Thats a great idea Toasty. Its got me curious.

Gutted air box, at least in California. And hope the smog inspector isn't shrewd.

I looked it up last night, and get this...

No engine or tranny mod is legal for road use in California UNLESS it is on the list of SPECIFICALLY APPROVED mods by CARB (California Air Resource Board).

So, on ANY Bonneville (or LeSabre), no aftermarket intake is legal. You would fail visual smog inspection. Even putting a K&N rectangular filter in your stock airbox is not legal in CA.

Also, high-flow cats, high-flow mufflers, headers, aftermarket fuel delivery components, throttles or plates, or aftermarket PCM'* are not legal on any Bonneville (or LeSabre) for road use in California.

Not only that, but replacement engines (for any road use car) must be the same year or newer, and replacement transmissions are NOT ALLOWED FOR ANY ROAD USE CAR.

There'* lots of mods on the approved list for Nissans, Hondas, Toyotas, and various light trucks, but almost nothing for my dear LeSabre.

I've never ran a gutted airbox but ive had my INTENSE FWI on since September and it was a very straight forward install. Seeing as the FWI is drawing air from outside the engine bay and right above the airdam/splash guard i would assume your getting a colder air charge in the engine since your starting with cooler air to begin with. My only complaint about the FWI is pretty minor, but starting it on cold days sounds like i've got a shop-vac in my wheel well.

I stopped running my FWI when I got 18mpg (and rough running) doing 70 on the highway due to water ingestion.

No vote here, instead..my ramblings to think over.

I'm probablly the only nut that ran a gutted airbox wtih a 3.2" pulley.
From ATV experience (including 4 stroke) the idea is to have a large storehouse of air right in front of the intake. This is an airbox.. with a K&N air filter it is a large filtering surface. The inlet of the airbox once gutted exceeds the size of the FWI tubing. As for cold.. The air is coming from in back of the headlight to the side of the radiator.

The FWI on the other hand.. is in the fender, the tubing is much longer than the total length of the gutted airbox. Large filtering capacity and a long tube. The FWI has the ability in hot climates and summertime to better pick up heat from the road when the pavement is hotter than the general air temperature. The tubing promotes more laminar flow. Can the MAF screen be taken out with this laminar flow? I personally haven't tried yet.

I have noticed one thing running the FWI, it'* louder all the time. Sounds worse on cold start up, and more whine on top end. Sound level isn't my goal, HP is.... There are factual numbers that say the FWI is better.. I haven't looked for them though.

Time to stop worrying. I'm a CA native, and we have other CA cars with intake and exhaust mods that pass emissions just fine with no raised eyebrows. rrounds is the most extreme, and there'* no hiding that hooker exhaust or 6" velocity stack intake.

Besides, this is why you keep your stock airbox to convert back before inspection.

i agree with Bill, there are many modifications that fail inspection in many states, many states clearly state that ANY exhaust modification that does not comply with ALL OEM specifications are grounds for inspection failure.. How many cars/trucks do you see on the road with loud pipes? sure, the cops ticket the ricers, the stupids, and the super loud exhausts occasionally, but that is about all there is to worry about

I'll probably go, at most, with a modified airbox/K&N, keeping an unmodified/ACDelco around for smog inspection time.

I'm a bit paranoid about this crap, because my 1993 Dakota failed two consecutive smog inspections (the first solely for visual...cracked PCV tube! The second for bad O2 sensor), and is now permanently branded a "Gross Polluter" by CA DMV. This effectively makes the truck unsellable to anyone (north of the border) who has access to Carfax.

I'll be darned if I'm letting that happen to me LeSabres!

The cold startup "shopvac" sounds is due to the Idle Air controller (IAC) functioning properly to help get the motor up to heat. It is louder because the sound is not baffled anymore by the stock airbox.

With a 7 inch cone in an SLP CAI I had 2 degree of KR back in the day and after switching to a 9" FWI it was instantly gone, no other changes, same day, same ambient temps and conditions. At speed air is bouncing off your radiator so fast into the bumperwell that air temps picked up by the intake air are almost always ambient or very close. At idle the air temps may be warmer due to being so close to asphalt heat, but this is rapidly diminished as speed increases with forward movement.

So Rogue, are you saying that for perfomance, that a FWI is better than a Gutted airbox?