okay i got a silver P5, and 1 day i looked under the hood to find something very very stupid, why did mazda make such a bad intake? when you close the hood the damn thing is almost completly sealed!! how does the engine get nuff air? anywho my question is how do i make the air go through the grill and into the intake? i can't take off the grill, ive taken out every screw i could find around their but it won't budge

 

heres a pic of my car

 

Here is what i did to get better air flow until i can get a CAI. I removed all of the bulky plastic that is in place to carry airflow to the airbox. The only thing remaining should be the actual airbox with the open hole to let air in. I then took a piece of flexible ducting from an automotive store, hooked it to the opening, then affixed the other end of the tubing down underneath the car to suck in cold air. Honestly, I don't feel any difference, but at least I know its getting better airflow, cool airflow. I guess if I drop a K&N in, I will feel a little something. I wouldnt recommend running through any pools of water with this adaptation....but I dont think that the water will be able to travel up that high to the airbox. Just for your info, the size tubing I used was 2 7/8 Give it a shot. Good Luck.....Oh by the way, I have attached a generic diagram of how I configured the mod.
<IMG SRC= http://imagehost.auctionwatch.com/pr...izm/AirMod.jpg >

 

The stock intake is actually in a good place to bring in the outside air that comes in between the hood and the body. There's more air coming in there than you would think. FWIW, many Miata owners pay big bucks for a somewhat-similar setup (Jackson Racing CAI).

Edit: My brother dynoed his Miata both with and without a K&N panel filter. Net hp gain: 0. You might get 1-2 hp if you're lucky.