Intake efficiency questions

[rubix777]

I have a 95 Prelude SE and I just swapped out the stock intake and resonator box. I've got two questions:

1. What do the two extra tubes connecting to the stock intake pipe do? I see a small tube about 1mm that goes into the intake manifold.
The other one is attached to a little regulator inside the resonator box. When installing the cold air intake, I just plugged up those 2 extra hoses. No, I'm not talking about the big one that goes into the engine.

2. Regarding the efficiency of the aftermarket intake, I was wondering if removing the air regulator would have any negative effects on the engine. I mean, the CAI is made of metal which should conduct heat more than the stock plastic intake.

Also anothing I noticed is a lag before the engine begins sucking in air, like it chokes, then it breathes normally.
Something, I think the regulator makes the transition smoother when we release the gas, because after I swapped the intake, when I take my foot of the gas, it's a jerk rather than gradual slow down.

[BullShifter]

Its only an intake. Unless the engine is highly modified the only thing you will actually notice is SOUND. Combine an intake, header, exhaust(high-flow cat & cat back) then you might actually notice a little something.

[Prelewd]

I beg to differ. I 'dropped in' a K&N filter and noticed a small difference. The previous filter was clean.

The difference was marginal, but noticeable, and a good mod for 40 dollars.