybe in the future they consider color printing their manuals, as the black and white pictures are hard to understand. I know this is added cost, but it would make installation MUCH easier and understandable. I think I had the same suggestion for their Cat-Back.

As I said before, if you want an easy intake install, look elsewhere. The aFe Takeda intake installs in about 15 minutes and is super easy. The Takeda however is not a true CAI and does suck hot air in from the engine bay despite having an intake spout pointing at the hole where the original snorkel used to come in. @2forme can back me up on this, he has logs of both the aFe and Airaid intakes and their intake temperatures.

All in all the install went fairly well, and the products fit and finish was good. I started the car and pressed the gas a couple times to rev the engine. The sound is pretty nice, when you first step on the gas it has a pretty cool POOF sound as the air accelerates through the filter upon tapping the gas. The filter is of good construction, although I do wish Perrin had offered a Dry Filter option as I am not a huge fan of oiling filters as they are messy. The filter has an inner metal cage to keep it's shape and prevent collapse. All the pieces fit together with little difficulty and I did not have any trouble getting everything lined up properly.

So far I would give this intake a good review but I have not been able to comment on performance yet as that will have to wait until a sunny day when I can go for a ride. I will also have Dyno's soon as I will be taking my car to @Kaizen Tuning for a retune. More info and further review to come then!

Thanks for reading!

-Trev a.k.a. Sony

Final Review!

So I finally got a chance to drive my BRZ with the new intake. I took it out over the last several days while we were having a bit of a warm spell. The weather was clear and it has rained the night before washing the roads clean of salt. The temperature hit the upper 40's, so I hit the pavement. I put over 300 miles on the BRZ with the new intake and I have to say it was wonderful!

The BIGGEST improvement was at the low end. The car's stop and go driveability was DRASTICALLY improved from stock. The car no longer hesitates while engaging first gear from a stop. With the stock intake AND the airaid intake you really had to tap the throttle before you started to get the RPM's up to a comfortable level to where you could let the clutch out and start up from a stop. Now the car almost immediately responds to throttle when you press the gas, you don't have to tap the throttle beforehand you can just go! This was worth the entire cost of the intaketo me as that was my biggest problem with driving in traffic was the hesitation when starting from a stop.

Other than that the intake also makes about 6hp up top on a DynoDynamics dyno after a tune. The horsepower feels noticeable up top, where I could only chirp my Ventus V12's in 2nd gear before, I can now break them loose for half a second before regaining grip and continuing on. I got my intake tuned by @Kaizen Tuning and it definitely made a little more horsepower. I will post dyno's at the end of this review.

The biggest difference other than the low end torque and response is the sound. This intake sounds aggressive, there is something about tubular aluminum intakes that sounds mean. It's got a pretty great growl when you rev the engine and also when you accelerate hard in the upper RPM's. When you first press the throttle the intake makes a great "poof" noise as it first starts sucking in air through that foam filter, like it's breathing in just as it's laying down the power. It sounds really cool and is one of my favorite parts about this intake.

Conclusion!

In conclusion, this is a really well designed intake. Never once did I have an issue with fitment of the intake during the install, not was there any missing parts. So if you're looking for an intake that responds better than stock, allows plenty of airflow, is a true cold air intake and you aren't scared by removing your bumper or a slightly more in depth install then this intake is perfect for you. Definitely LEAGUES better than the POS Airaid Intake I had on before with that out does any intake I have driven to date (Stock, Airaid and aFe.)

On the performance scale I would rate this intake a definite 4.5 out of 5 and the install I would rate 2.5 out of 5 on the difficulty scale.

Dyno's

Here are the dyno's from my car. I found the other 2 dyno's we did on my car and got printouts. Unfortunately I don't own a scanner to please forgive me for the crappy pictures of the sheets of paper. Each one was done at a different time under different weather conditions so take each one with a grain of salt.

This is the first baseline Dyno we did just after getting the car completely stock. 144.8hp

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps8960f932.jpg

This is Before (Green) and After (Red) the ECUTek tune with the Airaid Intake and Perrin Cat-back Exhaust.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psb72b1ce9.jpg

This is with the Perrin Cat-Back and Perrin True Cold Air Intake.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps636c689b.jpg

Again please take these Dyno's with a grain of salt as they were done on different days in different conditions but at least they will give you a good baseline reference point for you to make YOUR decision!

Thanks!
-Trev A.K.A. Sony

Nice review. Looks great too.

That's a big gap where the intake pipe goes through.
Is it not possible to make an oval filter that will go through there when fitted to the intake pipe, that can be rotated around into position?
It would be an easy fit, easy to get out to clean and you would sell a lot more.

Can you make the pictures any bigger? I Didnt even bother reading because the pictures were so big. This is on a 42 inch TV also and made all the text sizes smaller where its barely readable..

Can you be any nicer??? (I'm sure you can't no need to answer, already proved plenty in the other thread).

I don't know what are you using to browse this forum, but the pictures are resized smaller to fit the page by default and you just click at the top of each to enlarge them. It is GOOD that they are as BIG as they are when elnarged in order to see all the details. :bonk:

Lol the pictures look fine on my iPhone....

Great review! Looks like a solid intake.

Since you're in Somerville I hope you're not letting A-Plus fix that bumper scuff. They replaced a bumper on my Subaru and failed to etch it...at all. The paint just peeled right off.

I'm starting to have some buyers regret after further reviewing the intake. The design seems much better than the aFe Takeda. Kinda torn on what I want to do.

Video under load please!! Cannot decide between this or VMS intake.. :iono:

Nice, man. Not a fan of the design personally, but we will have to get together soon to do temperature logging so I can add it the running intake database lol

The difference in performance is going to be negligible. Just stick with the Takeda until you go FI!

Now if you had an intake that was making worse power or causing other issues, then by all means, consider swapping out, but if it's Takeda vs. Perrin, I think you can't go wrong with either.

That's disappointing that the Perrin CAI requires removing the bumper. I was able to install my VMS CAI by just unbolting the top of the bumper and lifting it up to slip in the filter (dry K&N) and bolt on the pipe. I figured the Perrin would be just as easy.

How much clearance does that give you? I've seen someone tear the corner by the passenger side headlight trying to lift up the bumper top to remove the stock tube.