From what i heard its runable without it and that people remove it for a little more flow when making a lot of power, but its main job is to straighten out air flow for the karmen vortex, if you look around, i'm sure someone has one for sale, aight peace :chicken:
Ummm when Installing K&N I kinda "Slipped" and fucked mine up, but I ghetto rigged it back together ( not too bad actually ). I didn't notice any problems.
Posted this answer on your thread in the Can forum too.....
Yes it's required. Your AFM is called a "Karmen Vortex" meter which requires laminar air flow to properly drive the vortex. The honeycomb smooths out the air flow. If you run without it your AFM will not be reading the correct amount of intake air and thus your car is destined to probably run really badly