Hey...Was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on A cold air intake for my 96 Prelude? Any of you that have done this, is it an easy install to do yourself? What brands do you recommend as far as value for the money/Best performance? Would it make a huge difference if I bought one of the cheaper 3" Kits and then put a good fliter such as a K&N on it?

 

The longer the tubing the higher output topend....The shorter ones deliver the power lower but not as much...I like the Ice man one alot Because it's bigger at the filter side then tapers down near the throttle body...
It doesn't take long to put the intakes in..You might have to take out your fenderwell on the DS to put it in depending on App.

 

Everone will tell you that AEM and ICEMAN are two of the best, because they've been in the game a while. You'll do good to pay just under 200 bucks for them, depending on the deal you get. Used or hooked-up, you could get it significantly cheaper. I have a Nakayama Racing cold air intake--identical to the AEM except without the the sticker--and it was only 50 bucks brand new, 65 shipped. An intake is an intake, IMO. As far as filters go, I really trust K&N, so that's my 2 cents.

 

Could you tell me where you got that one? was it online....if not could you give me some more info so I could look for it

 

I bought it on Ebay (so shoot me). There's a guy called e.kid who sells them constantly, like 10 different auctions for the same intake. The only problem you might run into with the intake is that it's very big. In fact it didn't fit my intake manifold completely (bout a 1/4-1/2" too big). So I cut a piece of rubber tubing off of a scrapped intake pipe, and wrapped it around the intake manifold--the intake barely fit on after that. I don't mind doing slight custom work for an intake if it works as good as any else, especially if it's only 50 bucks.

 

Doesnt the Aem have a polished inside of the pipe? anyways, after modding the intake is it a tight fit?

 

Yeah, snug as can be

 

since we're on this cold air topic, I've seen some people turn thier resonator box upside-down. This doens't do anything does it?

 

If they turn the top half of the stock air box upside down, that exposes the filter to more air. It's basically making a short ram intake, not a cold air intake. Doing that just sucks in hot air which can actually make your car perform worse than stock. It'll sound loud and awesome though

 

Well, I actually saw it at the waffle house tonight and considered doing it until I had money this summer to do more mods.

 

Just do it, it sounds a lot better than stock. I used to drive around with the air box lifted up an inch or two, with the filter stuck up inside the box. Did about the same thing you're talking about.

 

the comment "everyone will tell you AEM or Iceman" is right. you know why because they are the best i have an AEM on my car. it sounds great, looks great, and gave me noticeable hp. they are good because they study how to maximize hp. not because they are "in the game a long time" AEM is winning all kinds of awards with their cold air intake. so do me a favor and dont get some off brand imitation p.o.s. intake. get the AEM cold air intake. youll be glad you did. oh yeah and it is about 200 bucks but you get what you pay for. so why not get the best, instead of some "nakasuchi" no name wal mart special piece of crap. id rather have the factory air box than waste my time with one of those.

 

dont get a no name cai. get an aem or an iceman, either one is ok but i prefer the aem. do it once and do it right.

 

Thanks for the input guys

 

I guess my lack of "AEM" sticker means that the same cold air piping on mine doesn't get any increase in HP, only the "AEM" does. If I put the sticker on it, take a pic, and post it, you wouldn't know the difference. Brand names come into effect for bolt-ons like a header, cat-back, pulleys, fuel-pressure reg., etc. Then it actually has a specific design to them that may outperform another--I will not argue that (1-up for you). But with intakes, a pipe is a pipe and if two different brands bend the pipe the same way, then there is no difference. All my friends have installed AEM and when looking at mine, all they asked is where the sticker was on mine, if that tells you anything. Unless AEM has some kinda gizmo inside the actual pipe to shoot big bursts of air into the manifold, your argument isn't valid. It's bragging rights, kinda like my **** is bigger than yours, something like that

 

Does anyone have any proof....like numbers or anything that says one would be better than the other? Other than what the makers claim? Has anyone put on a cheaper version and later upgraded to a name brand? If so....was there any noticable difference/was the extra cost worth the difference?

 

It may be a thing of durabilityalso, like the AEM one may not ever rust, but maybe the cheaper ones will after a period of time. I doubt there is any real differance, even if the AEM did put out 1 extra pony, is that worth the 140 extra? I am almost certain that any of teh CAI are better than the stock airbox.

 

Good point.

 

I think taking the resonator out will give similar results to Just an AEM. I mean it makes the same noise! But I don't know!

Also, Do guys think a CAI would actually allow more dirty to get into the engine. THis could actually shorten engine life!

what do you guys think?

 

I dont think so, the filter is still going to stop any dirt from entering the engine.

 

i really dont want to argue. if you have a true cold air intake that pulls air from outside the engine bay. and has roughly the same inside diameter then im sure it makes about the same power. but the short ram intakes are dyno proven to make very very minor horse power if any at all. hell just adding a k&n filter in the factory air box makes a couple of horsepower so of course an intake with a k&n on it will too. im just tryin to say that the AEM that i have is great. it installed wonderfully. and i wouldnt have anything else. but thats just me. to each his own.

 

AEM is good till you sux up water,. no matter if there is rain on the ground or not , you got to remeber not to suc up water. my 2 cents

 

What do you mean by "suck up water" do the intakes have a problem with moisture?

 

REMEBER with cold air intake , you have to take out the intake resonator box, thats where the filter will go under your car. if your cars lowered and its raining or even a puddle, aND IF YOUR STEPPING on the gas you will suck up some water through the piping. cold air is good in places that dont carry alot of precipitation

 

IMO an intake is all about the placement of the filter (as long as the filter is of good quality and the materials durable), which is what makes the cold air intake COLD AIR. A lot of the short ram intakes dyno at almost the same increase as the CAI's but what's often misleading is that those dynos are made with the hoods open on the dyno. This is not the same situation as normal driving on the street where your hood is closed (i hope) and where there is more hot air in the engine bay and less circulation....

I've only heard of one lude hydralocking his motor and that was driving through a flooded street slowly. You have to drive with your filter completely engulfed with water to suck up enough to cause problems, and that's like 10 inches deep!!! My friends and I drive though rainy conditions all the time with no problems. As long as you use common sense you should be cool. Man, I've heard those water bypass valves from AEM cause more damage than good! They did a recall or something cause the foam would sometimes get sucked up into the throttle body!!!

Even if you have a short ram, the resonator will be useless cause the air will no longer flow through it....just unneeded weight.

I don't know, when I think about an intake, of course you look at the increased HP,
but IMO the increased flow for your engine is what its all about. With more mods and more power your motor is creating, the intake will help more and more. The intake is a small piece of the puzzle but you get the picture. Its a "do good" mod for your motor and one of the cheapest, best value for power increase mods you can do as a bolt-on!