[Tau137]

Air box is just that - a vessel to keep some volume of air close to the intake; it is there to reduce lag/bogging in situations when you sharply open the throttle from closed or nearly-closed position; it does not "increase torque" overall.

The protruding "appendices" on the intake are there to muffle intake sound and/or diffuse resonances (self-induced oscillations) in the air flow.

 

[Tau137]

I'm interested to know where that pipe that is open and pointing at the tranny does?

It's not open. Not supposed to be. Either you have a problem (hole in the intake) or it's not part of the intake