Cold Air Induction 101 and CAI FAQ's

[dark]

:|

i'm new at this... but i'm thinkin about gettin one of these...

the only thing that i would buy instead would be a stalker ram air hood and kit... if it will work on my 3.8 ...as of yet, i don't know if it will

help?

[Rellik]

ram air is not worth it.
If you like the hood, go ahead and get it, but ram air is gay.
Ill explain more tomorow, iam freaking tried now.

:oops:

[dark]

aight, i'll check this tomorrow night...

ram air still looks tempting... if the claim of 20 hp gains it legit

i dunno... i'll think on it

[el cheapo]

20 hp!!!!!! haha i wish! Trust me if you got 20 hp from that kit everyone on here would have one..

i hate those made up numbers, i dont know how they can get away with it.

[el cheapo]

does taking that screen thing out actually help any???

im talking about the wire maf screen, when you put on a cai.

[Rellik]

Quote: Originally Posted by el cheapo does taking that screen thing out actually help any??? im talking about the wire maf screen, when you put on a cai.

The screen serves 2 purposes. In theory, it helps stabalize the air before it enters the upper tube. The second, is that it would catch any debris that gets past the filter, such as a piece of the filter that could always wear off. But honestly, if your filter is disentegrading, your car is in a hell of a lot more trouble.

RAM AIR systems found on some hoods are, in my opinion, for braging rights only. Saying I have ram Air to my friends will make it sound cool, but in reality, it wouldnt really do anything significant until the higher speeds, where the air will actually become slightly compressed by being force fed into the induction.

You will see the same gains as a Fender Type CAI until the higher freeway speeds, where you would get slightly better performance.

Honestly, I love Cervinis Ram air hood, but I wouldnt buy the 200 dollar system on top of it all.

[dark]

^true. CAI it is

[/freepost]

[Rellik]

They dont call me "The CAI Guy" for nothing ya know . If you need any help on buying one, let me know in a sepperate post. I'll be happy to help ya out.

[stangin99]

Addition to this...

CAI (cold air INDUCTION, ricers say they have "intake" ) does draw air in from a different location than the stock system.

The stock airbox/filter is only sitting in the engine bay, with a rubber tube-thing that connects it to the hole in the fenderwell. Now, yes, both the stock and aftermarket draw air in from the fenderwell, but their at much different locations.

My MAC cai has a bend in it that sits the filter farther into the fenderwell than does stock. And a densecharger, I belive, puts the filter even farther down into the fender.

Now run your engine till its hot and open your hood. Feel all that hot air in there? The fender isnt air tight. Only the connection between the filter and fender is sorta-sealed. Theres several openings to the fender literally inches away. Thus, there is hot air still in the fenderwell.

So in theory, a filter placed further into the fenderwell will draw *cooler* air than one sitting in the engine bay.

However, I believe the true gains from a CAI is between the tubing diameter, smoothess, and new filters.
-smoothness relates to how the stock airbow has that flex section in it. Cant be good for flow.
-diameter plays a part, sorta. Same theory goes into exhaust piping. Smaller pipes (not REAL small) up the air velocity. Thus the air travels faster. A huge pipe may not let the air speed up and just have the engine sucking in dorment air from inside the pipe. This isnt proven obviously, but its a thought thats out there.
-and obviously a new free-flowing filter helps too.