CAI -vs- Short Ram

[Knice]

New to the scene and still learning so be nice...What is the difference between a regular cold air intake system and a short ram intake system? What is your preference? Thanks for the help.

 

[TeggyBear_Ls]

short ram intakes are, well short lol. the piping is shorter, normally the price is cheaper, it gets typically hotter air since the intake air filter is close to everything else in the engine bay

the CAI brings in colder air from outside the engine bay, and colder air is better for making power, so in my opinion a CAI is the better choice, i've always normally run CAI's on my cars, SRI's are cool for noise.

 

[Samurai_Blue]

CAI tends to suck up water if you go through a puddle, or if what not, the SRI doesnt

The best hybrid is the CT Engineering ice box with a SRI or the AEM V2

 

[TeggyBear_Ls]

CAI tends to suck up water if you go through a puddle, or if what not, the SRI doesnt

true, you can always use one of those AEM bypass things

what I do actually is, i've buit my own intake out of misc piping i have around and I can switch it from a SRI to a CAI pretty quickly, so when I know it's going to rain I swap it back to a SRI.

 

[Merlins Beard]

some CAIs you find will come in two pieces, therefore allowing you to switch between an SRI and CAI. the CAI i have is one solid piece and i am thinking about cutting and using a coupling (found at autoparts stores for about $7) to hold the two together. both intakes will make a pretty awesome sound.
in order for the intake to suck up a large amount of water and create hydrolock, it must be almost completly submerged in water, however if you are worried about it there are bypass valves which are installed on a CAI around where the filter on a SRI would be, and will open if the intake starts to suck up something that is not air (for example: water) and saves your engine

 

[squarehead]

Ok, I have been around performance cars for the last 24-odd years, and "cold air intakes" have been used for a LONG time. My background in the last 15 years is the VW and Audi scene, and have owned many cars with intakes in the fender, under the front of the engine compartment, and short systems inside the engine compartment. The short ones should be called "hot air intakes" because that's really what they do. The advantage in my book is how easily they are to access for filter cleaning and maintenance. The long CAI in the fenders and elsewhere are harder to get to for routine maintenance.

My question to you guys is, have you EVER seen or had intimate knowledge of ANYONE ingesting enough water through a CAI to harm their engine?

I haven't seen or heard of one single occurrence in 15 years of playing with sport compact cars. Personally, I think it is more urban myth than anything else. Guys changing their intakes out when it rains makes me laugh out loud. Really, aren't there better things to worry about?




doug

 

[FirstTegg]

true, you can always use one of those AEM bypass things

what I do actually is, i've buit my own intake out of misc piping i have around and I can switch it from a SRI to a CAI pretty quickly, so when I know it's going to rain I swap it back to a SRI.

Yeah thats a hgood idea bro, its definitely worth the money too, my friend had a cai on his 97 accord and this was like 4 yrs just not thinkin about it at all was going through the rain and everything and ended up water logging the engine and was completely worthless after that, always have a bypass! and even then i still would take it of on rainy days and put a short in

 

[MxDon35]

Since you said you are new and may not know, there's a search bar at the top of the page. I only point this out because I think I've seen a few threads about this with really good information, so you may want to check them out. Best of luck man!

 

[Cripton805]

Easy

Short Ram - High End Power
Cold Air - Low End

If I we're building, I would want as much air as possible.
Short Ram 100% and if it was crazy built... ITB's
GSR = High End Power
LS = Low end

 

[jznsn2u]

Ice box.