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Air Box Elimination
One of the biggest gains per buck for the 3.x is the elimination of the airbox and airfilter, with a cone airfilter/cool air intake setup.
Basically there is a plastic housing which holds the airfilter and crankcase vent filters. This box basically has air sucked through it in route to the engine's TB (Throttle Body). As the engine sucks air, it gets taken from behind the driver's side headlight through the PCM unit, through the airbox, and then the TB. The problem with this is that it is first highly restrictive, and second, it does not supply the engine with cool air.
The best solution is the removal of the airbox unit, and having a cone airfilter (K&N seems to be the standard, though I use a ricer brand due to it being the cheapest option at the time...) setting either directly on the TB or on the end of the stock hose which went from the TB to the airbox (or should I say from the airbox to the TB?). This cone filter can be positioned where ever it may fit (within reason), though as a side note, it is best to keep it as away from sources of heat as possible, while keeping an unrestrictive intake. Then, a home made scoop, air dam, etc can be placed under the bumper to draw air into a large tube/hose pointed at the airfilter. As the car moves around, air is pushed up the tube and to the area around the airfilter where the engine will suck what it needs through the filter and to the TB.
The 3.0 guys have had knock problems by having their cone airfilter too close to the engine and drawing in too hot air. The solution is to use a hose and thermometer to find the spot which is the coolest.
One common method of getting a cool intake is to relocate the battery to the trunk, place a large cone filter where the battery was, and then have the cool air sent to there. I've seen some wall-off the area around the cone filter with heat resistant material. This helps keep the warm or hot air produced by the engine's heat from heating up the air going to the engine.
Also, now would be a great time to remind that the cooler the air (within reason...) the less likely engine knock/ping is to occur, and the more likely that lower octane fuels can be used without problems, this is why cars with turbos and superchargers can get away with pump gas when an intercooler system is used. Just a related fact worth mentioning.
In terms of the price for this modification, figure $40 +/- for the filter (though mine was $25), maybe an other $10 or so for a crankcase vent filter, and then if you decide to build an air scope/dam for under the bumper, then the cost of materials for that. All in all, some claim to get 12 HP from this mod, others get lower or no results (other then a better sound from the engine at WOT and near WOT). On my 3.3, I noticed a differnce at once, though I don't have before and after dyno figures, so as to what HP increase I got, well, I can only guess. My car sounded much better during acceleration after the air box was removed.
If/when this mod is made, then that is also the best time to also do any other intake modifcations- like larger TB's, etc. This would also be a good time to get a digital thermometer for the intake air temperature- which is very helpful in finializing the spot for your filter and such (as any hot areas can be found through watching the temp of the intake air when the filter is in other spots).
