Just installed my new rspeed intake last night..... first thing I noticed was that the intake was smaller than I expected (filter and elbow). The elbow that attaches to the throttle body was made of some kind of plastic which I really like since it wouldn't conduct any heat off the engine... and it can be angled (it doesn't need a bracket) so that it easily is in line (or close to it) with the hose that comes from the orig. resonator box (one coming from the grill). the whole install took less than 30 mins. and was pretty straightforward with the included instructions. Take note that they do mention how difficult it is to get the exisiting elbow off the throttle body... as this I can attest to since it took me nearly 10 mins. to pry this baby off.... once off, everything attaches fairly well... just try to make adjustments to the angle of the intake while the o ring is still loose.....
The test drive - I took my cooper out on a quick test drive and one thing is for sure, I LOVE THE SOUND OF THIS THING!!!! it's not so loud when you're tooling around town between 2-3k rpm but when you step on it, there's this really nice growl to the intake.... I can say that it pulls better from 4500rpm on..... it's kind of hard now to keep the sunroof and windows closed just for me to hear the intake when I step on it..... :smile: ... now the question is, how low will my gas mileage go now that I am addicted to that growl....

by the way, it doesn't rub on the bonnet lining which is one of the reason why I tried this intake.... and of course, the price..... $80 well spent...

oh here's some pics

 

Nice review. I'll be getting a CVT in about a month or so and of course I have modding on the mind. The price alone makes the Rspeed an enticing option. What other intakes did you consider and what was the final deciding factor?