Best Induction Kit / Set up

[Rascal21]

When I bought a 4A-GE 16v Bluetop Bigport 3-rib that I swapped into a TA40 wagon, I went with a cheap mush-room filter and a Mercedes Benz intake hose that put the filter just about between radiator and coolant reservoir.
(forgive the other mess, it's an engine put in a car not meant for it, still working on the looks) looking c.a like this:


Which surprisingly had it give of as good an induction sound as I've heard on 16v single throttle's:

As far as dirt and all that goes.. this engine was pretty well worn in when I bought it in 2013 and still wears signs of having sat outside for longer than I have been alive (repainting 4A-GE means engine will blow, it's my only superstition).

Honestly I didnt even compression test it upon purchase, I slapped it in there about the summer 2014 I should think, when the 2T started making 3 different bad sounds at once and I've never put holes in blocks and didn't intend to start doing so either even if I'm not a fan of the engine (plus, never know when I might come across a 2T-G head).

I havent changed the filter (but I have been cleaning it, usually by taking out the insert mushroom and soaking it in diesel) and when I havent had the car under the knife for various mods to up the chassis potential and take a bit more advantage of the 4A-GE's very surprising abilities (everyone kept telling me it's just a dohc 4-banger with nothing special to it, I'd agree if throttle response and the exciting way it delivers what power it has, wasn't out of this world), I've been driving it for long treks, putting another 100-120k on that engine without any signs of more wear than it has, just prudent oil changes, the second the oil on the dipstick is starting to turn black = change, and apparently that's enough to keep these things alive regardless what filter is used.

To expand further, there's a guy on Youtube, Matt something, that uses his non-filtered 20v swapped ae86 mostly on the street too, as often as he can, and I sceptically asked him about the whole oil affair and he just uses some cheap Redline oil, changes it when it goes black, and has had no need to rebuild the engine yet (and he's been at it for more than a few years).

At the same time I have a friend who had a GT-S swapped AE85 from Japan, and he instantly killed the engine (Weber carbed high comp 16v 4A-GE) when hitting the dirt trap on a track day (that cost him 2x Weber rebuild kits, 2x cams, full set of valves, full set of bearings, rods, pistons, rings, rebore, honing, balancing, total about 11-12k Euro worth, which made it cheaper for him to do an F20C swap, which was what he did) so I wouldn't run an unfiltered intake, that's for sure!