ok so here is my 2 cents:
i removed the front and side plastic coverings and took out the snorkel, and wow wat a diff it makes in sound, lots more aggressive. i really enjoy the sound it makes now with my new exhaust. sounds exactly like in gernbys vid that he posted.
The only downside is it feels more sluggish during acceleration. ( kick down at 50mph) feels like it struggles compared to when i had the snorkel on. you can definalty feel the power loss but because the car is slow to begin wtih im gonna keep it off as i like the sound. finally sounds like a beast. time for a joe z intake tube !!!!!
cheapest and best mod interms of making the car growl (it still sounds like a vaccuum cleaner, but now it sounds like a vaccum cleaner on steroids)
all in all im quite happy w/ this mod (if u can call it that) .

 

why not just cut the baffle off the top of the snorkel and replace the whole with a plate? it has been done.

 

Are you talking about the snorkel for the intake? Why in the world would you take that off? Thats where all the cold air comes from and it feeling sluggish is cause youre losing power. But if you feel the sound is worth the loss in power and possible loss in gas mileage then feel free

 

The snorkel really does do quite a bit to reduce the sound, and I'm not really sure why. It definitely isn't because of the little resonator on it though, since I removed mine, and it didn't make a noticeable difference.

IMHO, just because the intake is a lot louder with the snorkel off doesn't mean it sounds "good". If you were to compare its sound with any of the SRI's, I'm sure you would think the SRI's sounded a lot better. The power loss would probably be a lot less too.

 

here the funny part, my snorkle didnt have that bulge for noise reduction ( is that wat ur talking about???)

yea i knew it was gonna make the car more sluggish cause of that but i wanted to try it, sounds better than the vaccum cleaner sound of the stock engine

yea ok so "good" is the wrong word, but it does sounds "better" because it is louder and now it actually sounds like a car. Im sure the short rams wil sound alot better and more agressive but since im gonna get a joe Z pipe for the half the price if a SRI,(unless someone can give me some solid dyno and track tested advice on a good SRI that actually gives a little power and doest take it and sounds nice) ill make due with this free sound upgrade. for now. until it gets on my nerves.

 

gernby, when you mention the resonator in the snorkel, are you referring to the screen between the air filter and the MAF inside the airbox? or is there something else that i have overlooked?..

 

Here is the resonator I'm talking about on the snorkel.

 

thats wierd that the cars here dont have the resonator, maybe they realised they were pointless

 

I took off the snorkel the first week i had the car and havent really turned back. I might reinstall it to see if my performance or gas milage goes up. But i figured it was a very cheap alternative to a SRI