Cold Air Intakes

[IUFAN]

I have a 2003 Honda Civic EX and I am looking at buying a CAI. I have seen them priced anywhere between $30 and $300. Does it pay to buy the more expensive (AEM or K&N) or are the cheap ones just as good? Also, how much extra hp should I expect to get by adding one of these? Finally any suggestions on the best place to order one from?

[KrNxRaCer00]

get a generic one, an put on a k&n air filter. all u get w/ aem is a colored tube w/ the sticker...

[wheel1856]

yep, get a generic one, a tube is a tube. as long as it's smooth inside, and doesnt have any sharp bends, good to go. same with filter, filter's a filter (arguable I know, but for all intents and purposes).

and if you're gonna get a true CAI, you could see about 2-3 HP. combine that with a bigger throttle body (or a throttle body spacer) header, and exhaust (not just a bee can) and you could see about 15 or more HP.

[BullShifter]

Cheap ones from ebay work. I would get something like an Iceman that is 2-part Short ram or Cold-air.

Metal tubing - becareful it does not rub on any battery terminals // will get very hot.

Plastic tubing - becareful this does not rub on any sharp edges // will run cooler than metal.


You probably dont care but, a customer brought in a 98 prelude with a LOUD knock. After pulling the head we found the #3 & #4 pistons were trashed with some yellow shit on top of the pistons. We found this yellow shit all in the engine & some all the way back in the cat. convertor. The reason for all this was becasue his plastic intake tube was rubbing(not mounted correctly) on a sharp edge & cause a 1/2" x 4" chunk to get sucked in the engine. He thought his warranty was gonna cover it, LMAO. we had the whole motor apart & he denied the repair so he got a trunk/car full of parts. He paid for 2 tows & 10hrs of labor + who ever fixed the mess we made.

[eckoman_pdx]

Well, the basic theory behind a CAI is this. For every 11.1 degree's you lower the intake temp., you get a 1% increase in HP. So the increase will vary, depending on the ambeint temp, engine hp, etc. But you will get hp gains. It's safe you say you get as little more HP on a 50 degree day than a 100 degree day. But thats how the cold air effects the engine. A 1% increase in HP per every 11.1 degree's the intake temp is lowered.

[wheel1856]

is that a for real formula? if so, pretty nifty, I never knew that's how it worked out. cool. learn something new everyday. wicked pissa.

[mattyoung33]

well after i get my new engine im going to get the AEM V2 intake, its $230 someithng on civicshop.com, i feel that you get what u pay for...