Hey guys...
We were reading some of the concerns you had about the air intake. We have a great relationship with Smart Car Performance and would like to throw in our 2 cents, if we may. :-)
We have a number of customers that have ordered and installed these intakes and have had absolutely nothing, but positive feed back on the item. Out of all the items we have sold this has been the one item (besides the car covers) that tops the list of positive feedback. We personally installed this intake on our car and have been very pleased with the quality of the product, the ease of installation, the sound and the added pep. A number of customers have done their own tests and have proved to themselves the same thing that the manufacturer has claimed.
We do not manufacture this product and have not done any of our own tests. We are simply stating our opinion on this matter.
We contacted the manufacturer this morning regarding your concerns and spoke to them a at length about the issue that was raised and here is what they said:
"We designed this Intake in March when it was still raining, actually quite a bit. We drove our test vehicle in the rain consistently and never had any trouble. The intake tube is designed to be about 10" vertical before making it up to the engine level. In order for the water to make it up to the engine, the water has to penetrate through the filter and travel 10" up into the engine. The only way that would happen is if the intake was submerged in water like a straw. If that happened the majority of the motor would be under water as well.
From our experience with driving in the rain, nothing happened. Looking at the design, it's pretty tough for water to travel uphill so far. Plus when it hits the Stainless steel (around the 90 deg bend), it will evaporate from the heat."
We discussed some of your concerns with the manufacturer about the water possibility and the manufacturer has agreed to design and build a water shield just in case. For those of you that decide to order the cold air intake this will be an option that will be available in the next 30-60 days. Simply drop us a note stating that you would like the water shield option.
Please don't shoot the messenger. We are simply acting as a distributor of this product and have relayed some of your concerns to the manufacturer. We have the item on our car and are happy with the results.
On a personal note... The manufacturers of the Cold Air Intakes also own a Smart and have been a pleasure to deal with. They are working with us right now and are in the process of designing more parts and accessories for the Smart Car.
Just a suggestion... There are a number of people that are spending a lot of time designing products for our cars as we speak. That process takes a lot of time, money and effort. It takes a long time for them to recoup the costs that are involved with developing a new product. Please keep in mind that these are not big, multi million dollar companies that are doing this. The majority of the items for the Smart are being developed by small companies with limited resources. The big guys don't bother with our car due to the small volume of Smarts in the US. The folks that are doing this kind of stuff are Smart enthusiasts just like you and I who are passionate about our cars and are simply trying to make them a bit better and a bit more fun.
The majority of developers and builders welcome constructive suggestions and do their best to accommodate everyone possible. Example: When we spoke to them about your concerns they quickly agreed to spend more time and funds to design a shield (without any guarantee of a return on the investment). What most of them dislike is negative comments that simply sound like personal attacks. We want to encourage them to take the time and continue to design and build items for our cars and not feel like they are going to get personally attacked every time they do. Please don't get me wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with questioning results or designs of a product and suggestions on how to make something better are always appreciated. We are just suggesting a bit of a different tone.
Our goal is to make sure every single customer we serve is completely satisfied and we pledge to do our very best to relay any concerns, questions or suggestions to the manufacturer and get answers back to you as soon as humanly possible.
This forum is read by many people. At times a negative comment that is made by someone who has never used the product in question themselves can have a severe effect on a manufacturer and cause great financial harm to them and their business. While in now way are we suggesting that you can not speak your mind, we are simply asking that maybe, just maybe you may want to contact the manufacturer directly to get answers for your concerns before attacking them and their product on an open forum.
Again, please take this as a kind request and maybe a friendly suggestion. Thank you for your time.
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