I know this question has been debated for a long time but i still wanna know, for a B17A1, which is better? Please give advantages and disadvantages of each.
cold air is always better.
cold air is denser than warm there. meaning that per volume cold air contains more molecules of oxygen. The more oxygen molecules you can get into the cylinders the better. Because more oxygen means more of an “explosion” when the air/fuel mixture is ignited.
there may be some instanced where the differences in diameter, filter, and piping length between a short ram and a cai will make differences in power. So a poorly designed cai might not perform as a well designed short ram. But most intakes out there are basically the same, its hard to say that the design of one or another will yeild much of an affect.
so, just remember colder/denser air is better. (thats why you’ll run faster times when its colder outside, or if you’re closer to sea level)
I’ve got a semi-related question. The cold air intake setup on our cars requires the filter to be placed in the spot where the resonator was, hence drawing air from that area. From what I can remember, there’s not much of an opening for the cold air to be sucked through…as that area is surrounded by the plastic mud guard and inner fender linings. My question is, where is the cold air being drawn from, and is there any way to increase airflow, without removing your plastic coverings everywhere?(besides removing your one bumper light).
thats a very good question. and in truth i can’t really answer it correctly. It seems like there wouldn’t be much access for cold air to enter, but there must be.
i know that if you measure the temperatures in the cai spot and the sri spot the cai spot will be a decent amount cooler though. So, it does work.
also, remember that heat rises. So, the heat from your engine bay won’t want to fall down into that hole where your resonator was. So, that might have something to do with it.
Originally posted by 91IntegGS
also, remember that heat rises. So, the heat from your engine bay won’t want to fall down into that hole where your resonator was. So, that might have something to do with it.
good job! I never thought of it like that…
i think i remember some figure saying that for every 10F reduction in air you get like 1 or 2 hp. so for the DIY 10$ CAI i say whynot. but as for 200 i’d pass
XDEep: i’m not sure where you heard that statement about temperature, but its wrong. General statements like that cannot be made. Because a 10deg drop for our cars will most likely yield a lot less than a 10deg drop for a big muscle car or something.
however you may be able to make a general statement in the form of a percent increase in hp, instead of a straight number.
oh right i think it was percentage, which still wouldnt make it worthwhile for me anyways
oh and for the big muscle, 2-3%
I guess the basic point I was gettin at to is, where is all that air gettin sucked in from?? Short rams I can see being able to suck in lots of air, because there is quite a bit more flow through the engine bay, than down by the fender. Hmmmm, maybe I should cut some “cold air holes” in that plastic area. lol
XDEep: cai is definitely worth it. they ARE better intakes, thats just fact. Especially since you can get one for a good deal under $100. Its just about the best bang for the buck mod there is.
integra_pilot: don’t worry at all about there not being enough air. Our engines don’t suck in that much. There is definitely enough air down there. and sufficient venting to allow more to enter.
Save colin sum trouble. You guys go take physics and chemistry plz.
hehe, good call kolin.
it really is amazing how much your knowledge of basic things can be enhanced with some simple highschool and college courses in the physical sciences.
I cut into the plastic under the reasonator so air could flow freely into my filter. The logic of this seemed pretty straight forward to me at the time. I used a piece of flexible hose in my design, so I could convert it to a short ram if I desired. The difference between CAI and Short RAM is pretty much night and day. Cutting away your plastic doesn’t hurt anything as there is really nothing to protect where the old resanator is.
AzNKT haha. well i have to admit i happen to have a homemade CAI (strictly out of boredom), but i still defy anyone with only bolt-ons to present a noticeable difference besides noise =P
Water
Yes well cutting away the plastic is good for air flow, but i feel that a big problem with cai in 2g teg is the problew with water. You see, where the filter is is where the resonator used to be, and if you remove the plastic in the tire well, it is vulnerable to sucking up water and damaging your engine. But if you don’t remove the plastic, you won’t be getting any extra air to the intake. now the thing about the hot air rising is a good observation and is an advantage of having cai. But look at where the 2g teg’s cai and short ram intake filters are located. if u remove the resonator, and the plastic in the wheel well cold air will flow from there and go straight to the filter w/o worrying about water.
The advantage of the cai is getting the intake filterout of the hot engine compartment and into an area where the temp is much closer to the temp outside.
I have a 90 w/short ram but I pulled the fog light cover off the lower part of the bumper cover. This way I get cool outside air flowing in to the the compartment where the resonator used to be. I replaced the cover with a gutter screen that has a diamond pattern. I fastened the piece from the inside. This way I get outside air blasting into the resonator compartment. My filter sits right over the hole where the resonator used to attach to the stock intake. Hopefully this helps draw some cooler air into the intake.
Cutting a hole in the plastic fender guard is definately NOT an option for me, seeing as I live up in wet ol’ B.C.
I’m gettin my CAI tomorrow, so I’ll have lots of time to fiddle and contemplate on how I’ll set things up.
CAI will definately be an improvement from my “removed resonator & bottom half of airbox” customization!!
I’ve made it through 3 floods in houston without sucking anything up. Driving wisely helps quite a bit, It has to be a pretty deep puddle to suck in water. But I have actually met someone who did suck up water into their intake, they did admit that it was really a stupid mistake though. In Houston heat and humidity you will definately notice the difference of a CAI. I should have a website up soon with pics of my intake.
Wait, I thought cold air ends were the stock air box was?
What is this then? Cold air, or Ram Air?
I dont get it
as an experiment i hooked my car up to a scan tool up b4 and after i installed my cold air intake. the eng. temp was 190 degrees and the int air temp was 176. and after i installed the cai the eng temp was 196 and int. air temp was 134 so it dropped almost 40 degrees this was in early nov. though after the int. was installed the pulse width of the inj. increased slightly also. due to the denser air and i’m guessing less restriction.