I was poking around under the hoods of my 2k and 2k2 and had a chance to examine the intake.

What I saw kinda confused me given all the talk about cold air intakes on this board. Don't we already have CAI. Looks to me like the car draws air from the very front, right above the rad. Should be pretty cool air.

 

Yes we do have CAI, actually ram air. It works pretty well for highway gas mileage etc. The problem is that because of the convolutions it takes to get past the radiator and bulkhead it is restrictive at wot and high revs. Most of the aftermarket intakes are a compromise - they solve the restriction problem but breathe hot underhood air. Some people seem to have found a better compromise with homemade systems.

 

Yeah..but if you follow the stock intake all the way from the hood to the filter you will notice that it is not a straihgt pipe to the filter. What the CAI's like Injen do is give a straighter pipe for the air to flow directly into the throttle body. The stock intake is meant to diminish noise.

 

Search on OSCAI for info on good homemade systems.