After having the cone filter stuck on the turbo over the winter, I noticed now that it has gotten hot and I have the rad fan back on, the hot side of the intercooler was really hot... Turbo lag had gotten worse as well. With the engine running, the fan pretty much blew hot air directly at the turbo and cone filter. Not the best setup.
So, I used one of my left over pieces of 3" tubing, and moved the cone filter over behind the headlight. I fabbed up a "box" for it with some sheet metal, painted it silver and topped it off with some door edge protector so it looks half way finnished and wont cut the crap outa me! I also removed a plug that was in the body just below the headlight, which opened up another 2-1/2" hole to the front of the car for more cool air. The results are impressive. The hot side temp of the intercooler after driving around is MUCH cooler, just warm to the touch rather than hot. With the lower inlet temp, the output side of the intercooler is actually slightly cold now, even in 80 degree weather. Overall well worth doing if you have an open element filter, I think the box around it really makes a difference.
