Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior Semi-ram air?

I was just looking thru the engine how-to's and came across a page describing how to remove the small plastic piece in front of the stock air intake (to get cooler air I guess). Has anyone tried this? Would water be able to get into the air intake system then? Any other potential problems? Thanks-

Sure, its not a big deal at all. All your doing is getting it out of the way for smoother air flow. Thing is on the 00-02 stock nose the opening is nowhere near the air box opening, and in the 03 nose the half of the upper nose opening that is in front of the air box is covered with foam padding. I cut that out of my 03 and took out the plastic strip. All in all this is not helping, a short ram is in order here.


Oh, and I have had no problems with water.

I am planning on getting a short-ram in a couple of months, so I'm thinking of doing it just in the meanwhile. I have a 2000, so would it make a bigger difference then? The plastic piece is right between the intake and the opening in the bumper, so it seems like it would help out...

i did this last year on my trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas... didnt really notice much difference

..but then again, I wasnt expecting a 20hp increase