[sevenspeed]

I've spent hours searching and haven't come up with much. I thought short ram would be better due to drawing in hot air but some claim due to heat soak a cold air doesn't really change engine temps much.
I also read that the bigger difference is due to pipe length and diameter so a cold air makes more power because of that not where it is drawing the air from. And it makes more low end torque and power where a short ram is more for high rpm which i'm not worried about.
The stock system has an airbox with a pipe that goes down in the fender, through a resonator, and loops back up to the engine bay.
I was going to do a short ram into the stock box and remove the resonator/lower piping but now maybe it would be better to just remove the resonator for better flow?
Would changing the hose from box to intake manifold to an aluminum pipe make any difference? That is doable or so is just a drop in K&N filter. They have a 5" OD that fits but have to pay $8 shipping or a local store has a 4" that tapers down to a 3", I know the 5" is better but $14 better?