Whats the difference and which is better?

The cold air usually goes into the wheel well area, where it gets more direct air. The short ram is all in the engine bay, where it has to battle with the heat made from the engine. There is quite a debate on which is better. Try doing a search on it, I know there's at least one long ass thread that gets very detailed about the differences.

the cold air intake sucks in more cold air, cold air is dense which means you are getting more air molecules into your cylinder which ='s to more hp

yea i think cai's are better b/c it gets air from below the car. another option is to gat a short ram with a cf hood/scoop that redirects air from outside to the intake box area. i saw it on tv somewhere so it might be hard to find.

Well the best hands down is the cold air boxes. It uses a short ram and a box that covers the filter and has a pipe connected to the outside. So it's the best of both worlds (CAI and SRI).

cold air intakes without a bypass valve are prone to sucking in water. cold air intakes are great on stock engines and short ram are great with jackson racing superchargers or larger throttle bodies. the engine does not have to pull air in as hard. Cold air box hands down

search.

ok here's the deal. Both intakes make abotu the same HP but they make it at different areas in the powerband.

A SRI is obviously shorter and usually a more direct flow to the intake manifold therfore it gets a faster intake velocity and can suck just as much air as a CAI however because the air is warmer it doesn't really suck more air till the upper RPM range therefore allowing a SRI to make better upper rpm paower than a CAI.

However a CAI sucks cold air (obviously right) so it is getting a large intake volume right off the bat but due to longer amounts of pipe and more bends it doesn't have the same intake velocity. so down low and midrange is where to expect alot of gains from this type of intake.


So to sum that up

CAI= more air but slower to suck
SRI= less air but faster to suck it


Which means they both get about the same amout of air but because of the how they get it and the temp of the air they are getting they make power in different parts of the powerband.



So as said above a cold air box such as comptech's ice box or whatever it is called is pretty much the best of both worlds; the air flow of a SRI and the cold air charge of a CAI, allowing your engine to make good power throughout the powerband.

the difference between the two is this....cold -air adds more horsepower and less torque....short ram adds less horsepower and more torque. thats what you need to know

They have shown at high speeds they are almost idetical, because the air in the engine bay is moving through the car so the heat is escapeing. But thats just what i read in a Sport Compact CAr i belive.

the difference between the two is this....cold -air adds more horsepower and less torque....short ram adds less horsepower and more torque. thats what you need to know


actully its opposite that. SRI is all topend hp. CAI is mostly low to midrange hp and torque.

Yeha CAI is better but ne ways, have you guys seen the cold air intake with the box that you put dry ice in?! lol its in the back of the new sport compact car magazine...looks crazy..i wonder if it would actually work..

So to use that icebox thing I need to get an intake from comptech as well, right?

Also, does it really matter what brand I get becaue they pretty much all say "THIS IS THE BEST INTAKE ON THE MARKET, BLAH BLAH BLAH!!"

SRI low end
CAI top end

An intake is an intake! Depend which restricts heat better I guess.

Actually...
SRI is top range
CAI is low to mid range

Short ram is way easier to install, can not hydrolock, is cheaper, provides power in the upper rpms which is when you would want it most when you are drag racing. Considering all the benefits of a short ram that i just listed, its not really worth the extra 1whp that a CAI would give you in the lower ranges.

Some of your logic is questionable. The tubes being shorter and the airflow speed aren't going to be the determining factors. Obviously a cold air has huge advantages over short ram just because of the heat factor. The cold air is not only going to allow more to fit in the same space but its keeping the whole engine cooler attributing to variables that you can't really factor with words. A cold air of one brand may produce less power then a short ram of a different brand with a different air filter, Just pick one and hope you are lucky. All i know is i wouldn't waste my money on a short ram, spend a little more and just get cold air. And where would you find a cold air box? i haven't even heard of it before, doesn't sound too promising, every additional bend, or open box area is going to affect airflow so wouldn't putting a box (similiar to how the car is stock) back into the intake remove some power?

I suppose the best way to find out which one is to compare dyno's. It will be difficult to find the same car with a SRI, CAI and cold air box.

Only thing I have to say, is that I'm very pleased with my AEM CAI. It was pretty easy to install (30 minutes) and I love the power gains, and I absolutely love the sound.

I am satisfied with my AEM CAI too. Nothing like a CAI at WOT.

which AEM CAI do ya'll have?

Some of your logic is questionable. The tubes being shorter and the airflow speed aren't going to be the determining factors. Obviously a cold air has huge advantages over short ram just because of the heat factor. The cold air is not only going to allow more to fit in the same space but its keeping the whole engine cooler attributing to variables that you can't really factor with words. A cold air of one brand may produce less power then a short ram of a different brand with a different air filter, Just pick one and hope you are lucky. All i know is i wouldn't waste my money on a short ram, spend a little more and just get cold air. And where would you find a cold air box? i haven't even heard of it before, doesn't sound too promising, every additional bend, or open box area is going to affect airflow so wouldn't putting a box (similiar to how the car is stock) back into the intake remove some power?


And how exactly is my reasoning questionable? the one and only advantage that a CAI has over a SRI is the cold air charge. Why is this? well its beacuse the colder the air the denser it is hence more oxygen in it. Now because of the the length of tubing the air has to travel through and the bends in it; the air speed is slowed considerably. Now take a short straight section of pipe the same diameter it will flow faster therefore the engine can suck more air in the same amount of time. Therefore even though it is sucking warmer less dense air it is still recieving about the same amoutn of oxygen.

Think of an exhaust, would you rather have a short straight exhaust or a long bendy one? the short straight one of course because there is less resistance and the air is forced out faster.





Now as far as the icebox thing. A comptech icebox is a section of tubing that draws air from a cold air source much like a CAI and draws it into a box in a almost stock location. Then a comptech SRI is installed but the filter element sits air tight in the box. Because of this design the engine can draw air through the SRI just like a regular SRI only now that box is filled with cold air instead of air in an engine bay. This intake design has been proven to be a better choice than the leading designs in SRI and CAI. Mainly because you get the benefits of both intakes.

well said

knorwj...the cai's im talking about is spose to be filled with dry ice, hence cooling the air coming into the engine to 15-30 degrees..its in the back of sport compact car

knorwj...the cai's im talking about is spose to be filled with dry ice, hence cooling the air coming into the engine to 15-30 degrees..its in the back of sport compact car



I understand that, I was refering to the cold air boxes that everyone else was talking about. The most common one being the comptech icebox. That is just the name of it you don't actually fill it with ice or anything. As far as the one you are talking about I have never seen it, so i wouldn't know what to say about ti until I do see it or research it.

the one he is talking about (dont know the name) is a simple design you can fit around any intake. A box that is made of sheet metal with holes on both sides for the intake to enter and exit. You fill the box with ice or dry ice and the ice will surround one section of your intake(about 12inches or so), got me if this really freezes your air to the point of big HP gains or anthing but looking at the pic I saw a while back its a simple design you could probly make yourself.

o yeah CAI, IMO

AF is full of SRI vs CAI threads.

AF is full of SRI vs CAI threads.


I agree if he searches he will find hundreds of debates on this subject.



I think that as far as power gains go you need to look where you want power, and seeing how power from an intake is nominal anyway and the power difference between the two is even less that maybe he should look at other factors to determine what he gets. Other factors meaning ease of instalation, conditions he will be driving in (lots of puddles etc.)
whether its a daily driven car or a track car etc.

Sorry about askin before searching, but I didn't realize this was such a huge debate. Besides, it seemed to spawn some pretty good discussion.

Anyways, I saw that some of the intakes apparently give 9-12 hp at the wheels (it said this on the site trying to sell them which kinda makes me not believe it...) Do you really gain that much from an intake?

You'll be lucky to gain 5. Probably more like 2-3 from most open air intakes. I have noticed more of a powerband change. More power in the lower rpms, and definatly a little wee bit strong in top. (AEM CAI)

neither is some magical thing that'll free up a lot of hp (as said by others.)

either one will prolly free 2-5 hp (depending on the condition of motor, stock air box etc...)

this is a never-ending debate that in the end really doesn't matter all that much.

do a search.