I recently purchased an AEM Cold Air Intake and can't wait to install it. Got a couple of questions. I bought it with the bypass valve but didn't realize I will need to cut the pipe plus now I hear that with the bypass valve a lot of air escapes through it and loses a lot of the value from the Cold Air Intake system. Is this true? The LAST thing I want is to hydrolock my motor but I was thinking maybe a hydroshield (mesh) would be good enough? My friend has a Mazda 3 and he installed his CAI and the way it is positioned there is no way any water can get to the intake. Is there a high risk with the Gen7 Accord?

Basically my question is Bypass Valve or Hydro Shield?