mercforty4

Hi all,

I have a few questions concerning air intake systems.
I've been told that upgrading the air intake system would be the simplest
modification to do for a good performance upgrade. My question now is
which one? I understand the the short ram systems is probably the safest when it comes to water damage. But, what will be the difference in performance. Does
the cold air intake provide that much more power than the short? Is it enough to
spend extra bit for the cold air intake? And the last question is how much noise are we talking about with the short air. Thank you.

Al

Sohc Driver

Running the Cold air will be more beneficial in Horespower, i personally believe that every bit of extra horsepower is worth it. I short ram is very beneficial too, but when hot air is built up in the engine bay, when u are now using hot air, this actually hurts horsepower. Running cooler dense air is the way to go. And as for the danger of Hydro-lock with an Cold air. It is very unlikeyly even though there have been cases. But the filter of a cold air intake, it may be down under by the front bumper, its still pretty high off the ground, unless you drive in knee deep water, you shouldn't have a problem driving in the rain. I hope this helped you out some what.

Khoi

Sohc Driver

and oh yeah..a short ram intake is very loud...but a cold air intake is loud as well.. you just don't hear it as much because it is not close and inside the engine bay. My advice if u want somethign quite, get a comptech ice box....draws cool air, competes with the AEM cold air intake in performance gains, and has a crisp sound to it when u open up he throttle, almost sounds stock but no quite...and also no chance of water damage whatsoever. so you have the benefit of running cool air like a Cold air intake, but run the safety of a short ram intake... all in all it will cost you 150 for the comptech intake, and another 150 for the actual ice box.

Khoi

Khoi

mercforty4

Hi Khoi,

Thanks for the info and advice, the Comptech intake sounds good, but a bit pricey for me. I think, I'll go for the Cold air intake. What kind of noise will I be expecting? Is it going to be engine noise or just a sucking fan noise?

Al

CX-HB

I have a CAI on my 97 CX HB and its quiet until WOT. The filter is inside of the rt corner of my bumber. I had to remove all of the rt side splash guards, install the filter on the pipe and then reinstall the splash guards. The factory splash guards protect the filter. The short ram is louder. I prefer the CAI to short ram, its quieter and better performance. I bought mine from Cosmo Racing out of Canada for $75.00 on eBay. They were great to work with and shipped the item for $15.00. It arrived in 3 days. I know, some people don't like buying things from eBay, but these guys are fast and legit.

CX-HB

Here is my CAI:








Thanks Fifth for the help!


[Modified by CX-HB, 7:57 PM 4/1/2002]

neveronlines2k

hi merc I have both short ram and cold air (I switch back and forth depending on the weather). To be honest theres not much of a difference between them at least you cant feel a difference. The only way to see the difference is with a dyno. Try to get an iceman CAI that way you have both use half of it for hot air then put the whole thing together for cold air. That way you have the best of both worlds.

FifthGearOnline

[IMG]<http link to file>[/IMG]

there are NO spaces between the tags and the link!!!

Sohc Driver

yes feeling the difference between the CAI or the short ram is very very minimal. However on the street it makes the difference. The CAI or Short ram are both very loud...the only thing is that with the CAI, you dont' hear it as much as you would with a short ram..but if u just stand out side....both intakes are very loud. as for the hissing sound, both intakes will have that hissing sound, but get a comptech ice box and you wont' have any problem...my advice..if you are patient just save your money to get a Comptech ice box...if you are patient and save your money, i think you will be much more satisfied with the comptech ice box....take my word for it, you will be one of the few people who have it..and the price differnece is not that much more than an AEM CAI...maybe 50-100 more bucks..but hey..in a weeks time..you can have that saved up..just be patient...ur car will always be there..no need to rush into a mod...save up and get the good stuff.

Khoi

Quantum

What car do you have? I've got an AEM CAI with the by-pass (eliminates any chance of water being sucked into the engine) from a 97 EX (I don't know the chassis codes) that I've been trying to sell. I don't have the two small hoses and clamps for the valve cover vent and the TB coolant line or the mounting bolt (this can be puchansed from AEM), otherwise it is in good shape, it was on my car for about 3 months. I just cleaned and re-oiled the filter.

I just dropped the price to $100 in the classified section because no one has made an offer. Let me know if you are interested.

BagelW

Go with the Comptech Ice Box.

I have the AEM CAI in my 2000 Si. A friend of mine has the Comptech Icebox in his 2000 Si.

I have driven his car several times and the Comptech has a slight torque advantage aver the AEM. We both autocross and the extra torque would come in handy. The power of his car seems to be a little more smooth also but that may be just because the Comptech is so much quieter. The AEM does have an advantage in the upper rpms but I don't really like to drive in vtec all the time. Both our cars are equal when we line up though.

The AEM is much louder than the Comptech as well. Some like the noise but I do not. I will hopefully be switching over to the Comptech soon. Just my $.02.

mercforty4

I guess I should have noted in my original post what I am driving.
I drive a 95' Delsol Si, I just picked it up a few months ago. A great deal
with 25,000 miles on it.

Also, I was told that they don't make a Comptech Icebox for the Delsol. (yet)
I think I need to hear a CAI in person, before making my decision, either that
or wait for the Comptech.

Anyway, I do appreciate all the advice everyone on the board has given me.
Thanks....

Al