new AF member, with questions!

hi hi im new, i live in sac im 15 no drivers permit, no job, no car...
well i like cars and i will most likely get my dads 5 speed 97' RS teg with gsr fat fives. but i dont want it and will sell it, or trade for a nice little EG civic.

ok my first question is that my dads lookin for a short ram air intake for his teg and he put me in charge of finding one. Now i looked on ebay and came up with non name brand one for $20 with filters. now why spend $150 for a name brand one, it cant be gainning that much HP?
But is it that the non name brand ones will not pass californias CARB standards?

second question, does haveing power features take way power form the engine?

thank you, sorry if my questions are so noobish.

from what i hear about air intakes, an e-bay one will give you roughly the same hp gain as a namebrand one, there may be a couple hp difference but not much. As far as the carb thing is concerned, i dont have a clue, where im from there arent any kind of laws like that

As far as power accesories taking power away from the engine, the engine will have to work harder to make the power back, but you should be able to make most of it back if you get some underdrive pulleys, and/or grounding wires. Once again i havent done any in depth research on either one of these questions, but these are just things i have heard, hope i can help you some and get your permit and start learnin!

I'm 15 as well I have a car but no permit, the only thing delaying me from gettin it is my glasses. I have an EG coupe. You can pay 150+ for a brand name with paperwork or you can get one for 50 bucks, but you will have to take it off for smog tests. I have a no brand intake and I had to take it off for smog.

its like 5 mins to take off intake and put stock back on. Im lazy tho i got aem ;) everyone always suggests goin the cheap route with a high end filter. Are you wondering if power features such as power windows and power locks rob power? Or are u wondering if like power steering or AC robs power. Steering and AC are the robbers... most cars have that anyways so dont worry about it or do what sivic said and get some underdrive pulleys to reduce the parasetic loss. But other power features wont cause a problem they arent even drawing current when they arent being used. Unless your big on rolling up and down your windows when your racing! Even then energy is being drawn from your battery not from the engine so... And by the way take the teg over the civic.

definitely save your dad a few bucks and tell him to get the one on ebay. now, i like civics BUT an integra has so much more curb appeal, everyone has a civic, and if he is just going to give you the integra... KEEP IT! ...2 cents

As for power steering and AC. Every one takes off there AC belt and power steering belt to save power. Thats a myth, as long as your AC is turned off, you wont use that power. As for the Power steering... I would think that as long as your wheel was straight it wouldn't engage, but I'm not sure about that one. Good luck.

JDM nutt/ fISH...

Wait a second what am i saying, if your dads payin for the intake tell him the cheapest one is an aem, youll get the papers too! Then if your ever broke and need a little extra cash you can sell the aem one on e-bay and get an off brand one. j/k that would be wrong. But if i were you id be like dad, i dont think you should have an illegal intake and try to get him to get an aem.