Hi Honda Tech!
I just wanted to clear up some of the confusion on one of the most popular discussions to date: BRAND NAME AIR INTAKES vs KNOCKOFF INTAKES!

First and formos: What is "Air Intake"?

Air intake is an abbreviation for Air Induction which is basically how you're engine receives air.
We all know if we can't deliver air to the engine then you probably won't make it out the parking lot unless you're pushing it.

So lets get to the facts!

There are an abundance of different brands aswell as types of Intakes on the market
But these are the 2 most popular due to ease of installation aswell as cost:

-Cold Air Intake [CAI]



-Short Ram Intake [SRI]



So lets talk about both, aswell as Pros and Cons of each!

COLD AIR INTAKE - A cold air intake draws ambient air from a location away from the engine; since this air isn't warmed by the hot engine components,
it's much denser. This allows the engine to burn more fuel which means more power. It usually consists of a system of longer piping that pulls air
from the open space surrounding the wheel well or the front bumper, coupled with a high flow air filter.
These intakes are more complex than short-pipe style intakes so installation is more difficult.
Many people may need a little help from a more experienced friend or opt for a professional installation to make sure the job is done right.

Pros: Healthy cooler air is always sucked in.
Cons: A Little more expensive, A Little harder to install in some cases, And a little heavier.

SHORT RAM INTAKE - Generally alot shorter then the cold air intake. These are often used when space is limited in the engine bay.
This design usually includes an aluminum pipe and high flow filter. This increases the flow rate of air into your car's intake manifold which helps the engine make more power,
especially at higher RPM. The main disadvantage of this type of intake is that it draws heated air from under the hood of the vehicle which tends to sacrifice some power,
because heated air isn't as dense as cold air. This is the simplest form of aftermarket intake which means it's the easiest to install.
Car owners with a little bit of mechanical savvy can probably do it on their own.

Pros: Easy to install. No intense modifications required usually.
Cons: Hot/Warm air is delivered to the engine which results in slower combustion.


So now that we understand a little more about what Air Intakes are and how they function,
I think its time to address some things.

Lets start with simple FACTS, and before you rag on me I've done my due dilligence aswell as I have 1st hand experience in both.

A 3" alluminum pipe will deliver air directly proportional to the circumfrence of the pipe it leads too.
A 2" alluminum pipe will deliver air directly proportional to the circumfrence of the pipe it leads too.
A 1" alluminum pipe will deliver air directly proportional to the circumfrence of the pipe it leads too.

So now that we understand this common misconception, lets point facts OUT and **** a few people off in the process.

A PIPE IS A PIPE, NO MATTER WHAT NAME YOU SLAP ON IT, NO MATTER WHAT STICKER YOU SLAP ON IT, NO MATTER WHAT BRAND YOU SLAP ON IT!
A 3" alluminum pipe will FOREVER deliver the same ammount of air that a 3" plastic pipe will. ANYDAY. ANYTIME. ANYWHERE!

"So whats this I hear about AEM, INJEN, K&N, & other specialty intakes?"
9 times outta 10, its comeplete ignorance.
If you wanna spend 200$ on specialty intakes be my guest!
To each his own a wise man once said.

BUT, theres an alternative to being so caught up in the brand that you bypass common sense.
Since we know a pipe is a pipe, there's just ONE variable left!

THE AIR FILTER!



It's been DYNO proven that certain filters ACTUALLY DO provide more performance gains then others!
Example:




What does that mean?

-ALOT OF $$ is to be saved, but how? We know pipes have nothing to do with the performance gain.
So theoreticaly you can buy a cheap Knockoff intake pipe for 20-30$, Discard the filter if it comes with 1 because it's probally trash anyway,
And buy you're choice of you're preferred aftermarket air filter from the brands listed above (20-30$) to slap on the end of the pipe.

The results :
A savings anywhere from 50-200$ in some cases.
The SAME exact horsepower gains as buying a full name brand system.
The pride of knowing everyone "flaunting" there name brand pipes are merely advertising and not seeing more of an performance increase.
The ability to apply the saved $$ to things that actually count when getting HP like Stickers (I kid).
A Happy, healthy engine that's not defined by the items put on it, but by the driver.

I hope I didnt step on too many toes with this.
Thanks for reading!

-Beneficial

 

AWESOME MY MAN

 

Thanks man!

 

Up.

 

Nice one!

 

Any suggestions on a particular brand of intakes/filters? K&N? Thanks!

 

Before you start patting yourself on the back with this thread here's something to ponder. Intakes on little D-series engines only shift power up. You lose part of what little torque you have and in the grand scheme of things you don't really gain any power NOR are you any faster. Any "power" you make will not be felt. Don't believe me? Click on the link in my sig and browse REAL dyno results.

Don't believe me? Go ahead and slap on the big three; Intake, header & exhaust and after a few weeks you will realize that CRVs and Odysseys are faster than you. All you are going to do is waste a lot of money and make your car louder. Then you will want something faster and start looking for swaps or forced induction.

You're better off just keeping the stock airbox and dropping in a K&N filter. You DO slightly improve MPG, but power? Not really. Don't waste your time on any of it. But if you must, get a pipe and slap a velocity stack on it and call it a day.

 

capo0209 At this point it's really all about preference.
Injen, K&N, AEM are among the 3 most popular and are all very good.

grumblemarc gaining power is 1 thing, gaining performance is another. No matter what filter you put into the car, of course you won't see a drastic increase in any substantial car statistic but the ones unseen are the one's that count. Allowing you're engine access to a less restrictive air source then the stock air box will prolong engine life and allow it too breath better.

The big 3 [I,H,E] are just a step in the door for car modifications. We all started there so don't criticize them.

&& Once again, you just argued my point exactly. The filter is what gives you the extra performance, not the piping, etc. Dropping a K&N filter in a stock air box will deffinetly yield better results then the stock setup.

-Beneficial

 

Iv seen this stupid thread in three places and is utterly useless. Please shut the hell up cd5, u dont have any dyno results and ur last post doesnt make sense. Whats the diff between performance and power? he said u may gain 1hp up top and loss 2lbft down low, so to me thats a loss of performance, so he did not argue ur point, he argued against it. All stock air boxes are cold air intakes!!! and paper filters filter better than any k&n or sri. So when u say putting on the crap increases engine life is bullshit, it hurts engine life and probably power too. The piping does matter, in fact way more than the filter. Different lengths and diameters shift the power band drastically from going from one end to the other.

In all reality if u wanna make more noise than go for it, but u wont be improving power or life on or low output four bangers. on d series, these parts will never b a bottleneck until u move on to forced induction. on a bigger motor, maybe but once ur there u r far beyond learning anything from this pointless thread

 

1st off; Don't tell me to shut the hell up.
Rude language is uncalled for in a debate/discussion.

Power and Performance are different too me.
Power meaning; hp/tq
Performance meaning; endurance of engine life.

You can not sit here and tell me giving the engine access to cleaner air will not prolong engine life?
If that is you're arguement, say no more.

Piping is nothing?
A 3 inch paper pipe will get you the same air that a 3inch metal pipe will?
Shape the pipe however you want; give it whatever diameter you want,
A dyno will still show the same results if both pipes have the same specs.

The way the air gets to the engine means nothing.

HOW CLEAN && DENSE MEAN EVERYTHING.
Which points to the 1st thing the air hits before the engine gets it.
[THE FREAKING AIR FILTER]

Please show me dyno results where the pipe was the variable and hp/tq increased/decreased based on pipe chosen.

If you have the same spec pipe; The material is inevident.

 

Power vs. performance. Semantics.
I've done the I/H/E thing. NO increase in performance. NO increase in power. What a waste of my money. Now I'm boosted. Have been for 3 years. That's power and "performance" for you. Proper maintenance gets you longevity, not a stupid filter.

For your definition of "performance" (endurance of engine life) can you show how these make a difference over time? I mean you're taking about reliability which can only be measured over a long span of time. You can't because no comparison has ever been made. And no one wants to. The stock airbox even with the stock filter gets the engine enough clean air. These are econoboxes made for what? Economy. To get any real power you have to boost it or swap it. These aren't fire breathing V-8s. Again, check the dyno results I have in my link if you doubt that. You put up an ambiguous dyno for the filter now supply the "longevity" data please.

Your filter/intake may increase some (very little) horsepower but it will rob you of torque.

To all noobs reading this; skip this mod unless you're going for bling points when you pop the hood.

 

You know nothing about intake tuning so yes please shut up giving out false information. how bout quit talkin nonsense and go research what different length and diameter piping will do to ur power band

 

get the fakie throw a name brand sticker on it, and you got your self the same **** for less

 

Sr420Det Do you know how to read? I never said length and diameter didnt have an effect wise guy. I said if you put the same length and diameter on a 10$ piece of doodoo no name pipe you will get the same results as purchasing a 150$ INJEN filter of the same length/diameter. Obviously this thread is not saying by any means you're gonna get 100hp from an intake I'm stating why spend 200$ when you can get the same thing for 50$ with common sense.

 

Can you read? Obviously pipe measurements have a lot to do with gains, but I clearly stated if a brand name pipe has the same measurements as an ebay pipe, with the filter being the constant and pipe being the variable; both will yield the same results.

It's just common sense, thanks for you're opinion though.
And no need to talk about turbo setups; Obviously if I wanted too I would have, but I didnt? So lets stick to the topic.

 

With the exception of the air filter, Throw a decent filter on and you're all set!

 

turbo? where? dude the big companys actually do r and d, thats y they r so much more expensive and the parts r quality. Will a cheap filter hold up to time like a good one, doubt it. its gonna b hard to match the exact shape of a name brand pipe than u say and once again they r usually made outta superior material, some r even plastic which doesnt retain heat as bad. Im with u man, for the price and gain above a cheapie its probably not worth the money but neither is a intake period. I have a 15$ spectra filter on my car. However the companys do spend time making theres the perfect length and diameter, with good materials and its not free. They actually do put it on a dyno and look for the best combination that actually might make a differance throughout the whole power band in real world situations.

 

i run a tube sock on my car. so wtf is the point of this getting posted all over ht?

also a friend that does R&D for CAT air filters and mufflers says "i would rather run a screen off a patio door than a K&N"


he is obviously joking but if you looking to keep dirt out of your engine run the oem or better intake and filter with a low micron number.

 

Still waiting on that "longevity" data.

 

i have a cai intake it came with my car aem v2

 

So what's your point?

 

Great story, tell it again!

 

I need 5 post. So I'm posting.

 

The climate of the Northeast is my cold air intake.


The OP is full of incorrect information.

 

my only problem with the CAI and this is the reason why i have a short ram is that when it rains it pours and generally out here the water tends to rise .. so low car rising water and air intake right by the wheels or front bumper not the best idea .. u literally have to watch where u driving to and stay away from the road when rain is falling ..
for somereason tho i always thought the it was the short ram intake that provide more tq low down while the CAI provided more power up top .. thanks for that clarrification tho