Which is better, an eBay CAI or a DIY?

[filipnoy85]

Which is better, an eBay CAI or a DIY? I'm talking about the CAI on ebay that you could get for 25-35 dollars, the cheap no name brands, and a homemade CAI. Whats the difference? The homemade one will cost around 75-80 dollars. The instuctions i found are at:

http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gte318h/proj6.html

and


http://www.teamdelsol.com/technical/...ke/default.asp

If the homemade one is better, do you know if the engine bay is the same as that of a 1999 Civic Dx? If it is then the intructions and parts will be exactly the same, right?

Thanks a lot.

[spooleffect]

Most of the kits on ebay were DIY'd by the person whose selling it.

[GScivic7]

yah, what ^ he said. All you really need to do is buy a K&N cone filter for it, and spray it inside and out with high temp engine paint. Eliminates all the welding and bending you have to do.

[filipnoy85]

Oh, ok. So being the spendthrift that I am, I should buy the EBAY brand, and avoid the hassle of a DIY. Thanks a lot guys.

[spooleffect]

Id just spend $90 on an APEX'i filter. It uses the factory box to intake manifold hose with an APEX'i filter on the end. APEX'i have the best quality filters as well. They filter and flow better than any other and they are dry cotton as well, so when you wash it out you don't need to apply any oil.

[GScivic7]

If you leave the rippled tube, you aren't getting much of a better flow than just having your intake box on there.

[spooleffect]

The stock air box and hose is not a piece of crap. It works just fine, if it sucked then would roger foo and oscar jackson use them on their scca civics? Jackson just uses a K&N, Im not sure what Foo uses in his airbox though. The stock air box has tons of advantages over a cai or short ram. The stock box grabs ambient air from outside the engine bay like a CAI but it has a short pipe length. The stock airbox filter will also last longer than an open filter because it isnt expose to any crap that might be flying around.

My point is not that CAI's and Short Rams suck, my point is that the stock box isn't a piece of useless shit like everyone thinks.

As for the Apex'i filter. APEX'i only offers the adapter and filter for small discplacment NA cars because they know that a small discplacement NA engine isnt gonna suck in enough air to warrant having a big 3" pipe.

All of my cars have had the stock box with a K&N because it works just fine. Of course is I made more than 250hp in my SAAB turbo THEN I would have switched to an open filter an large piping of course, but only then.