Initial Impressions
I first noticed that K&N packages their stuff pretty well. The intake runner was wrapped in foam, with a layer of paper over that. The kit includes all the necessary hoses, clamps, and mounting hardware, plus a K&N air filter. The instructions that were in the box were fairly good, several pictures were included. The thing I liked most after opening the box was the bitchin' finish on the aluminum runner!

Installation Impressions
The install went extremely easy. There are only two hoses that you are required to replace. One is a coolant line that runs into the intake, and the other is a vacuum line running from the intake runner over to the top corner of the valve cover:

NOTE: When you remove the stock coolant and vacuum line, save the hose clamps! You'll need to re-use them.

You can change the coolant line before or after putting the runner on, but you obviously need to get the runner on before installing the vacuum line. I suggest you leave the hose clamp closest to the throttle body a little loose so you can move the runner around a little while positioning the support bracket:

What I did was mount the "U" shaped bracket (bright aluminum) to the black angled piece loosely, then bolt the black piece to the existing hole on the driver's side of that black box in the picture. I left the mounting bolt loose also, so you can swivel it to line up with the runner. The "U" shaped piece of the support bracket is a good bit wider than the runner is, so I just positioned the bracket so that the gap was even on both sides. Now just lift the runner up enough to tighten down the support bracket bolts, and then tighten that end hose clamp you left loose earlier. Put on the vacuum hose that goes between the runner and the valve cover, and clamp the filter onto the end of the runner (fair warning, it's a tight fit):

That's it, now all you need to do is get your grimy paw prints off that shiny new intake! Here's the final results:

Performance Impressions
This baby is louder than I expected, but it was a pleasant surprise the first time I had it wide open (which was as soon as it was warmed up!). It produces a fairly loud, very sporty growl at about 5000 RPM and up, yet it is almost as quiet as the stock intake while just cruising. As for the performance gains....It feels about the same until I hit VTEC, that's when I notice it seems to pull harder than before, and again, that's when it really starts to growl. I've never had the lude on a dyno, so I can't say how much power I gained, but I swear it feels faster to me. I'd definitely recommend this intake!