I am posting this because when I was researching the subject I found the information insufficient, especially on the cowl mod. I am hoping this review and pictures helps someone else out.
My car is 100% stock engine/exhaust wise. This is the first mod I am performing.
I recently bought a cold air intake off of craigslist. I snagged it for $30 which seems like a really good deal. It came with the metal heat shield, the aluminum coupler, and a no name cone filter.
It looks most similar to a "Mini madness" CAI. It has no logo's on it but it could be.
Installation was easy. The two bolts holding the factory air box top on were too long for the CAI, so I added a few stainless steel washers.

Review:
I have the stock pulley, and the sound is HUGE. When you get it above 2,500-3,000rpm and step on the throttle, when that throttle butterfly valve opens it whines like crazy!
I think the cowl hole helps to get the sound into the cabin, less material blocking it possibly, in addition to the function of letting in a lot of cold air.
With a stock pulley the sound is very loud. I wonder how much louder it will get when I put a smaller pulley on.

Cowl Mod:
Harbor freight sells this kit:
http://www.harborfreight.com/34-in-5...-pc-69073.html
It included a 5" hole saw for $16 total, much cheaper than buying an individual hole saw.
I drilled a 5" hole in the cowl. The hole overlapped with the small factory cold air intake hole about 1/4 of the small holes circumference. I was still able to use the factory grommet. I did this because it rides against the lower part of the factory air box, possibly stopping vibration.
Ive seen cowl mods where they drill 6 1.5" holes, but I wanted it to more closely match the look of the cowl "Mini Madness" sells.
I think I got it pretty close.
http://www.madnessmotorworks.com/mad...take-cowl-mod/
Cost me $16 instead of $50
I then used a knife to deburr the edges of the whole, and of course cleaned up all of the plastic shavings.



Here are all of the pictures I took of it installed.















Hope this helps someone!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1a...AzEHI4y6zSL2bg