I recently was reading the FAQ's and saw a thread about somebody who tested the Place Racing intake as a CAI and WAI against the stock intake setup on a 2002 6-Speed and got the following results...

The Stock intake produced:
208.61 HP and 234.92 ft/lbs Torque

The CAI intake produced:
209.08 HP and 237.09 ft/lbs Torque

The WAI intake produced:
213.67 HP and 240.03 ft/lbs Torque

So the clear winner, by a decent margin, is the WAI.

I have a 2000 5-Speed which is obviously a different engine, but I assume the results would be the same. I currently have the CAI setup and definitely notice a low end loss, but also do feel the high end gain. Has anybody made this transformation with the Place Racing or Cattman intake and have any opinions? I basically want to know if there is any hp difference that you noticed or tested and how the sound was affected as well. Thanks guys.

Also just wanted to make sure that if I do decide to make it a WAI, all you do is keep the upper tubing as it is and connect the air filter to the MAF adapter right?

 

Or you could just buy a Berk or FC WAI and see if there is much of a difference without chopping up your CAI setup.

 

You don't have to chop anything, just remove the lower tubing and connect the filter to the MAF.

I have tried the intake in just about every configuration possible including running it through the headlight to a velocity stack.

My best times have come from the WAI setup as you suggest.

This is a pic of my 95 with the stack.

 

What Jime said above...Instead of having it be like this:

http://www.cattman.com/img/prod/dsc_...20g5%20cai.jpg

It will look like this:

http://www.cattman.com/img/prod/dsc_...-rez%20cai.jpg

You just disconnect the lower tubing and put the filter on to where the lower tubing connected to the MAf.

 

you're such newb dude get rid of these big *** pictures

 

Replace pics as hyperlinks. =(

 

I'm not such a newb dude...I just posted the pics bc they looked small on the website and I didn't check back to see how big they were...I post pics all the time like this and it's never a problem so no need to pms...go get laid or something instead of gettin pissed about an honest mistake

 

Anyways...I wrote to Brian Catts regarding this issue and he responded a few times:

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Assuming a WAI is just a CAI without the lower tube, I would not accept
these results at face value. I've tested lots of CAIs and I assure you they
make more than 1/2 HP on the dyno. Plus, its been known for a long time
that CAIs don't test accurately on static dynos because most of their
benefit comes while the car is moving.

Bottom line is, the lower tube has an enormous effect on eliminating
turbulence from the airflow as it crosses the MAF hotwire, and according to
our testing that will make more power everytime.

I'd stick with the setup you have.

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I just saw that his dyno testing was not done more or less at the same point
in time, the runs were separated by months. This automatically makes the
comparisons meaningless.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bottom line is, however, that you won't make more power this way. His #s
were bogus because the testing protocol was so flawed.

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Opinions? If a new consensus is reached...A Mod might want to update the sticky with this thread attached.

 

I'd say keep the CAI but with the stock TB/MAF tubing.

 

One question about converting from CAI to WAI...I know you just connect the filter to the MAF with the MAF adapter I already have and that's it, but there is one hole right past the MAF on the lower tubing part where the temp. sensor sits... I contacted Brian Catts and he says there is then nowhere for it to go and you should just secure it but not to worry because there is no real use for them in our cars. anybody have experience on this? Jime what did you do with it when you used the WAI setup?

 

On my 4th Gen I just secured it like Brian said. On the 3.5L its incorporated in the MAF so of course it just stays put.

As far as comparing dyno's it pretty hard because its not real conditions which is exactly why I don't dyno my car, I tune it at the track or on a deserted road with my wideband. A dyno does not load like real driving conditions plus you have the moving air factor.

My comparisons were made at the track only which to me is the only place it matters and my best time have come using the WAI setup. They are all noisy and drown out the sound of the exhaust which in my case is not that loud because I use the stock muffer which has also proven to give me the best 1/4 times over 2 different straight thru mufflers I have.

I use a weather correcting program connected to a Davis Pro weather station to compare runs. It compares all segments of the run individually from the time slip so you know exactly where you lost or gained during each run.

http://www.ifamilysoftware.com/rlp.html

 

Do you gain more low end power with a WAI over a CAI? Also as far as sound goes, I assume they are pretty much identical as far as the growling sound?

 

When I was testing the difference between the WAI and CAI I didn't have the hardware and software I mentioned earlier so I couldn't compare accurately. The only thing I remember was that the WAI produced the quickest time over the CAI.
Sound was about the same, yes.