Weapon-R Secret Weapon Intake

runabout93 · 06-29-2007, 01:19 PM

Here is a review of this product from me... feel free to comment if you have purchased and installed this intake.

[edit]I just added some pictures.

Here is a pic and a link to the website for the product I am referring to :
http://weapon-r.com/english/index.ph...oducts_id=5319

Last night I finally received my new intake. I figure... this an easy hour or so project to pass the time before bed. So, I start pulling everything out of the box. Now, I am getting excited. The intake tubing looks really well made... nice welds and polished-up. It's a little scratched.. but, what the hell, it's gonna be connected to the engine anyway. Then I start digging deeper into the box... There is all kinds of stuff in there. I think to myself, Man... this was a great deal! But, then skepticism kicks in.. Oh wait, it's too good to be true....

And I was right... Once I started to read the instructions, look at the engine, and compare parts I began to totally get disgusted with the fitment. I can except a little tinkering here and there to get something to fit. But, this thing doesn't look like it should fit at all. It is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Anyway, Here are some of the major issues I found:
enginebay-noairbox.jpgHere's the space the intake tubing has to ocupy... its a tight bend (90degree), a short straight piece, and then a 45 going down towards the vents would be best.

However...

1) The Weapon-R bend in the intake pipe is supposed to fit into the throttle body. But, it is not nearly as sharp as it looks in the picture. So, it comes into the throttle body at a 45degree angle. The silicon coupler supplied with the intake to fit the throttle body to the 3" intake tube is a simple straight reducer... Which makes the whole thing slip off... and damn near impossible to get the clamps to work with it.
filterPipe - noLineupe.jpgIf they sent a silicon 45 elbow, it might have worked.
filterPipe - with-coupler.jpgYou can see how it is stressing the fitting.. I did get the screw clamps on... but, It looked like the coupler was being stressed way too much.

2) The problem above with the connection to the throttle body also makes it stick out too far towards the fender. This is an issue because it pinches the radiator hose.
filterPipe - pinch.jpgI slipped the coolant protector out of the way too... You can see it nearly pinches the hose off. Ultimately, this is what I could not live with.

3) It doesnt curve around the fender wall and down towards the side vents as it should. It sits basically at the top of the engine lid. Which is where 90% of the exhaust manifold heat goes. So, this thing takes the Cold Air out of the Cold Air Intake. They should call it a hot air intake.
filterPipe - overHeader.jpgYou can see the exhaust mani in the back ground... As said best by Paris Hilton, "that's hot."

4) They give you a universal install kit.. so you'll have to ghetto it in there.
But, I haven't even proceeded that far with it. I had to stop last night before I threw-up... this thing sucked that bad. And the instructions are not for an MR2 at all... their are 2 pictures on the instructions are f'd up. One is completely black in the photocopy... and the other is barely legible. But, is legible enough to definitely see that it's not a 5sfe. The producs says, "intake for mr2 non-turbo" It comes with a universal mounting kit.. so they should say... this is kinda for a Mr2 na if you can make it fit. If I had nothing better to do, and was one of those types of people, I would sue for false advertising.
intake_crapKit.JPG Here are some pictures of some of the kit. I wish I took more... but, you should get the idea
intake_crapKit2.JPG

5) The intake tubing is polished... which is nice. But, it came all swirled up and scratched already. I could live with that. But, by the time I was done trying to line things up last night... it looked like crap! It looked like I took a few passes over it with steel wool.
You can start to see in the above pictures how it is scratched and swirled.

There are some other strange things too...

I have 2 3">4" silicon couplers.... which nothing is 4" so that makes no sense? Plus they didnt give me any 4" clamps to go with it.. Have no idea what that is about. I also received a ram air kit?? I'm not even going to bother with that thing. Plus I received some kind of neon yellow breather filter? No mention of it on the packing slip or directions? They probably can't sell those pieces of crap... and have to give them away to make room for their other crap products?
You can see some of this in the pictures above... [Note: I think I figured out the 4"-3" coupler reducers are for ram kit... which is just some accordian tubing that connecs to the end of the foam filter.]

I did receive a bunch of free stickers and badges. At this rate they are going to have to pay me to advertise this junk. Plus I received a cleaning kit... aka a small squirt bottle of deluted dish soap.

Anyway, I'm not giving up on it yet. I am taking pictures and will document my progress in-detail as soon as I can. Hopefully it helps the next poor bastard that was stupid enough to buy this. Like I said before... anyone else's experiences are welcome.

Maybe I'm just overreacting???

Maybe I was pitching a fit... but, there are some things they could have done to make this intake and kit better... I know I could make it fit... But, it looked like crap... It could potentially wear a hole in the coolant hose... and the bottom line is this: If you can't do it right, Then you shouldn't do it at all. Weapon-R should think about that. Instead of trying to increase sales for a product they originally created for another vehicle. They should spend an hour on R&D for this thing they could've made it better... and customized the instructions and pictures. If they can't take the time... neither am I. I'm never buying anything from this company again.

bean · 06-29-2007, 08:39 PM

Even it doesn't add power, or worse yet can even take away the bottom end, don't do it.

runabout93 · 06-29-2007, 10:08 PM

Yeah.. I wasn't expecting anything other than a little more room in the engine compartment, some bling-bling, and maybe some cool noise. HP isn't why I was putting this in. Weight reduction is about the biggest performance increase to be made.. because that damn airbox, hose, and everything weighed a ton. LOL

Anyway, too make a long story short. I gave up on trying to make this fit correctly. Because, it just isn't designed to fit the MR2 without relocating the coolant hose and charcoal canister. So, I spent the rest of tonight putting my airbox and stock intake back together. Then I packaged up this piece of junk so I can ship it back.

I am still going to post pictures tonight if I have time or tomorow. I wish I found info on this intake from someone who actually installed or tried to install before I bought it.

Well, not all is lost though... because I learned a little bit about where things are in my car... plus, I have a pretty good idea how I'm gonna build my own. It wont take much money or work to get something that works and looks good in there. Plus it will have a k&n filter on it and cost less money in the end. That will be my next thread.

sickof5sfe · 07-31-2007, 06:22 AM

****...i just bought this since there are like no N/A 5SFE intake kits...i was looking forward to putting it in but now i dont know what to do..

runabout93 · 07-31-2007, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sickof5sfe

****...i just bought this since there are like no N/A 5SFE intake kits...i was looking forward to putting it in but now i dont know what to do..

Sorry to hear that. I was the same as you. I was totally psyched to get it. Oh well, I can't return mine now either. What a PITA!

You know, I'm pretty picky about items I purchase. Especially when they cost crazy amounts of money for what you get. I know people are running these in their mr2's. They list it in their mods all the time. So, you can make it work. I might end up trying to make it work too. But, they really didnt design this intake for the Mr2. It just happens to fit if you force it in there. But, as you can see from the pics and comments... it's totally not as advertised.

Good luck!

tigerpee · 07-31-2007, 12:17 PM

When I bought my mr2 like 6-7 years ago, the previous owner had a Weapons-R Dragon Intake installed. It fits fine.

runabout93 · 07-31-2007, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigerpee

When I bought my mr2 like 6-7 years ago, the previous owner had a Weapons-R Dragon Intake installed. It fits fine.

This isn't the Dragon... the Dragon is smaller diameter and has the correct bend to the tb.

MR2TRD1 · 07-31-2007, 01:24 PM

?? Here is all you need to do and it works amazing! Go on ebay and buy the early 90's Integra intake for like $20. Spend the extra $ at the parts store and pick up a K/N filter. Bolt it up and there you go! If you want to get even more creative buy the 'cold air' kit for the integra for like $35 (generic) and you'll have more pipe to play with and get the filter in the side vent. This worked awesome when I was n/a. Makes the car sound like a jet!

tigerpee · 07-31-2007, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sickof5sfe

****...i just bought this since there are like no N/A 5SFE intake kits...i was looking forward to putting it in but now i dont know what to do..

Quote:

Originally Posted by runabout93

This isn't the Dragon... the Dragon is smaller diameter and has the correct bend to the tb.

Correct - My response was for sickof5sfe.

PETC · 07-31-2007, 03:01 PM

Yeah, I've heard good things about the Integra intakes.

I also have an intake that fits beautifully for sale. $30 + shipping takes it. No filter, but it fits correctly on to the throttle body and actually does its job correctly.

runabout93 · 07-31-2007, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR2TRD1

?? Here is all you need to do and it works amazing! Go on ebay and buy the early 90's Integra intake for like $20. Spend the extra $ at the parts store and pick up a K/N filter. Bolt it up and there you go! If you want to get even more creative buy the 'cold air' kit for the integra for like $35 (generic) and you'll have more pipe to play with and get the filter in the side vent. This worked awesome when I was n/a. Makes the car sound like a jet!

Early 90's... I'll have to check that out. i was thinking of building my own. But, for $35.. that's cheaper than parts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigerpee

Correct - My response was for sickof5sfe.

ahh... i got it now. Sorry man!

Quote:

Originally Posted by PETC

Yeah, I've heard good things about the Integra intakes.

I also have an intake that fits beautifully for sale. $30 + shipping takes it. No filter, but it fits correctly on to the throttle body and actually does its job correctly.

Got pics?

PETC · 07-31-2007, 04:15 PM

Doesn't come with the filter as it was sold separately, but it sounds like you have a filter that you could probably use. You can't really see it, but it's resting on its welded support bracket, and has a hole and gromet for the intake air temp sensor.

runabout93 · 08-01-2007, 07:25 AM

Sorry... that's a little too worn-in for my baby. I was gonna do something similar out of silicon couplers and stainless.

PETC · 08-01-2007, 01:52 PM

Why not just paint it? lol

runabout93 · 08-01-2007, 05:25 PM

True... I could paint it. nahhhh! I think I'll need a better looking 90 degree coupler on there too.

VTsuckah131 · 08-01-2007, 05:36 PM

I ran in to the same problem with the Dragon inake when i was installing it. To remedy it, you actually are to use that stock ribbed black rubber 90 degree tube that is already on the intake mani. Fit like a glove once I figured that out. The placement of the filter will be above the exhaust manifolds. Most intake kits that I've seen for the 5s is the same. The filter will be really close to your firewall and the clearance will depend on how you implement the mounting brackets. Those provided brackets are universal, I ended up hacking a little off.

runabout93 · 08-01-2007, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VTsuckah131

I ran in to the same problem with the Dragon inake when i was installing it. To remedy it, you actually are to use that stock ribbed black rubber 90 degree tube that is already on the intake mani. Fit like a glove once I figured that out. The placement of the filter will be above the exhaust manifolds. Most intake kits that I've seen for the 5s is the same. The filter will be really close to your firewall and the clearance will depend on how you implement the mounting brackets. Those provided brackets are universal, I ended up hacking a little off.

No doubt??? .... I'm gonna take a look at that tonight when I get home.

06-29-2007, 01:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
runabout93 Cage Fighter Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Vermont Posts: 365 Thanks: 25 Thanked 22 Times in 9 Posts iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	Weapon-R Secret Weapon Intake Here is a review of this product from me... feel free to comment if you have purchased and installed this intake. [edit]I just added some pictures. Here is a pic and a link to the website for the product I am referring to : http://weapon-r.com/english/index.ph...oducts_id=5319 Last night I finally received my new intake. I figure... this an easy hour or so project to pass the time before bed. So, I start pulling everything out of the box. Now, I am getting excited. The intake tubing looks really well made... nice welds and polished-up. It's a little scratched.. but, what the hell, it's gonna be connected to the engine anyway. Then I start digging deeper into the box... There is all kinds of stuff in there. I think to myself, Man... this was a great deal! But, then skepticism kicks in.. Oh wait, it's too good to be true.... And I was right... Once I started to read the instructions, look at the engine, and compare parts I began to totally get disgusted with the fitment. I can except a little tinkering here and there to get something to fit. But, this thing doesn't look like it should fit at all. It is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Anyway, Here are some of the major issues I found: enginebay-noairbox.jpgHere's the space the intake tubing has to ocupy... its a tight bend (90degree), a short straight piece, and then a 45 going down towards the vents would be best. However... 1) The Weapon-R bend in the intake pipe is supposed to fit into the throttle body. But, it is not nearly as sharp as it looks in the picture. So, it comes into the throttle body at a 45degree angle. The silicon coupler supplied with the intake to fit the throttle body to the 3" intake tube is a simple straight reducer... Which makes the whole thing slip off... and damn near impossible to get the clamps to work with it. filterPipe - noLineupe.jpgIf they sent a silicon 45 elbow, it might have worked. filterPipe - with-coupler.jpgYou can see how it is stressing the fitting.. I did get the screw clamps on... but, It looked like the coupler was being stressed way too much. 2) The problem above with the connection to the throttle body also makes it stick out too far towards the fender. This is an issue because it pinches the radiator hose. filterPipe - pinch.jpgI slipped the coolant protector out of the way too... You can see it nearly pinches the hose off. Ultimately, this is what I could not live with. 3) It doesnt curve around the fender wall and down towards the side vents as it should. It sits basically at the top of the engine lid. Which is where 90% of the exhaust manifold heat goes. So, this thing takes the Cold Air out of the Cold Air Intake. They should call it a hot air intake. filterPipe - overHeader.jpgYou can see the exhaust mani in the back ground... As said best by Paris Hilton, "that's hot." 4) They give you a universal install kit.. so you'll have to ghetto it in there. But, I haven't even proceeded that far with it. I had to stop last night before I threw-up... this thing sucked that bad. And the instructions are not for an MR2 at all... their are 2 pictures on the instructions are f'd up. One is completely black in the photocopy... and the other is barely legible. But, is legible enough to definitely see that it's not a 5sfe. The producs says, "intake for mr2 non-turbo" It comes with a universal mounting kit.. so they should say... this is kinda for a Mr2 na if you can make it fit. If I had nothing better to do, and was one of those types of people, I would sue for false advertising. intake_crapKit.JPG Here are some pictures of some of the kit. I wish I took more... but, you should get the idea intake_crapKit2.JPG 5) The intake tubing is polished... which is nice. But, it came all swirled up and scratched already. I could live with that. But, by the time I was done trying to line things up last night... it looked like crap! It looked like I took a few passes over it with steel wool. You can start to see in the above pictures how it is scratched and swirled. There are some other strange things too... I have 2 3">4" silicon couplers.... which nothing is 4" so that makes no sense? Plus they didnt give me any 4" clamps to go with it.. Have no idea what that is about. I also received a ram air kit?? I'm not even going to bother with that thing. Plus I received some kind of neon yellow breather filter? No mention of it on the packing slip or directions? They probably can't sell those pieces of crap... and have to give them away to make room for their other crap products? You can see some of this in the pictures above... [Note: I think I figured out the 4"-3" coupler reducers are for ram kit... which is just some accordian tubing that connecs to the end of the foam filter.] I did receive a bunch of free stickers and badges. At this rate they are going to have to pay me to advertise this junk. Plus I received a cleaning kit... aka a small squirt bottle of deluted dish soap. Anyway, I'm not giving up on it yet. I am taking pictures and will document my progress in-detail as soon as I can. Hopefully it helps the next poor bastard that was stupid enough to buy this. Like I said before... anyone else's experiences are welcome. Maybe I'm just overreacting??? Maybe I was pitching a fit... but, there are some things they could have done to make this intake and kit better... I know I could make it fit... But, it looked like crap... It could potentially wear a hole in the coolant hose... and the bottom line is this: If you can't do it right, Then you shouldn't do it at all. Weapon-R should think about that. Instead of trying to increase sales for a product they originally created for another vehicle. They should spend an hour on R&D for this thing they could've made it better... and customized the instructions and pictures. If they can't take the time... neither am I. I'm never buying anything from this company again. Last edited by runabout93; 06-30-2007 at 10:13 AM. Reason: Added pictures.. and cleaned and shortened up my ranting a little.

06-29-2007, 08:39 PM	#2 (permalink)
bean 91 NA Hardtop Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: SC Posts: 467 Thanks: 15 Thanked 13 Times in 12 Posts iTrader Rating: (3/100% )	Even it doesn't add power, or worse yet can even take away the bottom end, don't do it.

06-29-2007, 10:08 PM	#3 (permalink)
runabout93 Cage Fighter Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Vermont Posts: 365 Thanks: 25 Thanked 22 Times in 9 Posts iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	Yeah.. I wasn't expecting anything other than a little more room in the engine compartment, some bling-bling, and maybe some cool noise. HP isn't why I was putting this in. Weight reduction is about the biggest performance increase to be made.. because that damn airbox, hose, and everything weighed a ton. LOL Anyway, too make a long story short. I gave up on trying to make this fit correctly. Because, it just isn't designed to fit the MR2 without relocating the coolant hose and charcoal canister. So, I spent the rest of tonight putting my airbox and stock intake back together. Then I packaged up this piece of junk so I can ship it back. I am still going to post pictures tonight if I have time or tomorow. I wish I found info on this intake from someone who actually installed or tried to install before I bought it. Well, not all is lost though... because I learned a little bit about where things are in my car... plus, I have a pretty good idea how I'm gonna build my own. It wont take much money or work to get something that works and looks good in there. Plus it will have a k&n filter on it and cost less money in the end. That will be my next thread.

07-31-2007, 06:22 AM	#4 (permalink)
sickof5sfe doing a secret build >:D Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Richfield Minnesota Posts: 355 Thanks: 11 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	****...i just bought this since there are like no N/A 5SFE intake kits...i was looking forward to putting it in but now i dont know what to do..

07-31-2007, 12:17 PM	#6 (permalink)
tigerpee Cage Fighter Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 512 Thanks: 7 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	When I bought my mr2 like 6-7 years ago, the previous owner had a Weapons-R Dragon Intake installed. It fits fine.

07-31-2007, 01:24 PM	#8 (permalink)
MR2TRD1 pimpin' valet ;-) Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Atlanta Posts: 1,918 Thanks: 1 Thanked 31 Times in 28 Posts iTrader Rating: (13/100% )	?? Here is all you need to do and it works amazing! Go on ebay and buy the early 90's Integra intake for like $20. Spend the extra $ at the parts store and pick up a K/N filter. Bolt it up and there you go! If you want to get even more creative buy the 'cold air' kit for the integra for like $35 (generic) and you'll have more pipe to play with and get the filter in the side vent. This worked awesome when I was n/a. Makes the car sound like a jet!

07-31-2007, 03:01 PM	#10 (permalink)
PETC √(176400) Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Bellingham, WA Posts: 2,208 Thanks: 20 Thanked 43 Times in 38 Posts Blog Entries: 1 My Google Map iTrader Rating: (4/100% )	Yeah, I've heard good things about the Integra intakes. I also have an intake that fits beautifully for sale. $30 + shipping takes it. No filter, but it fits correctly on to the throttle body and actually does its job correctly.

07-31-2007, 04:15 PM	#12 (permalink)
PETC √(176400) Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Bellingham, WA Posts: 2,208 Thanks: 20 Thanked 43 Times in 38 Posts Blog Entries: 1 My Google Map iTrader Rating: (4/100% )	Doesn't come with the filter as it was sold separately, but it sounds like you have a filter that you could probably use. You can't really see it, but it's resting on its welded support bracket, and has a hole and gromet for the intake air temp sensor.

08-01-2007, 07:25 AM	#13 (permalink)
runabout93 Cage Fighter Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Vermont Posts: 365 Thanks: 25 Thanked 22 Times in 9 Posts iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	Sorry... that's a little too worn-in for my baby. I was gonna do something similar out of silicon couplers and stainless.

08-01-2007, 01:52 PM	#14 (permalink)
PETC √(176400) Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Bellingham, WA Posts: 2,208 Thanks: 20 Thanked 43 Times in 38 Posts Blog Entries: 1 My Google Map iTrader Rating: (4/100% )	Why not just paint it? lol

08-01-2007, 05:25 PM	#15 (permalink)
runabout93 Cage Fighter Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Vermont Posts: 365 Thanks: 25 Thanked 22 Times in 9 Posts iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	True... I could paint it. nahhhh! I think I'll need a better looking 90 degree coupler on there too.

08-01-2007, 05:36 PM	#16 (permalink)
VTsuckah131 Sirc's secret lover Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Gainesville, VA Posts: 306 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	I ran in to the same problem with the Dragon inake when i was installing it. To remedy it, you actually are to use that stock ribbed black rubber 90 degree tube that is already on the intake mani. Fit like a glove once I figured that out. The placement of the filter will be above the exhaust manifolds. Most intake kits that I've seen for the 5s is the same. The filter will be really close to your firewall and the clearance will depend on how you implement the mounting brackets. Those provided brackets are universal, I ended up hacking a little off.