Insomnia. So, I checked out vmag and did some reading on the Don Moody intake. Yikes. Looks like he had some unhappy customers. Not knocking the product... have no personal experience with it so can't really say anything concrete about it.

I think there is a misunderstanding on what was said earlier. The intake kit I will attempt to make consists of: heat shield + filter. Based on my experience from making a kit for the VW I used to have, and my friend's Eclipse Turbo... the factory plastic intake ducts are good enough to keep things cool. The only time heat might be an issue is when the vehicle is at a stand still (i.e. sitting at a red light).

I don't understand why most intake kits on the market these days are made of mandrel bent metal tubes... aside from the fact that it might look good under the hood. A metal pipe would conduct heat much better than a plastic hose would. That heat would transfer to whatever air is flowing through it. Not having a heat shield on a setup as such also defeats the purpose. Even if the metal pipe does keep intake charge temperature a little lower... what's the point if the motor is gulping down hot engine bay air? and the 3.5 does run a bit on the hot side (just like the VW VR6.) Someone mentioned they noticed their gas mileage drop with the Moody intake. I wonder if increased intake charge temp is the cause. Hot air... less oxygen... less efficient combustion... more pedal input to get the same performance as before.... maybe?

Anyway, my thought is if you use a good heat shield... one that seals OK against the hood... and one that basically acts as an airbox that encloses the filter... so that you supply the intake with plenty of cold air... there would be enough cold air running through the plastic intake hose to make ambient heat transfer (from engine bay to hose) an insignificant issue.

So basically, the goal is to provide the motor with air that is as cold as the stock airbox provides... but use a cone filter that has more filtration surface area than the stock panel filter. Same cold air as stock... just more of it.

I estimate the heat shield + filter will probably end up being $100 give or take $15. And, it should work with the Alpine SC since it doesn't really matter where the throttle body is located.

SC folks, can you tell me if the MAF and filter remain fairly close to the stock location? What I mean is... is the end of the platic hose in the same stock location or close enough to it (where it meets the airbox)? If you use the SC with the stock airbox, would you have to relocate the airbox at all?