Well my jwt pop charger HAI was causin me to lose alot of power especially in this hot weather so i hooked up my stock airbox and deffinatly feel a difference. Im a fan of the sound the pop charger made and want a way to rig a cold air as well as have some decent sound. I was wondering if i were to bore out a 2" hole in the fender and the stock airbox and run a hose if that would make decent sound? The path of air should be very efficient b/c its getting cold air from behind the grill as well as the fender. Although the stock airbox doesnt look nearly as attractive under the hood as a HAI or CAI I'd rather have performance especially in the hot weather.

 

Get a real CAI and you won't experience the bogginess. Driving around with my CAI is a night and day difference from running with my hybrid intake/hacked stock airbox. Acceleration feels much better, especially in the lower rpms.


Dave

 

Wont an intake like this one http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=38634 still suck in hot air produced by the engine?

 

And does the intake that sits inside the fender wall really get cold air? It kinda seems suffocated down there

 

OK, I'm interested! Any particular CAI kit you'd recommend?

Cheers

Keir

 

The air volume that is sucked in by the intake will be replaced by the atmosphere as quickly has it's removed so there should be no worry about suffocating the motor.

The air isn't truely "cold air", but it is ambient air which is usually far cooler than the underhood air that typically can reach 170-180 degrees on a hot day at idle in traffic. I've watched the temp sensor on my OBDII scanner show that intake air on a 85 degree day is indeed 85-90 degrees which means the intake is doing it's job by sucking in ambient air. After city driving in 85+ degree heat, the intake pipe and MAF are cool to the touch even though the intake manifold and throttle body are cool scalding hot.

According to my timeslips in cooler weather, there is no real measureble difference in performance between the CAI and POP style intakes. On a hot day at the track I can see the CAI being a better option because it's always sucking in ambient air. I remove my fog light at the track so that the CAI filter gets my most cool air. Concerning overall driveability the CAI setup is definitely superior.

Warpspeed, Place Racing, and Cattman all make quality CAIs. Expect to pay $150-250 for them. I suggest watching the For Sale forums because you can buy these setups for 50% MSRP.


Dave

 

Dave. Yesterday I made my own custom CAI. This eliminates the need to cut a huge hole in the fender well.
http://community.webshots.com/album/145789293SyrMnu

Question: On hot days, do you see an improvement over the HAI (I previsouly had the JWT cone)? The low end seems more linear and smooth. With the HAI, it would ever so slightly "bog" then jump like someone woke the car up. I wonder if this a functio of the longer cai tubing length or a function of the engine getting colder air. When I got to work today, I opened the hood and my cai tubing was actually cold. The midpipe was just luke warm (vs very warm to hot with the HAI)

 

Nice setup Jeff.

Yes, I see a huge inprovement on hot days. Gone is that momentary bog and general low rpm lagginess the HAI experience in 70+ degree weather. My piping stays cool to the touch just like you're seeing. For years I said there was no way the CAI could stay cool when you've driving the car around for a long period of time. I was totally wrong and I feel bad for even debating the issue.

Why is the throttle response and hot day driving so much better? It probably has to do with a lot of things including the tubing length and ambient air. I love the idle to 5000rpm power. Even on shifts the acceleration feels strong, more linear, and smooth. With the A/C on and 85 degree temps, my car doesn't feel laggy at all. I'm very happy with the setup and I'm surprised more people aren't using CAIs.

How do you like the performance overall? I've always worried that the extra piping length might be too long for upper rpm power, but according to my timeslips on 60 degree days, I run 14.4s@98mph & 2.2 60' with the CAI and 14.4s@98mph & 2.2 60' with the HAI. This tells me the CAI isn't sucking out any upper rpm power.

I really like the way the CAI sounds with the stock resonator (one between the TB and MAF) and the driveability from idle to 4000rpms improves even more with the motor feeling much more refined, but the acceleration and responsivness seems to degrade a little. It's all a tradeoff I guess. I noticed the VE don't have this resonator.


Dave

 

I've only driven it to work today as I finished it late yesterday. haha The power is very smooth. Eerie smooth. It's also quieter than the HAI. It's nice to hear that the CAI apparently isn't affecting the high end power too. Nice reference.

The VE has resonator in the midpipe also. But most get rid of it as it takes up alot of room and the custom midpipe cleans up the area a bit.

 

this is a real cold air intake:

ebay place racing CAI

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...479803438&rd=1

I have this exact one and highly recommend it.

 

Is there any advantage of the place racing over the injen style? Or are they about the same. The injen style seams like it might get some hot air coming from the engine still but at the same time its getting that cold air passing right through the front.

 

IMO, the Injen intake is probably the hottest air intake you can get. You're better off with the HAI.

Dave

 

How do you figure, its much lower than a HAI would be in the engine bay and air is going right through the holes in the bumper thru the radiatior into the filter, seams like it should be the same as gettin the ambient air from beneath the fender wall. Anyone else have any input on this?

 

Problems with the Injen design:

1) The piping runs very close to the scalding hot intake manifold, cylinder head, and exhaust manifold. Two words: heat soak

2) The intake filter is situated in close proximity to the radiator which typically radiates extreme heat from the 205-215 degree coolant that resides in it.

3) The radiator fans blow extremely hot air off the radiator and into the area of the intake charge.

4) The filter is situated in a low chassis location which puts it in dangerous proximity of sucking in water if a stupid owner trys to go thru standing water. The CAI intake sit about 4" higher.

In a nutshell, there's not one good design element in the Injen intake setup.


Dave

 

Well seeing how my HAI Pop charger setup is running extremly hot that i burn my hand on it, i doubt it can get any worse.

 

Dave, I have the Injen, and I notice that it isn't that hot after driving. Now I want to record the temp, but I don't have a OBDII scanner to see if this is really a valid statement.

Now I want to get a OBDII scanner. I went to the site from your cardomain page. Which model did you purchase?

 

Thank You! Someone speaks the truth. I really dont understand the hype over the Injen intake... other than probably the Injen name and its all shiny and polished. I had a friend who gave me one and I just resold it.. just the place where the filter sits is horrible, theres nothing but heat there.... even when the car is moving there is no area for the fresh air to come in. And, on auto's, the shifter linkage tends to hit the filter and rip it up. But to each their own I guess...

Another myth is the one you pointed out with the true CAI. I dont really see how it can hurt your performance up top because of its length. I'm sure you've seen the Honda boys and they're intakes... they're EXTREMELY long compared to ours...and those engines only make power near redline.

 

So does anyone here recommend the injen? lol

 

Someone just lie to me and tell me its better than the pop charger/short ram setup cuz i have an injen in the mail lol

 

The injen is tEh bEst inTaKE eVar!!!!!

 

Lol thankyou, i feel so relieved that someone is kind enough to lie to me and made me feel like i didnt waste my money.

 

You can always send it back.


Dave

 

Naturally shorter intake paths will make more power in the upper rpms because of the increased velocity from the shorter path, but I guess that adding an additional 12" to the intake tract of the VQ doesn't hurt things on bit. I absolutely love my CAI. I just amazed at how much better my car drives in hot weather.

Dave

 

This is true but i didnt want to drill a hole in my fender and have an intake that was better than the standard JWT setup. Oh well

 

I got the Harrison RD scanner. It works great. I've tried it on multiple Hondas, Toyotas, Subraus, and Nissans ranging from 1996 to 2004 and it works perfectly. For $120, it's a great trouble shooting and analysis tool.


Dave

 

IMO the injen is a rip off, its like $200 and it's NOT a cold air intake, the ebay place racing one is like $40 and its a REAL cold air intake! I dont understand why people dont see it as the VERY BEST intake, IT IS!

 

awesome job on this diy project!

please check your pm for some ?s I have for my own similar (lesser) project.


Bill.

 

Your absolutely right but an extra 12" to us is almost nothing compared to the length of their intakes, they're easily over 2 feet! Our intakes would run out of breath by then. I've been holding around for a used one on here to come around myself. That and for the weather to comply and stop raining....

 

well i decided to order the place racing last night based on the feedback and im sure ill be more pleased with it then i would be with the injen.