Let’s start with why I bought this new piece; firstly, the stock rubber accordion pipe is fairly flow restrictive, secondly, its ugly, thirdly mine was slightly swollen from being covered in oil so it was a b!tch to get back onto my turbo compressor inlet, and finally, I have a GM translator with a 3.5" sensor, which is too big to attach the stock hose to. This pipe is built from aluminized steel and comes eliminates the charcoal canister vacuum nipple as well as the PCV nipple. The BOV return tube is still included on this pipe. Also included was a new BOV dump return hose to replace the old one.

The install was just about as easy as it gets, especially if you have already removed your stock intake canister and snorkel. If you haven’t done so already, I would suggest going to www.VFAQ.com for instructions on how to remove it. After you’ve removed your aircan, simply remove the MAF sensor from the stock intake pipe using either a Phillips screwdriver or an 8mm (I believe) socket to loosen the hose clamp holding the stock pipe to the MAF sensor. Do the same for the clamp holding the other end of the pipe to the turbo.

Next is to remove the three hoses connected to the stock pipe. You can leave the PCV and charcoal canister hoses disconnected, you won’t get a CEL. You’ll need pliers or a set of vice grips to pull the BOV dump return hose because the clamp that holds it to the pipe is pretty hard to remove. These are two of these clamps, one on the BOV outlet and one at the intake pipe side of the hose.

After removing the hoses from the pipe, simply slide the pipe from the turbo and throw the damn thing in the garbage =) . Now install the new pipe onto the turbo using the supplied couplers and tighten down the hose clamps with an 8mm socket. Do the same on the MAF sensor side of the pipe. Next, install the new BOV return hose onto the intake pipe and on the outlet of the BOV using the again supplied hose clamps.

Upon driving the car, my transient boost response (point where the car goes from vacuum to boost) seems to be a bit quicker, and full boost may come on a TAD faster. I’m not sure of any horsepower numbers so I couldn’t tell you. And for the rice in all of you, my BOV got a lot louder, due to the sound resonating off of the pipe.

That’s all there is to it! Easy. Now, onto my complaints, the couplers that are used in the kit are cheap Fernco couplers that are sold at home depot. These are known to not last too long, so keep an eye on them. Next problem I had was some sort of paint residue on the inside of the pipe that I had to clean out before installing the pipe, because I didn’t want all the goop getting sucked into my turbo =) . My final gripe is that the BOV return pipe is not welded in the stock location, they put it much closer to the MAF sensor rather than putting it closer to the turbo. With this setup, the air coming from my BOV would cause funky readings at my MAF and causing my car to stall on throttle let offs. According to Kris at 144mph, this has not been a problem in the past for most people.

One thing I must say is that Kris’s customer service is great, and this alone makes business with him worth it. When I e-mailed Kris asking various questions, he always got back to me very promptly, usually in the same day. Then, when I was getting the stalling problem, I e-mailed him, asking for a custom pipe, with the BOV tube in stock location, and he agreed to do it at no charge to me. As of 8/8/03 , I’m still waiting on the custom pipe, but I should have it in a couple of days.

Ok, price. This pipe goes for $90.00 shipped to your door, making it a few bucks cheaper than a Dejon pipe, the next closest alternative. At this price I can’t complain about much, especially since Kris has been such a good sport about my bitching. I would definitely recommend the 144mph intake pipe to anyone out there looking for a hard pipe.

Installation – 10 - Doesn’t get any easier folks.

Drivability – 6 – This is due to the stalling problems with the BOV return. I give it a 10 when this is fixed with the new pipe.

Performance - 8 – An intake pipe doesn’t cause you huge gains, but at $90, you don’t expect TOO much =)

Overall – 8

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