Red_Devil

Is it really a good idea or necessary to remove this part for cooling plate install?

G127

It's not necessary to remove that piece but I'm pretty sure it's a good idea to remove it. I don't think the AUT plate will be doing much to direct air to the intake if you leave that factory piece in there. The only air flow that you're getting through that piece is through those small holes on the left. I removed mine. It's not hard you just have to take your time.

jal3lee

my bro and i took that plate out and back in. it took about 10 minutes..
i dont have the aut, but was going to take the plate out thinking more air would get to the intake, but then speaking with others found it was not a great idea because the purpose of the plate was also to keep cool air for the radiator.. i think it's best to remove it if you have the aut.

ArinX

Thanks for the write up, it helps to know what you have to tackle.

Got mine in about 20 min.

Cragspider

Thanks for the write up. I got a knock off from ebay (figured that I would give it a shot) and will use this when I install mine.
Bryan

jeallen

Does anyone have any mesurable results from this or even "seat of the pants better" comments?

Craigspider, let us know how the ebay version does fit-wise.

Cragspider

I will let you all know how well it fits.
Bryan

Cragspider

Well I got the ebay knock off in the other day. The fitment was preaty good, i would give it a 8 out of 10. The only problem with it was that I had to drill out the hole on the drivers side for the radiator mount and Im gona need to fix a couple of the other holes. As for the CF part of it, its got its flaws. There are some spots where the weave isn't right. Either the weave is apart from each other or to close together. I duno how the AUT plate is with the underside of the plate but the ebay knock off has a fiberglass undercoating. I guess to help stiffen it up? . My over all impression of it is ok. However if I would do it over again I would get the AUT plate. Reasons why, price is about the same including shipping. The quality is going to be better and its not from china who infringes and makes cheap coppies of good quality parts.

That being said I also got a CF snorkel as well. Now that part is a lot better than the plate as for quality. Then only problem is that you can't use the two pieces together unless you want to do some modifying to one or both parts. I know it has been said that you can use the plate and build a larger snorkel that will funnel the air into the intake. Which could be better than the spoon style snorkel cause of its restrictive kink so that it can clear the hood/radiator support. However when I had the plate on I was looking at how big the opening was when the funnel part of the plate opens up. It looks to be smaller than the kink on the spoon snorkel.

Im going to look into modifying both of the snorkel and the plate so that I can use both. The nice thing is that Im not going to feel bad about cutting into them cause its not the real things. Once I figure out how Im going to do it I will post up picks.

Bottom Line just buy the real thing, you get what you pay for.
Bryan

darkfx

So, should we remove the plastic part if we have a CAI and the plate doesnt have a "snorkel" on it?

Hero

that damn panel is a pain to get out!

thanks for the write up though.