I was going to ask some follow-up questions about your setup, but I ventured into your build thread and SHEESH, what a rig. Totally understandable that there's some fitment conflicts there. Do most mid-travel and 39+ tire sizes need to ditch the OEM fenders I'm assuming?
You raise some great points, and we've thought about these too!
Upgrading the air filter is definitely recommended in addition to installing your snorkel, with the snorkel further reducing the amount of dust and debris making its way into your airbox. OUr snorkel head can also be rotated, or replaced with a prefilter which will further mitigate dust from entering the intake.
We know that snorkels aren't the magic key for making your truck impervious to deep water crossings, rather it's a part of the equation. Luckily, Ford purpose-built this truck for the rugged wilderness, but it's still critical to ensure your electrical and other components are prepared for a dip.
I'm also glad that you brought up the blind spot as well, since I never touched on that before. We made sure to shape our design so that it wouldn't be adding to the blind spot at the A-pillar. Here's a quick photo I snapped from the driver's seat just now:
View attachment 334855
Think of the snorkel more as an added layer of protection on top Ford's engineering. Most of us still put cases and screen protectors on our smartphones even though screens are advertised as scratch and shatter-resistant since protection is a much easier course than replacement.
At the end of the day though, it's YOUR truck, so really it's up to you if you decide that it's needed. Obviously, we here at Borne Off-Road and Mishimoto hope that these do end up on your build list, but really we want wants best for your truck.
As always, don't hesitate to reach out with any questions that you might have!
-Nick
PS - Speaking of the RZR XP we may or may not have some performance upgrades coming for that platform (specifically the XP Turbo) as well