Whats the difference between a cold air intake and a short ram intake?

[FenixDown]

Whats the difference and which is better?

[CivicSpoon]

The cold air usually goes into the wheel well area, where it gets more direct air. The short ram is all in the engine bay, where it has to battle with the heat made from the engine. There is quite a debate on which is better. Try doing a search on it, I know there's at least one long ass thread that gets very detailed about the differences.

[RaceMyGhost]

the cold air intake sucks in more cold air, cold air is dense which means you are getting more air molecules into your cylinder which ='s to more hp

[eclipser2001]

yea i think cai's are better b/c it gets air from below the car. another option is to gat a short ram with a cf hood/scoop that redirects air from outside to the intake box area. i saw it on tv somewhere so it might be hard to find.

[CivicSpoon]

Well the best hands down is the cold air boxes. It uses a short ram and a box that covers the filter and has a pipe connected to the outside. So it's the best of both worlds (CAI and SRI).

[slow_99integra]

cold air intakes without a bypass valve are prone to sucking in water. cold air intakes are great on stock engines and short ram are great with jackson racing superchargers or larger throttle bodies. the engine does not have to pull air in as hard. Cold air box hands down

[superbluecivicsi]

search.

[knorwj]

ok here's the deal. Both intakes make abotu the same HP but they make it at different areas in the powerband.

A SRI is obviously shorter and usually a more direct flow to the intake manifold therfore it gets a faster intake velocity and can suck just as much air as a CAI however because the air is warmer it doesn't really suck more air till the upper RPM range therefore allowing a SRI to make better upper rpm paower than a CAI.

However a CAI sucks cold air (obviously right) so it is getting a large intake volume right off the bat but due to longer amounts of pipe and more bends it doesn't have the same intake velocity. so down low and midrange is where to expect alot of gains from this type of intake.


So to sum that up

CAI= more air but slower to suck
SRI= less air but faster to suck it


Which means they both get about the same amout of air but because of the how they get it and the temp of the air they are getting they make power in different parts of the powerband.



So as said above a cold air box such as comptech's ice box or whatever it is called is pretty much the best of both worlds; the air flow of a SRI and the cold air charge of a CAI, allowing your engine to make good power throughout the powerband.

[CASHJON]

the difference between the two is this....cold -air adds more horsepower and less torque....short ram adds less horsepower and more torque. thats what you need to know

[V T E C H]

They have shown at high speeds they are almost idetical, because the air in the engine bay is moving through the car so the heat is escapeing. But thats just what i read in a Sport Compact CAr i belive.

[knorwj]

Originally Posted by CASHJON

the difference between the two is this....cold -air adds more horsepower and less torque....short ram adds less horsepower and more torque. thats what you need to know

actully its opposite that. SRI is all topend hp. CAI is mostly low to midrange hp and torque.

[honda_racing101]

Yeha CAI is better but ne ways, have you guys seen the cold air intake with the box that you put dry ice in?! lol its in the back of the new sport compact car magazine...looks crazy..i wonder if it would actually work..

[FenixDown]

So to use that icebox thing I need to get an intake from comptech as well, right?

Also, does it really matter what brand I get becaue they pretty much all say "THIS IS THE BEST INTAKE ON THE MARKET, BLAH BLAH BLAH!!"

[almxdupintegra]

SRI low end
CAI top end

An intake is an intake! Depend which restricts heat better I guess.

[tegL]

Actually...
SRI is top range
CAI is low to mid range

Short ram is way easier to install, can not hydrolock, is cheaper, provides power in the upper rpms which is when you would want it most when you are drag racing. Considering all the benefits of a short ram that i just listed, its not really worth the extra 1whp that a CAI would give you in the lower ranges.