lshadoff said:
It's not hype. A true CAI increases horsepower as measured on a dyno. The reason is that when there is uniform diameter tube, it becomes a tuned intake which has a ram effect at a series of rpms which depend on the length of the intake.
"Perhaps the most potent air intake is the JWT POP combined with the CAI or cold air intake by Place Racing. I have tested this combo and found up to an 8 hp gain with 3 more peak hp. This part is one of my bang for the buck recommendations." [
Mike Kojima]
Lew
A well tuned CAI perhaps. And I should have been clearer. Many CAIs will perform swimmingly on a dyno, and the manufacturer will put out dyno charts and what-not, but what the public is not told is that those big shiny tubes will experience heat soak and not perform as advirtised. Are some better than others? Sure and experience out in the real world will dictate which systems work and which do not, not all are better
per se. Home brew kits certainly are not very effective for the most part.
Funny thing about new cars, those engineers have designed stock systems that perform pretty well (albiet there is comprimise, the factory will add resonators to reduce noise), and thus the gains will be even less on an aftermarket system.
As much as I "poo-poo" CAI, they are the bread and butter of the company I work for, name the major brand and we sell it (AEM, K&N, Injen, etc).
This is what I mean by the hype. Personally I would not buy a CAI intake made of METAL that will heat up all that nice cold air its pulling from the ground (unless some provision was made to maintain the air cool through the tube).
A homebrew induction tube made of PVC is dangerous, it will get hot and the fumes are toxic.