Air Intake?

[thewoahna]

Hello, I am the Owner of a 1990 Honda Accord. I was thinking about getting a "RAM AIR" type air intake. I know that the whole purpose of a new air intake is to get more power because more air is now able to enter the engine, but does that mean that I need a new muffler system to suit the increased amount of air comming out of the engine? Wouldnt it be an imbalance? Also, would it make my car sound a whole lot louder, or just a little bit?

Thank you for any insight!

[Marc-OS]

First, I would suggest going with AEM Cold Air Intake just because I've heard more good things about CAI than the short ram intakes. Second, you don't need a new exhaust to see an increase, but it would help. Also your car will be a bit louder, but nothing too bad.

[b16a3sol]

the intake is the best place to start in my opinion. it will help your engine out, but not enough to be noticed until you do get an exhaust on there. if you have the money for it, get the AEM cold air intake, or something similar to it. the short ram could end up hurting your performance in the end. if you can find an easy way of setting up a ram air intake that can be used constantly, then go for it, but a cold air intake would probably be a better choice. if you dont have too much money and just want the aesthetics of it, then find a cheap short ram intake, they are pretty much all the same.

[fritz_269]

I applaud you for thinking about balance - That's a great way to view an engine. Fortunately (or not) a new intake - even a ram air - will not give you that much more air. The balance will not be terribly upset.

Another note - ram air setups have to be very carefully designed to give you significant gains. There generally needs to be a large open plenum before the throttle body to give the incoming air a chance to calm down and smooth out. I haven't seen this feature on many off-the-shelf solutions.

Many of the 'cold-air' intakes have a good reputation (AEM, Iceman), you might want to look into one of those.

[thewoahna]

Thanks for all the help. I did end up ordering something off of Jcwhitney...

http://www.jcwhitney.com/product.jht...D=1732&BQ=jcw2

I hope that this was not a "stupid" choice on my part. I looked around and It was one of the cheaper Air Intakes I could find. So, in general, do I have to worry about anyhitng on my car being dammaged by installing this air intake? (This is the first think I have done to my car, everything else is stock!) Do I just install the intake and go? Is it going to (in the long run) hurt my car in any way?

Sorry, I do not have much car knowledge! Thanks for any help!!

[Veetec]

Originally posted by thewoahna
Thanks for all the help. I did end up ordering something off of Jcwhitney...

http://www.jcwhitney.com/product.jht...D=1732&BQ=jcw2

I hope that this was not a "stupid" choice on my part. I looked around and It was one of the cheaper Air Intakes I could find. So, in general, do I have to worry about anyhitng on my car being dammaged by installing this air intake? (This is the first think I have done to my car, everything else is stock!) Do I just install the intake and go? Is it going to (in the long run) hurt my car in any way?

Sorry, I do not have much car knowledge! Thanks for any help!!

No, it can´t damage anything on your car. I dunno if you have this in the states but I would buy some K&N filter-oil to help it clean out the dust better. And I would build a heat-shield to protect the filter from the hot engine air but I haven´t done anything like that yet. I´m sure anybody else can help you out with that!

[thewoahna]

I did end up getting some K&N Oil and cleaner. The Directions say to clean every 50,000 miles. Is that correct? That is a long time to go before cleaning? Also, Has anyone ever heard of the Make of intake that I got? APC? Are they any good?

Thanks!

[Someguy]

I'd be careful with the K&N oil. I used it on a similiar-to-K&N cotton filter and it didn't work out too well. The oil wasn't soaked into the filter instead it slowly worked its way out making a bit of mess. Later of course, I read the directions which said specifically NOT to oil the filter, so I ended up having to soak the filter for several times to get all the oil out.

SO, anyway, K&Ns can and do last that long with out cleaning, but be careful, read and follow the care directions.

[Veetec]

Originally posted by thewoahna
I did end up getting some K&N Oil and cleaner. The Directions say to clean every 50,000 miles. Is that correct? That is a long time to go before cleaning? Also, Has anyone ever heard of the Make of intake that I got? APC? Are they any good?

Thanks!

I would just clean it if it´s not red anymore!! 50.000 miles will be definetly too much IMO!

[Veetec]

Originally posted by Someguy
I'd be careful with the K&N oil. I used it on a similiar-to-K&N cotton filter and it didn't work out too well. The oil wasn't soaked into the filter instead it slowly worked its way out making a bit of mess. Later of course, I read the directions which said specifically NOT to oil the filter, so I ended up having to soak the filter for several times to get all the oil out.

SO, anyway, K&Ns can and do last that long with out cleaning, but be careful, read and follow the care directions.

1.) Don´t use filter oil when it´s not recommended by the producer! K&N recommends to use their oil...
2.) Of course the filter will last that long without cleaning it but without the oil the engine will suck in more dust and dirt. So maybe you´re engine won´t last that long...

[thewoahna]

Thanks for all your info, you have all been quite helpful! Has anyone heard of APC preformance parts? That is the brand intake that I did buy, did I get ripped off for $80?

Thanks!

[SilverY2KCivic]

Originally posted by thewoahna
Thanks for all your info, you have all been quite helpful! Has anyone heard of APC preformance parts? That is the brand intake that I did buy, did I get ripped off for $80?

Thanks!

Well maybe by $10 or so, but not terribly. I currently have the APC intake on my car right now, I love it, it's quite loud at wide ope throttle, yet quiet when crusing. I paid $53 for my intake, SHIPPED to me from JC Whitney, they normally sell it for $69.99 plush shipping costs, Pep Bous sells then for about $79, so you paid an average price for yours. I have various other APC parts on my car, and in general, they make quality stuff i think. Hope that helps you out.

[Veetec]

Originally posted by thewoahna
Thanks for all your info, you have all been quite helpful! Has anyone heard of APC preformance parts? That is the brand intake that I did buy, did I get ripped off for $80?

Thanks!

I´d recommend to build a heat-shield (out of alloy or anything like that) for the intake so that it doesn´t suck in the hot air of the engine-bay anymore.

[Predator]

Well the only thing wich are really giving u some more power is the AEM one- but if u just want sound then ure fine

[civicx_xracer]

IMO I think APC=A Piece of Crap Not to down what you bought...I mean I have a civic so I couldn't tell ya if you got a good price for it or not. As mentioned before it would prolly not be a good idea to use K&N filter cleaning on a non-K&N filter. I have K&N on mine and I clean it about every six months but I live in New Mexico. New Mexico=dust bowl