You are correct, Ideally your standard cold air box has a formed plastic manifold to direct cold air into the box. If your box is missing the inlet piece you can buy it through a parts counter at your car dealership. There are a ton of razzle dazzle company's out their who sell huge air inlet tubes to a cone shaped air cleaner under the hood. Save your $$$ they draw hot air and the filter most likely doesn't have any more surface area than your standard filter. I would add a K&N filter to your box.