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Yes, they ARE worth it, if designed correctly. I'd suggest either finding a guide on how to build and design one, or just mimic a quality intake design (I'd suggest looking at an AEM unit and using a design similar to theirs). Go with the largest K&N air filter you can get your hands on and fit under your hood, and use tubing to correctly fit the connector of the filter.
As for gains.. I'd say that you could see as much as 10 horsepower, and 6 to 8 foot-pounds of torque. This is an ideal situation, and you need to design and build your intake correctly to see these kinds of gains. And remember that the biggest benefit of ram-air and cold-air intakes is the increased throttle response. The biggest drawback is that unless you have a poorly designed factory airbox, you will see increased intake temps during idling. The plastics and tubing used in factory intakes are designed not to provide maximum airflow, but usually to supress noise and to allow the car to idle and sit in traffic with minimal rise in intake tempertures. Ram-airs throw the cautions of these design parameters to the wind in favor of power and reponse increases.
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