No I would say it definitely makes all the difference. His car is very healthy and he only runs on V Power (and that does help with power gains), but the car is otherwise totally stock except the Typhoon with CAI.
We had other petrol cars running yesterday and for example an 11 year old 1.8 vtec 6th gen which was about 10bhp down from factory figures (to be expected with the age and miles and his slightly leaky exhaust) so we know the figures are right. We didn't have time to put the stock airbox back in and run it but K24's tend to make a few BHP over the Honda quoted 188bhp anyway.
I've had an Accord type R and honestly speaking, this K24 doesn't feel much different now with the Typhoon. I was a real sceptic myself about how good the Typhoon would be, but I'm convinced - it works and delivers gains.
Also worth noting that we had a massive fan blowing cool air right at the front of the car and that must have helped with the CAI system but the power is definitely very real.