Originally Posted by
mobilefitt
$440 for an intake is about $200 more than the best running intake on a BMW twin turbo. I realize modding can be expensive but my car is valued at about $4500. It just dosn't make sense to throw $440 at an intake that looks decent in the engine bay and adds nominal power. If I were driving an SRT6, It would have been my first mod, not my last!
That value seems awfully low... regardless, value is a relative thing. I understand the reluctance to shell out 10% of the car's value for any mod, but you also have to take into account the limited market. There are dozens of thousands more BMWs that can utilize the intake tube... so, it makes sense to sell 10,000 tubes at $200... unfortunately for us, there are only a few hundred people that have bought the NW single (estimating).
When considering value, consider what it would cost you to buy another car to match the Crossfire's driving experience. Chances are, you'll be back above $10,000. So, a $4,500 car is still a great ROI even if the intake was $600. You're still "modding" a fun-to-drive car for a total investment that's HALF of what it costs to pilot the competition.
Parts for a Bimmer might be cheaper, but the Bimmer itself is not. So, there's a tradeoff.
The cheapest mod is to simply leave it stock. We're only talking a MINOR difference in performance on the NA anyways, so if money is truly a concern, the choice to leave it stock (and reliable) makes MUCH more sense.