I was planning to buy a cold air intake system for my car, but heard that I have to cut a hole in the bottom of my car. I was wondering if this is true. If anyone knows please reply. THANKS!

 

Ive never heard such a thing. and i dont see where exactly you would be cutting a hole.. the intake is in the engine bay.. and no car i know has anything below the bay aside from maybe skid plates or splash guards.

 

hmm shouldnt you must have heard wrong

 

It's false.

 

Nope, the only car i've heard so far is the RSX CAI. But for Hondas, you're good to go, no cutting, very easy.

But you do have to remove the lower airbox, which might be a hassle.

 

most cars its just two 10mm bolts.. nothing challenging.

Although i know on older nissans they actually used some #7 screws which over time got really brittle and stripped very easily.

word of advice.. if the bolts dont budge.. hit em with some wd40 before you wrench at 'em again

 

I had a 1990 accord myself. if you get a TRUE cold air intake, YES you will have to cut.

1st. remove the factory intake system(whole thing, including the box in the fender well)
2nd. You have to cut the hole right beside the battery Tray so take your intake and trace the circle on the metal.
3rd. Take some tin snips and cut little lines going up to the traced line you drew.
4th. Take a small hammer and carefully knock the little metal "fins" you cut down.
5th. Install the intake system

Hope this Helps

-Jordan

 

Yeah, I'm kinda cheap so I'm just getting some cheap stuff. Hopefully I don't have to cut a hole or anything for it.

 

Why not just use a short ram intake?

-Jordan

 

I heard the cold air has better air flow and I kinda want that for my car. What do you guys think?

 

Short ram will give you more of a growl and a more aggressive sound. also.. the hp gains between the two are pretty null.. you also wont have to deal with drilling or cutting with a short ram. there generally just direct bolt ons.

mine took me all of 15 minutes to do..

 

yes, but the CB accord short ram will be a little different from that of yours. with it being a CD, your battery is more over toward the engine.

-Jordan

 

true.. i have a 98 cl. but i actually bought a 98 accord intake lol works perfectly fine.

hell he could make his own... i could have cut a foot and a half off of my intake and had it work the same.

 

So let me get it straight. So the HP gain from cold air and short ram are pretty much the same right?

 

yeah pretty much.. i mean it may be a difference of 1hp.

its basically.. if you want the increase while maintaining a somewhat stock sound.. go cold air.. if you want a nice purr or growl go short ram

 

Back to the topic you are gonna have to get a dremel because the hole next to the battery is to small for the CAI tubing.

 

we werent off topic at all.. why 'back to topic'. he asked about SRI vs CAI.

 

On the inner fender panel just behind the battery is a semi triangular hole. This can be enlarged by careful hammering to allow an induction tube to be passed into the (gutted) fender cavity. A CAI can draw air from high up in this cavity. My CB7 draws air from this point, using a 3" PVC tube feeding into the bottom of the stock filter box.

 

One last question, will cold air intake get cleaner air since it's below the engine or is it pretty much the same because I don't want my car sucking up dirty air or anything bad.

 

The short ram has less tubing and ends up in the engine compartment which means the air coming in is gonna be hotter than if you have the long ram which parks itself down below the battery compartment. Hotter air means less dense air. Colder air means more dense air which means more power. I have the long ram and I have to say I can tell the power difference from stock, but how much more than the short ram I'm not too sure. I think the difference is less during the summer or during hotter days since all of the engine is gonna be pretty hot.

And yes, you do have to make the hole from just above where the lower resonator is gonna be sitting before you take it out(below the battery compartment) larger. The instructions themselves say to use a grinder to just grind it bigger.

 

never had to in my accord, but that's because i'm being cheap with ebay stuffs. but the cheap short stuffs does take in hot air.. yeah loss of power from compromising $$$.

 

The CAI gets "colder air" because the filter is infront of the car not letting the air around the engine bay to heat it up.
But the CAI WILL suck up water if you are lowered or not if the puddle is deep enough. And BTW thats not good. Water does not compress if you didnt know.
AEM does make a "bypass" for the CAI that is an option aswell myfriend.
The short ram is just as good. Maybe a very slight difference in hp from one another.