CAI vs SRI vs V2

Which one is better for the RSX-S?? AEM V2, Injen CAI, or Injen SRI.
I am mainly worried about the rainy and wet season for the intake (i live in south cali near the ocean and the weather here is crazy). I heard that the injen intakes are easy to install, but the AEM V2 intake does not suck up water into the engine... Does the SRI have the same problem with the water or is it just the CAI??? Someone inform me please...

I did some research and ended up with the AEM SRI. The cold air intake seemed a little risky, even with a bypass (Of course, I live in New England). I read that the V2 is pretty much hype, but it depends on who you ask/ what you read. The SRI was very easy to install, looks good, performs well, and presents no risk of engine damage. The gains will be a little less, but you need to weigh your options. Engines are expensive :) Overall, I'm really happy with it

My local speed shop used my 94 GSR and dyno'd a CAI then a SRI and got the same excated HP rates u just loose the risk of hydrolocking with a SRI

Yeah but did they dyno it with the hood off? Because if they did then it would have showed more gains than you'd get regularly driving with your hood down; from the air getting right into the engine bay.

COMPTECH ICEBOX!!! Best of both worlds, and hydrolocking problems are solved.

alright here's the deal from a technical standpoint,

SRI gives ok* gains in lowend and midrange, and great* gains in high end peformance (i.e. upper rpm's)

CAI gives great* gains in lowend and midrange but will fall short of the SRI in high end performance.

As far as the V2 goes I believe it is just a little better than CAI giving slightly better performance all around than the standard AEM CAI.

as far as the comptech ice box... well that is pretty much a SRI which has a cold air source... hence best of both worlds but not quite as good as either... once again a trade off... ( hope you follow what i'm saying)






*...... meaning.... *ok* and *great* gains as far as intakes go, I can assure you if your car dynos for more than a 11 HP gain at the wheels from a intake you are a very lucky individual.

An intake's an intake.

well not quite... for our honda's I would recomend a CAI only because I mean lets face it we are lacking in torque and lowend... we're pretty much running 4 cylinder dirtbike engine if ya think about it(not in the 2-stroke sense but in the high revving making some horsepower out of nothing sense), well not you signal (H22 is one of the exceptions) but most of us. anyway like I said CAI better for lowend and mid, SRI better for topend... so it depends on your setup really.... I figure my gs-r already has better topend than most cars why not build up the lowend and midrange and dominate off the line and up?

well not you signal (H22 is one of the exceptions) but most of us

teh winnage

SRI - Good low end power, easy to install, sounds good, cheap and looks good. However once its 75 fahrenheit or hotter outside or once the engine is a bit hot you're pretty screwed - it'll gradually get worse gains than the stock airbox, and in some cases bog down.

V2 - Easy to install, less heatsoak prone, almost CAI-like gains. Its expensive and still not a CAI and still prone to heat.

Icebox - Overated. Mugen's icebox got 5 hp. Comptech is getting marginally better gains for the price. In theory its a great piece in actuallity you might as well get the V2. Icebox isn't very vulnerable to heat.

None of the above can suffer from hydrolock on less you drive through a lake.

CAI - Best gains, mainly high end. Doesn't suffer from heat soak. However on some occasions (driving very fast through puddles) you might get water into the engine if the filter is submerged in water or if water is sprayed right in (like when you're washing the car). You can always release the throttle when you see puddles or put a bypass valve, but the bypass limits gains. That's said hydrolocking is very rare and doesn't happen as much as it did in the integras (its mounted higher up and on the opposite side).

SRI

V2 - Easy to install, less heatsoak prone, almost CAI-like gains. Its expensive and still not a CAI and still prone to heat.

I'm not sure I agree with any of this. In fact, I don't think it makes much sense. You said "less heatsoak prone", but then said "still prone to heat."

The V2 is a CAI! Period! The only dif is it uses two pipe sizes to maximize HP gains over a regular CAI. You just have to decide if you want a CAI or a SRI. If you go with a CAI, I would suggest the V2. I think most will agree with me when I say, AEM is the leader as far as air induction goes. Having said that, whats AEM's best intake? Answer, the V2 is.

I've never heard of a short ram intake "bogging out" because of heat before. I know quite a few people with them and have never heard them say anything about that, if fact I knew a guy who had one for 2 years and he never had a problem and I ended up buying his short ram from him (haven't put it on because I have a CX with a tiny throttle body). And I have a book (like a few people on here have) called "How to Build Honda Horsepower" and they do dyno testing on different intakes (V2 wasn't out when the book was published so that's not in there). But the Icebox ones made the best gains all the way thru the powerband. When you look at a dyno you have to look at the powerband as a whole, and not just the end hp or tq gains. Personaly I'd say the best idea would be to get a SRI and build your own cheap Icebox for it, it'd be cheaper than buying one or buying a V2.

Christ...who the fuck resurrected this old thread. I remember posting here in 2003...

Overated. Mugen's icebox got 5 hp. Comptech is getting marginally better gains for the price. In theory its a great piece in actuallity you might as well get the V2. Icebox isn't very vulnerable to heat.

yes, I do believe it is overated.

but, if you are boosted, it is a awesome. My experiences are:

EBAY CAI
AEM SRI
AEM CAI
V2
Comptech Icebox

I should of bought the comptech in the first place. But thats just one shmos experience.

I still have the V2 and AEM SRI off my 99 civic si. Make me an offer. you pay all shipping. lowballers will not be responded to :biggrin: email [email protected]

Christ...who the fuck resurrected this old thread. I remember posting here in 2003...

LOL, I didnt even realize that. Buy my stuff, then let this thread die.

OK, by saying less prone to heat soak but still effected by it, I mean that heatsoak is a problem with the V2, just not as bad as it is in the SRI.

THE RSX IS NOT AN INTEGRA
The V2 for every other car is a CAI. Due to space limitations (the AEM CAI barely fits and the V2 needs about an inch more in diameter) in the RSX engine bay a twin tube SRI design was used. IT IS AN SRI. And no matter how much air you push in the intake, its still limited by the throttle body.

And bogging down, it doesn't happen a lot, but in the summer after about an hour of driving it does/can.

600 posts :icon16:

The V2 is a CAI! Period! The only dif is it uses two pipe sizes to maximize HP gains over a regular CAI. You just have to decide if you want a CAI or a SRI. If you go with a CAI, I would suggest the V2. I think most will agree with me when I say, AEM is the leader as far as air induction goes. Having said that, whats AEM's best intake? Answer, the V2 is.

Not true, not true. The V2 is MARKETED as a CAI. In reality the intake sits just about the same place as the SRI, on the RSX. The only difference is the two pipe sizes that are "supposed" to produce resonance to allow the air to flow faster. If you go to clubrsx.com you can see that the V2 DOES NOT perform as well as a CAI.

I personally didn't buy into the hype and just got an SRI for 1/4 the price of the V2.

Whoops, just read your post crazy. Didn't mean to re-iterate!

Not true, not true. The V2 is MARKETED as a CAI. In reality the intake sits just about the same place as the SRI, on the RSX. The only difference is the two pipe sizes that are "supposed" to produce resonance to allow the air to flow faster. If you go to clubrsx.com you can see that the V2 DOES NOT perform as well as a CAI.

I personally didn't buy into the hype and just got an SRI for 1/4 the price of the V2.

Fact: the V2 is a CAI for the DC2, to be honest, I don't care about the DC5. Thats why I post in the Integra forum, (which for some reason was shared with the DC5 crowd) As far as buying into the hype, the numbers on your site don't mean crap to me. I can feel the dif in my car. If I didn't, I'd put my regular CAI back on.

Ps: I personally didn't buy into the hype and just got a used DC2 for 1/4 of the price of the RSX...fISH

An intake's an intake.

I agree, you're argueing over 1 or 2 horsepower. If you're worried about heat soak or hydrolock, just get a friggin ice box, argueing over which intake is best is like trying to argue that one peanut is better than another...

Its just a friggin intake, not a turbo...

Thanks for coming into the forum and not knowing what you're talking about. At all.

Icebox's are crap for the RSX, marginal gains, the difference between the SRI and CAI is about 10hp, sometimes more.

So can we please post if we know what we're talking about instead of coming in from Toyota forums and pretending we know something?

Thanks for coming into the forum and not knowing what you're talking about. At all.

Icebox's are crap for the RSX, marginal gains, the difference between the SRI and CAI is about 10hp, sometimes more.

So can we please post if we know what we're talking about instead of coming in from Toyota forums and pretending we know something?
Yeah and you know what you're talking about? I don't know what the hell you're smokin' thinking you'd even get 10hp out of just an intake let alone 10+ out of a CAI over a short ram. I don't care if it's an Integra, RSX, or S2000; you're not going to see 10+hp out of just an intake. Apparently you've read too many magazine ads (like a Stillen one I saw) or you just pull some "info" out of your arse :disappoin

Fact: the V2 is a CAI for the DC2, to be honest, I don't care about the DC5. Thats why I post in the Integra forum, (which for some reason was shared with the DC5 crowd) As far as buying into the hype, the numbers on your site don't mean crap to me. I can feel the dif in my car. If I didn't, I'd put my regular CAI back on.

Ps: I personally didn't buy into the hype and just got a used DC2 for 1/4 of the price of the RSX...fISH

Sorry, maybe I should clarify. The statements I made refer ONLY to the RSX. If you had read the second sentence you would see that.

Fact: The V2, ON THE RSX, is a glorified, hyped up, SRI.
Fact: The dozens of dyno graphs on clubrsx show that the V2, ON THE RSX, does not perform as well as a CAI.
Fact: Clubrsx is one of the best sites I've seen to get information ON THE RSX.
Fact: The original post/question refers to an RSX-TypeS, NOT an Integra.
Fact: It would help for you not to post misc. information about your experience with your integra when the question refers to the DC5:rolleyes:
Fact: Your DC2 didn't cost $5k :rolleyes: If it did, let me know where I can find one for that price! That way I can keep my mileage down on my pricey DC5.
Fact: The RSX'ers on this site don't like what they have done by placing us in here either. :gay:

Anyways, sorry if I got carried away there :uhoh: . I do not claim that the V2 does not outperform a CAI in any other vechicle and I would definitely defer any questions about Integras to you guys that own them :bigthumb: .

So, before you start slamming, I just ask that people refer to the question being asked in the thread and not to generalize about every other vehicle besides the one in question and to also have done, at the very least, a bit of research of the vehicle in question.

So I would hope you have enough sense to agree that the SRI for the RSX makes a much cheaper and better alternative than the V2. Would you spend 4 times the $ for an extra 1 hp? Maybe you would.:smile:

Peace. :bigthumb:

Yeah and you know what you're talking about? I don't know what the hell you're smokin' thinking you'd even get 10hp out of just an intake let alone 10+ out of a CAI over a short ram. I don't care if it's an Integra, RSX, or S2000; you're not going to see 10+hp out of just an intake. Apparently you've read too many magazine ads (like a Stillen one I saw) or you just pull some "info" out of your arse :disappoin
Actually, you do get close to 10hp going from a stock airbox to a CAI/SRI on the RSX. This hp difference is actually the MAXIMUM difference at a certain RPM, not an average over the powerband. There are numerous dynos that have been done by actual owners of RSX's to show the difference between stock and CAI/SRI - see the website I mentioned if you're interested. I don't trust the magazines either, since advertisers are basically their source of income.

Now, you also have to remember that if you already have other mods installed such as a race header or better exhaust system, then the intake will probably NOT yield the 10hp results. Only if the intake is the only thing you changed, will it produce this difference.

For example, if you take an intake rated at +10 hp and a header rated at +15 hp, then your return won't be +25 hp, but something like +15 hp for both. You just can't add the two together. But you probably already know that.

As far as getting +10hp difference from a CAI vs. an SRI, that is debatable. I would think this would only happen if heat soak occured in the SRI. The RSX engine bay is very hot after just a few miles of driving, and taking in hot air doesn't produce very good results as compared to the CAI. Just take a look at my avatar and you can see that my SRI is just sucking in the hot air next to the engine. The filter is towards the rear and nowhere near the colder air that comes in the front.

If this is the case, then I can see the CAI producing +10hp over an SRI at a certain RPM, but not over the whole powerband.

If you read crazy's post again, you'll see that he's saying the DIFFERENCE between the two will be 10hp in favor of the CAI. He's not stating that the CAI will give you +20 hp and the SRI will give you +10 hp. For example, the SRI might not produce any extra output at say, 3000 rpm(just an rpm that I randomly picked out) due to heat soak while the CAI produces about +10 hp at the same rpm's. The difference being +10hp. That's all he's saying. :smile: And he should know what he's talking about since he does own and modify his RSX.

I'd have to say that quite a few other people around here "pull info out of their arses" as you so eloquently said. :grinno:

Please note once again that everything I have stated, besides paragraphs 2-3, only refers to the RSX an not to any other vehicle.

Peace.

Yeah and you know what you're talking about? I don't know what the hell you're smokin' thinking you'd even get 10hp out of just an intake let alone 10+ out of a CAI over a short ram. I don't care if it's an Integra, RSX, or S2000; you're not going to see 10+hp out of just an intake. Apparently you've read too many magazine ads (like a Stillen one I saw) or you just pull some "info" out of your arse :disappoin
Alright, you called me out on this, saying i'm pulling stuff out of my ass and all that, so here it comes assclown:

As mmont0 mentioned, i'm talking about peak gain. Not the area under the curve on the dyno as that's just too hard to calculate.

Exhibit A:
http://performance.clubrsx.com/intaketest.html

Stock Airbox vs. Injen CAI = 12.5hp difference
AEM SRI Vs. Injen CAI = 8.1hp difference. So i'm a whole 1.9whp off on THIS dyno which is 5900 feet above sea level.

~~~~

Exhibit B:
http://performance.clubrsx.com/dyno/cjmrsxs/cjmrsxs1.jpg
DynoRun 004 and 003 are with an Injen CAI and Borla Exhaust, 002 and 001 are stock.

~~~~
Numero trois:
http://performance.clubrsx.com/dyno.html

Just browse through and get owned a few more times. I don't feel like innumerating everything in there when its already indexed.


I'm gonna stop right here. I think that's enough proof to show that i'm not pulling stuff out of my ass and that you are yet another one with no clue about what they're talking about.

And anything else that I could say has already been said by mmont0. Thanks, man:D

Fact: the V2 is a CAI for the DC2, to be honest, I don't care about the DC5. Thats why I post in the Integra forum, (which for some reason was shared with the DC5 crowd) As far as buying into the hype, the numbers on your site don't mean crap to me. I can feel the dif in my car. If I didn't, I'd put my regular CAI back on.

Ps: I personally didn't buy into the hype and just got a used DC2 for 1/4 of the price of the RSX...fISH
How'd I miss this post.

Anyways, yeah, as mmont0 said:

You have to understand the RSX isn't the Integra and no one was doubting the teg gains. And yeah, unless the teg has like 4000000miles on it, there's not going to be a 5500 USD Integra.

No prob. Just wanted to set things straight and I didn't feel like searching around crsx for dynos!

Well, I saw an '05 TypeS today. Guess what color? Yep, satin silver! I liked the side skirts but hated the front and rear fascias. The front doesn't have the fog covers anymore and the rear has this back rubber stripe going through the middle of it. The rear lights are bumped out circles which I liked a bit better but hated the blacked out front lights. It just doesn't look good on satin silver. I was a little bit jealous about the 17" rims though. They actually look like the TSX rims.

Yeah, iunno, the 05 is slightly disappointing. I only really like it in Milano red and Canada doesn't get that colour!!!!
The headlights are ok, the rear bumper's plastic piece looks weird, but the gauges are the worst IMO. And I guess because i'm used to my red cf dash kit, but the interior looks plain.....

yes, I do believe it is overated.

but, if you are boosted, it is a awesome. My experiences are:

EBAY CAI
AEM SRI
AEM CAI
V2
Comptech Icebox

I should of bought the comptech in the first place. But thats just one shmos experience.

I still have the V2 and AEM SRI off my 99 civic si. Make me an offer. you pay all shipping. lowballers will not be responded to :biggrin: email [email protected]

All these post and no one wants the V2? Only the V2 left. AEM SRI is gone.

LOL, I didnt even realize that. Buy my stuff, then let this thread die.

:biggrin:

Superbluesi - How about posting something useful rather than just trying to get attention for your parts?

if he was smart, he'd know this was an integra forum...you know..people with integras? people who buy INTEGRA parts for their INTEGRAS :rolleyes:

Alright, you called me out on this, saying i'm pulling stuff out of my ass and all that, so here it comes assclown:

As mmont0 mentioned, i'm talking about peak gain. Not the area under the curve on the dyno as that's just too hard to calculate.

Exhibit A:
http://performance.clubrsx.com/intaketest.html

Stock Airbox vs. Injen CAI = 12.5hp difference
AEM SRI Vs. Injen CAI = 8.1hp difference. So i'm a whole 1.9whp off on THIS dyno which is 5900 feet above sea level.

~~~~

Exhibit B:
http://performance.clubrsx.com/dyno/cjmrsxs/cjmrsxs1.jpg
DynoRun 004 and 003 are with an Injen CAI and Borla Exhaust, 002 and 001 are stock.

~~~~
Numero trois:
http://performance.clubrsx.com/dyno.html

Just browse through and get owned a few more times. I don't feel like innumerating everything in there when its already indexed.


I'm gonna stop right here. I think that's enough proof to show that i'm not pulling stuff out of my ass and that you are yet another one with no clue about what they're talking about.

And anything else that I could say has already been said by mmont0. Thanks, man:D
Ok well first off the first link you gave has dynos or stock and then with added intakes and aftermarket intake manifolds on most. There was 1 dyno run I saw that had 13hp added, I will give you that.
Second one has (what you admitted) an upgraded intake and exhaust.
Third one shows nothing more than 6.x hp gain so you've still yet to prove your point.
Seems like someone needs to get a little more informed when they clain they're "owning" someone. At least do a better job instead of making yourself look like more of a jackass. You've shown 1 example that proved me incorrect. And I already understood I was wrong when mmont0 was nice enough to explain it to me. So all you've done is to prove that you're a tool and have done little to convince me.

Yup, i'm the tool here.


First link - stock intake manifolds. Both the "stock" and the intake'd car had new spark plugs and a magnaflow exhaust.

The second link, yes it had an exhaust, but does the exhaust really give 20 extra whp?

Third link, there were multiple dynos, dunno why, can't access the link right now so i'll reply about that later.

I can't really find anymore proof because most dyno's have CAI's and other mods and very few people have done baselines and then a dyno with a CAI.

However, its very obvious that the K20A2 has the potential for a 10hp+ gain with an intake and a 10hp difference between the SRI and CAI. If you can get about 25hp with just an exhaust and a CAI, then what i've said is certainly possible.

Well, there used to be a sticky in the N/A section of crsx with lots of good dynos before the mod stepped down and took the post off. It did have dynos of guys that only went from stock to CAI and stock to SRI.

The information on those dynos is why I chose to go the SRI route. I didn't want to take the risk of hydrolock, even though this is a minimal risk, over the few extra hp that the CAI gives you and they had a sale on SRI's which made it 1/4 the price of a CAI. I can deal with heatsoak better than I can deal with a dead engine. :eek7: The other factor that steered me towards the SRI is the ease of installation. I didn't want to deal with taking bumpers off and relocating wiper fluid bottles. :eek:

Edit: CivicSpoon - it looks like they moved the dynos from that post to this link - http://performance.clubrsx.com/dyno.html. It contains some stock vs. cai/sri dynos but not all that I saw when the sticky was available.

if he was smart, he'd know this was an integra forum...you know..people with integras? people who buy INTEGRA parts for their INTEGRAS :rolleyes:
Integra forum? Oh, yeah I guess it is! :iceslolan :grinno: It's too bad us RSX guys don't feel like sifting through all these integra posts to find pertinent information for our cars. :disappoin

Edit: Man, I've been out of it for quite a while! Didn't even realize they put us back in our own forum! :rolleyes: Whoohooo! :iceslolan :grinno:

This is so old it should be closed. Whoever would say the Short Ram Intake is better than a Cold Air Intake should go back to their pokemon cards and leave this stuff to people who know.

A SRI lets in HOT air (It's closer to the ENGINE). The CAI is usually relocated to a COLDER area. Studies across America say cold air is good when your engine is producing hot air. Sometimes this may not be right, but in my experience thats what I have concluded.

ok Pichaucu thats ure choice but short ram's wont ruin your motor, newayz the whole concept of cold air is a some what finicky concept because once moving at speed above more than say 20mph the hot air produced by your engine is getting sucked down and out of the engine bay and the air being inducted by a cold air is the same temp as abient. inless stop'd or barely crusing, this is why dynos show CAI's making better gains, and also in regards to integras the following fact is true but not to a huge OMG degree. the longer pipe required to relocate your intake to the fender restrics the air flow at higher RPM's. im not sure but i think the V2 doesn't have this problem because of the way its design'd and i mean i had both on my GSR and i think short ram made it run so much better. the cold air when i get up toward 7.5-8K it'd make this like vibrating resonance noise in the filter and the amount of power would sorta slack off but when i took off the cold air peice and ran short ram it sounded better and pull'd well up to redline

Wow, I shoulda come back to this thread before I could defend myself, looks like my points were already made for me. To Crazy Canuck:

1. I frequent the Integra boards because if you checked my sig, I used to own one. Even if you didnt, and I didnt, where does it say anywhere that if you own a particular brand of car, you're required to stay in your Make's section? If I get a Chevy does that mean I can only visit the Toyota boards 1/2 as often... Honestly you came off as a jerk when I was making a very simple point, that you backed up to your reply to the rebuttle of your scewed dyno plots.

A 10 HP difference between a SRI and a Cold air. Perhaps K-Series tuning has changed alot since I frequented ClubRSX (I still post there, just not since summer I think...) But thats a HUGE number to claim on an intake, in difference, im not even talking from stock or not.

You're post might lead anyone/everyone to believe that if they get a CAI their RSX-S will gain, was it 12 HP that i saw? I mean, forget the dyno, go with the butt dyno and what some guy said on a message board.

And its sad because most of the posters on AF get their opinions/facts/ideas from uneducated posts, and the nonsense proliferates like propaghanda among the little "Boy Racer" circles and I have to spend my afternoon at the gas station because some kid thinks his B16 is more highly tuned than the Mclaren's V12 because it makes more "HP per Liter"

(And please refrain from calling AF members "Ass Clowns" or "Tools" when trying to make a point. Name calling doesnt make you look any smarter, it makes you look immature, and last time I checked, Slander was a lil more against the rules than say, me posting here. But then again, the years of tuning experience, and the right to spread my opinions here was lost the moment I got a Toyota, right?)