so i know that cold air does the engine good. but using my cranium made me think...well if you have a CAI doesnt the air in the intake get warm by the time it gets to the engine??? if it does brings me to my next question. what is the difference between short ram an CAI? i know how both of them look so i know the physical differences but i want to know the mechanical difference related to power gains an overall efficiency. thanks

 

short ram will suck hot air in. cai will suck in "cold" air, it will be cooler by time it gets to the throttle body than a short ram. you deciding on whether to get a .5hp difference or to get a 1hp difference. cai can also suck in water and if there is no bypass valve there you can kill the engine. go with turbo

 

im just wondering what is more efficient for what type of build i guess. like short ram for turbo and CAI for all motor? i just bought a em1 with a CAI without a bypass valve. so i guess my question is would it be better to put in a bypass valve an keep the CAI or sell it an buy a short ram? im not going to slap a turbo on so thats where i stand. any advice on that info would be greatly appreciated

 

put a bypass valve on it. turbos dont need filters

 

Lol yeah turbos are basically filters themselves.... ouch my head


If you havent figured this out the ram air is just a simple way to get a few hp, often cheaper as well. a cold air intake is usually a little more difficult to install and usually need a kit designed for your car as opposed to a universal(like ram usually)

The better question might be which kit actually gives more Hp? Intuition tells us that the CAI right? i mean cold air= better... But thats not the end of it. With a cold air intake your getting different power as opposed to a short ram(for the example lets use really short). With a long tube you have different flow characteristics to basically just a filter on the tb.

The cai should give quite an increase throughout the entire rpm range but i think a short ram will give a bit more peaky hp due to an ultimately less restrictive setup, also will be slightly more responsive when going from part to full throttle.


As for the air heating up before it gets to the engine in a CAI setup. The better units are painted with an insulating paint to help prevent the intake from being heat soaked. A cheap one can also be painted to help insulate it. They can also be wrapped in header/exhaust wrap but watch out this is not legal at some drag slips and you won't pass tech.

 

Please tell me that was some kind of joke or miscommunication. Technically you are correct, in the sense that engines don't need air filters, and fuel doesn't need a filter, and oil doesn't need a filter; but it's dumb to run without them.

 

CAI vs short ram :The facts >>
It all depends on where you live man. Think about it this way. A short ram pulls the air from the engine compartment. It of coarse will be on the hot side as air goes. A cold air intake just has a longer tube and sucks air from the front fender near the street. Yes this is a little bit cooler air but depending where you live maybe not. I live in texas and the air coming off the street i know is just as hot as the air under the hood most of the time. Horsepower differences really are not measurable difference between the two. theoreticly the cold air intake is better but not by much. it really is up to your location. If you do get a CAI then make sure you get one that has the little watter blocker fiting. Having the filter low to the ground in the fender leaves you open to getting water from a puddle sucked in there. AEM has a fiting that comes with the intake that stops the water from getting sucked into the intake.
It's really up to you and your wallet. CAI is 100 bucks more then a short ram.
If you go with a short ram you can always build or buy those walls that block it off from the rest of the engine "cooling down the air a little"

 

The gains you'll get from a short ram and a CAI is like the one's you'd get from a 4-2-1 header or a 4-1 header
the short ram, like the 4-1, will get you more power up-top then in the midrange
the CAI, like the 4-2-1, will get you more mid-range power then it will up-top

also all AEM CAI's have a water bypass valve.
expensive yes, but damaged engine is even more expensive.

 

My car has a cold air intake, it's called New England weather.
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Yeah , you got it good mr indian summer. lol
Its been over 100 deg here for the past two weeks.

 

on my coupe i just used the stock box with everything cut out, a k+n filter and use a sr 2.5 in pipe. rather that then the aem cai...

 

Im currently making an isolated airbox with cold air source, being as short a distance as possible.

Heres a question, What is the ideal length of a ram intake? would a velocity stack right off the throttle body be much too turbulant? thats what i have been running(hot air though) and i seem to notice more power than with my new 2.5in cold air all around. It has shown in times, but also the lower sound makes it seem more(cai being much quieter)