Ractive heat shielded air filters - opinions?

Does anyone have (or has had) the Ractive air filter with the built on heat
shield? How do you like it? Is the filter any good? Does the heat shield
help to reduce some of the excessive noise that open air filters put out?
How do you clean this filter?

Thanks.
marx404

 

I take it you haven't tried a CAI then on your Saturn? There is a
noticeable difference. Not HUGE but it is noticeable, mostly the powerband
shifts slightly. Also Lane a member of this group has stated repeatedly
that members of a club he belongs to have had their Saturn's dyno tested
with and without the CAI's and an average of 7hp was gained. Throw on a
nice catback exhaust and everything really opens up though. My power with
just the CAI used to start really tapering off about 5500rpm on the 1.9 DOHC
engine but with the exhaust it still has full power now at the 6500rpm
redline.

Charles

 

Well, none of these really answer my question, but for the sake of
conversation with my fellow Saturn owners:

Yes, there is proven (via Dyno testing and more) documentation that addin or
modifying certain components of the OEM Saturn intake/exhaust system will
enhance performance. Lane should definately be considered one of the
authentic sources of such information, as well as quite a few other people
in this board and others.
There are some ppl that just slap anything on thier car and jsut because
it's noisy or looks cool, to them it made thier car faster. Then there are
ppl like Lane, Qksltwo and Kallisti Motorsports and many others who took the
time to actually test each add on component vs a base oem setup to measure
the results as accurately as possible.
You can find alot of these results at thier websites.

That said, yes a CAI will add an average of about 3 to 7 hp gain depending
on the car. Adding an aftermarket or custom intake system allows more air
into the throttle body, ergo more hp. By itself you cant expect much of a hp
gain, but every little part adds up. Just adding a K&N drop-in filter in the
stock air box has been dyno proven to slightly enhance hp performance (.05
to 2%). Not sure what you mean by " the car's
instrumented like crazy" , but its a fact that the airflow is purposely
restricted in factory. These filters, whether underhood or cold air simply
free up the air flow which anyone who has hot-rodded up a car knows equates
to an increase of air-fuel mixture. This applies to old school carbueretors
or the newer FI engines. Trus the Saturn 1.9 is fine left alone, but some
ppl like to push it that one little step further. My hat is off to them, its
amazing the things that they have done to such a meager little 4cyl grocery
getter.

So to return back OT, I have an automatic, CAI is out of the question. I
hate cars that sound like fart cans or pissed off bumble bees and the cops
here ticket ppl for that too so an open filter is out of the question. I
have already modified my airbox and added a K&N drop-in filter and a Dynomax
Turbo muffler, my car is loud enough at 5K rpm! Unfortunately, the Dynomax
was the quietest that I could get being an open flow muffler, the noise is
just a consequence.

I would like to balance out the sound and performance by adding a cone
filter to my stock intake pipes. Why? the stock pipes wont get as hot as
metal nor be as loud, even though the resonator is already removed and I
will enjoy some added performance without heat soak, even if the boost is
minimal it all adds up. Let me repeat that "even if the boost is minimal it
all adds up". And it is fun to drive too! ;-)

Thats why I am looking into a cone filter that has a built on heat shield.
Ractive seems to be the best known company selling these. So, does anyone
have one of these? How are they?