CAI Question

[KeWLKaT]

This has been bothering me:

I'm used to seeing CAI's in cars before. Usually people put the intake's nozzle in the upper part of the engine bay. But, in this site's DIY for CAI's, the guy puts the filter on the bottom part.

What's the difference? Am I crazy? Or do I just know nothing?

[SWortham]

The idea with the cold air intake (CAI) is to get the filter away from the engine bay to avoid the ambient heat. The result is a power advantage due to increased airflow as well as cooler & denser air.

A short ram intake (SRI) on the other hand, will have a shorter pipe and be placed inside the engine bay. The only power advantage with an SRI is increased flow, but since it still pulls in warm air it won't offer as much improvement as a CAI in actual driving conditions.

Hope that explains it. It sounds like what you were referring to was a SRI.

[KeWLKaT]

Ah thanks!

So basically it's the same thing, but with different lengths of tubing...

So, wich one would you recommend for someone like me? (daily aggressive driving, occasionnaly racer)

[OdessitPashka]

It's not the same thing. CAI sucks cold air in and short ram air intake is suck warm/hot air.

CAI is good for top end power and it's just good, but short ram air intake is good for low rpms torque.

I'd recommend CAI!

[tricked03gls]

go with CIA, short ram is just for the "cool" noise lol, and id go with injen

[SWortham]

The only reason I wouldn't go with a CAI is the added risk of hydrolocking your engine. When the filter is so low, there are some cases when driving through a street overflowing with water where the intake will suck water into the engine. When that happens, you can cause some serious damage. It's happened to a few people here before. The way to get around it is either use a bypass valve in the intake, or simply don't use a CAI, and go with a SRI instead. It's up to you.

[jrod13]

is there some sort of shield you could place in front of the cone filter to prevent water from getting in there and still getting the airflow you need probably a stupid question but just curious

[SWortham]

No, it wouldn't work. Any type of shield that could do that would block airflow or pull in hot air, defeating the purpose. A bypass valve would be the way to go... http://www.aempower.com/product_intake.asp

They have been known to reduce the horsepower gains a little, but on the good side you can probably rely on an AEM bypass valve to do the job.

Oh, and just to clarify, what you really need to protect against is submerging the filter under water when the engine is running. Ultimately that's what will cause damage.

Personally, I still don't use a bypass valve on my CAI. I guess I like to live dangerously. :tongue:

[KeWLKaT]

Wow... I guess there`s a risk to take then...

[OdessitPashka]

Hmmm, how often do you drive through a puddle of water that's a foot deep? if not often then you should not worry!

[felixr]

the reason we have the cai's down there is cause there is no where else to put them. we dont have the space in the engine bay, and if we can find it there is no good cold airflow from outside. the only problem with that is-and it seems no one on this site knows this- that there is lower pressure below a certain point in the wheelwell then there is say in the engine bay and it creates a vaccum. when you accelerate it take the cai a second to grab literally "suck" the air from the wheel well since you are essentially putting the filter in a box that is made up of the fender and the fender cover. leaving only the air that comes from under the car, and perhaps possibly MAYBE whatever little bit comes from the bumper area.in other words, it doesnt really work the way its supposed to. im thinking of moving the cai towards the front of the engine bay near the grill. . . i will have to fabricate some sort of tubing from the grill around the fans and into the cai pipe. i am sure i will notice a severe and dramatic difference to the point i would put money on it.not only that, it would be a true CAI since it would be drawing colder air. as for now all i have and all anyone else that has their "cai" in the wheel well is a OIAWCAI(Oncece In A While Cold Air Intake or an LAI long air intake lol . . . but i will eventually try to modify my OIAWCAI into a true CAI very soon hope that answers your question

pash, in florida or at least in south florida -it happens lol

[KeWLKaT]

Hey thanks for the feedback guys, but, in fact, over here in Montreal it rains a LOT and snows a LOT (wouldnt 9 inches of deep snow/slush be able to clog up a CAI) so that's the only reason I'm afraid of getting one now :(

[2GTS]

Snow is not a problem at all unless you figure out how to suck alot, and I mean alot of snow through the filter. Not to metention the filter isn't really exposed to the point where that much snow would ever come in contact with it. Like others said, the only time you would have an issue is if you drove your car through a foot deep puddle. I've had my car 2 &1/2 years and have yet to drive through anything near that deep.

[SWortham]

I have come very close to hydrolocking my engine before, and I do think it's a valid concern depending on where you live and how much rain you get.

An SRI might be a good alternative for you. And there's a very easy way to make one. You can just remove the resonator/snorkel and attach a cone filter to the end of the stock plastic elbow which comes off the throttle body. I'm kind of in between intake modifications right now so that's how mine is setup. I'll take a picture of it later to show you what I mean.

[KeWLKaT]

Thanks, I would really appreciate that!

Especially since it would be a cheap upgrade :D

[DAILLESTWUN]

Well since I already blew an engine due to this problem, I guess I can help. I'm sure it can't get worse in Canada then it does here in the summer. It literally rains at least once a day and I mean a heavy downpour. Flooding is an everyday thing here. If you see flooded areas go slowly or I usually put my car in Nuetral to try to help. I've been through some flooded areas since then and no problem. Just be careful.

[only1db]

lets not forget that there is a plastic shroud around the fender....water doesnt go directly into that compartment....it goes in yes...but not as directly as everybody else thinks.....you shouldnt be driving through anything that deep anyway!! ...just use common sense...you will have no prob!

[KeWLKaT]

I don't know, now I think i rather go for the SRI, maybe it would be less 'performant' than a CAI, but I will feel safe for now. I got my car a couple of months ago and I dont want to lose its engine yet :(

[jrod13]

or just live in minnesota where it is colder then hell in the winter then your good to go it sucks. lowered cars and snow dont particularly mix

[tricked03gls]

youll be fine i ran my intake through a upstate ny winter and had snow packed around it a few times, ive been through huge puddles, and still find, go with injen i did and look.............my car is ok

[felixr]

i thought for SURE i'd get a response or a rebuttal to my post . . . hmm hey daillest . . . you still have a cai? the other day i was at costco . . well actually a few weeks ago now and it puddles real bad there . . i had to go down the street, get some speed and turn it to neutral and shut the engine off as i slammed through the puddle lol it worked. . but man . . that puddle was HUGE!

[jrod13]

i would probably try to avoid doing that. that is really not good for the paint to slam into water like that

[KeWLKaT]

I don't know, I'm still pretty sceptic. Maybe we should take all advantages/disadvatages of CAI against SRI and take a decision based on that :D

[felixr]

the paint??? lol

[KeWLKaT]

Hahaha seriously! I just realized what he said :D

I guess he got a really cheap paint job...

[Elantra2.001]

In winter, there is no issue with a CAI. In fact it works the best when its cold like that. With water, it is possible to flood then engine, but i dont have a bypass and using common sense, i have avoided deep puddles at speed and therefore not had hydolock issues.

[BlueRush]

Just a question.

I have seen that almost all of the CAI that people have been purchasing are routed behind the battery to get to the lower inner fender well to get access to the cold air entering the foglight hole.

My question is why note use the larger hole on the vertical wall underneath the battery? It would keep the kink out of the CAI where it runs behind the battery correct?

This is my little setup
http://www.cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=734908&cat=25&val=1&page=1

That's my 2 cents.

[OdessitPashka]

cant really see where your filter is?

[mrhoaf]

looks like he's using the hole that the snorkel came out of....

[BlueRush]

Yeah, I am using the hole under the battery on the vertical seperation between the engine compartment and the inner fender that gets air from the foglight hole. If you where to look into my foglight hole from straight ahead, you would see my K&N filter coming out from the hole on the left inside the fender area it resides in. I think that makes sense anyway!!! LOL

I've updated my cardomain site, but you still can't see it well.

[OdessitPashka]

what did you use to wrap your pipe? it looks like sh*t, but should definitely do the job!

[BlueRush]

LMAO

Yeah I know, it's ghetto, but effective. I got it @ Lowe's, it's aluminum heatsheilding for house furnace pipes. I wrapped it in aluminum heatsheild tape, Lowe's too, to make sure it didn't get ripped up.

I will be putting a SAI on for a couple of weeks as I have a local shop fabricate some SS 3" pipe to the dimensions of my 3" PVC pipe. Then it'll look nice with the BBTB I have coming as well as the yellow top to come in the near future.