Hot air intake very nice..

 

@aerojon, the engine rooms of these SAAB's 9-3 with the 2.8V6Turbo are as cool as possible, it id almost freezing in these engine rooms, so some degrees extra preheating for the air what flows to the engine isn't that bad, but, @Aarthology, if you want to have such an open air filter, why not take the intercooler away and put that filter on the location where the intercooler once was found?
To help you a little bit further how i think about that kind of air filters, you COULD take a look in (please click on->) this topic and then it will be clear why i did suggest to take the intercooler away.

 

WOW, now our own dutch guessing device hit bank!
He is now very high on drugs (thanks to Dutch liberal drug politics).

IGNORE THIS "ADVICE"!

 

Totally ignore above..You can't remove the IC it is an important part of the intake system,it is there to cool the compressed air which is fed from the turbo to the TB/inlet manifold..

 

Ya you gotta have an intercooler or else you're limited to just a couple psi of boost. Hot intake air= less power. If anything, go back to oem air filter & upgrade intercooler

 

Who knew that A SAAB could be kinda a Fun car!?

Every single one of us on Saab Central and me personally for forty five plus years. 😁

You aught to consider going back to an intake outside the engine compartment.

 

@Aarthology, yesterday evening (local Dutch time) i joked about the open air filter and hinted you to another topic, about an open air filter+ the intercooler and explained about the cooling function of the air with help of the intercooler.
The cooler the air is what flows into an engine, the more oxygen that do air contain, but, with an open air filter, which do suck hot air, straight from an engine room which is much hotter as the air outside of the engine room, the function of the intercooler is for a big part/almost been completely ruined.
Let's say, it is a number "out of my thumb", the intercooler cools the air what flows through it, after been compressed and heated up by the turbo, with 25°C and the air what has gone through the air filter did rice with (again just a number for now) 20°C caused by the hot air from the engine room, what is then the effect of the intercooler?
At least a reduced effect, but more likely a very marginal or (almost) useless effect.
Cooler air into the engine, what contains more oxygen, allows to put in more fuel, more fuel and more oxygen together will at the end give more power and is something what counts for any engine, with or without a turbo and then it depends on if there is an intercooler or not, at the end the intercooler.
Even an engine with even the most simplistic carburetor, 2 valves per cylinder, let's go back in time and select a very basic Chevrolet150/One-Fifty (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_150) from the 1950's, do give the most effect/horsepower with as cool as possible air for the combustion.
If you want to have an air filter with low resistance, keep it to an element what do have the identical measurements and directly fits inside the original filter housing, what allows to get as cool as possible air to flow into the engine, what did come from outside the hot engine room.

Everything of this reply, but with other and as less as possible words:
Keep the air what flows into any engine as cool as possible.

 

Ya I kno. But it Has such a Cool turbo spool and blow off sound. Igs actually got an entire Cold
Air kit thats Universal and Itll put the Filter down into the fender well. I’ve pulled all the factory tubing and seeing as how I pulled the right fender lining ℹ thot I’d construct a Functioning Cold(er) air set up. Basically ℹ Ordered 2 separate Intake styles from EBay and ima fab it to put right down that hole in the Right side lower air box feed. I’ll post Picks, or I’ll put it BACK cuz I have to smog it Soon.

 

Still on high. Oxygen content do not depend on temperature.

 

Wow, some questionable advice in this thread…

The 2.8 can definitely benefit from an improved intercooler. DO88 makes one for your car.

As far as the engine goes, on a mostly stock engine the stock air intake with a better filter is fine. Once you start making big power then an open air filter may make sense since in that case, total airflow will be more important that pre-intercooler IAT. My Camaro makes 1230 HP and my air filter is open to the engine bay. But you’re not quite there yet so I’d stay with the enclosed air filter setup for now.

 

Sometimes an open air intake is just fun.
Despite The air temps just listening to the sounds it can make, especially on the v6 is nice.
Unless your building a race car I wouldn’t go nuts over it.

 

Sometimes an open air intake is just fun.
Despite The air temps just listening to the sounds it can make, especially on the v6 is nice.

At the gas station I worked at as a kid in the seventies the cops would come in and get us to turn the air filter lid over on their Plymouth Fury patrol cars so they would get that big four barrel sucking sound when they nailed the gas.

We did it to my dad's Sport Suburban wagon with the 383 and he loved it.

 

I have one on my 3.0 ranger (145hp?) It does make it sound throatier. sometimes if you catch the RPM right it even sounds like a V8. The factory box was gone when I bought it so I've just never switched it back and it's getting a 302 anyway so I really don't even care. 🤣

 

I have a CAI inherited from the PO on my 2.0. It sounds much better, doesn't actually affect performance otherwise. I've towed cross country, at altitude, through the Southwest in the summer, etc, etc. There is no difference in performance. You just won't do enough to effectively heat soak it.