Question regarding Intakes, Ebay vs. brand name

[LSiNtegraDB7]

I currently have a $60 Short Ram Intake on my 'teg. Its a "Spectre", bought it from Pep Boys. But I wanted to upgrade it, and get like a known brand like Injen or AEM. But then I was on ebay and noticed you can get a Cold Air Intake for about $70. Obviously its not a known brand or anything, but are they really that much different than the known brands? I would imagine they are made with the same materials, just the Injen is about $200 which makes me wonder. So my questions would be 1. Stay with Short Ram or get Cold? 2. Is it worth paying $200+ for Injen when you can pay $70 for ebay?

 

[hikirojev]

depends, you may end up getting a filter that ends up collapsing.

and if that happens just maybe you'll destroy the engine.(even a simple piece of dirt can destroy an engine).

plus depends on what your plans are for the car.

n/a or force induction.

if it's the latter, screw upgrading,lol.

only difference is cause the ebay one's may not be smog legal.

and if ain't smog legal well *cough* fix-it ticket,lol.

plus they may not have the small piping for the emissions.

plus that little thing may make your car run a little wrong on the a/f ratio.

cold air = more power (doubt it's noticeable), but will have to install a um, forgot what called, the by-pass part for the cold air intake(stops water from getting into engine), but well won't stop if submerged into water,lol.

and yeah, reason cost more is cause it's buying from a brand name( your just buying the name) and cause they already know how to design a air intake properly.

and cause filters are actually designed to get the dirt and allow good air flow(better then stock).

but the above only applies if staying n/a...well also on fi,lol...but if buy a turbo-kit the kit will eliminate your filter upgrade

 

[cabezzzdb8]

WAT!!!!!!!!:haha:

Cool story bro:clap:

 

[BigMac88]

WAT!!!!!!!!:haha:

Cool story bro:clap:

Lol!!!!


As long as you don't need to have CARB/Smog legal parts you can get whatever you want. An intake is a glorified piece of tubing with an air filter on it. It will gain you a few ponies but nothing major on it's own. You're 'real' N/A power gains will be seen from a good header/cams/exhaust combo with a decent tune. Now those are only bolt-ons. You can get WAAY more in-depth with an N/A build but those are the basic thing IMO.

And btw a cold air intake will yield more top-end power whereas a short ram will yield more mid-range power.

 

[hikirojev]

yeah, i have no real life experience, just talking off the books.

a ebay filter a guy bought for his miata(turbo build) ended up collapsing.

someone who had a mustang ran his car without a filter and someone threw a bolt in the inlet, and well, you know damage his engine.(he drag races, seems someone put bolt in when he had car on display)

but the dirt thing is just from engine rebuilding class, told to keep any dirt away from engine cause that speck of dirt or whatever may damage a part from the engine.

but like said never experience it first hand so can't really say.

 

[LSiNtegraDB7]

Thanks for the responses. They helped out alot

 

[DailyDB8]

or look up DIY homemade icebox.

 

[TegSox]

yeah, i have no real life experience, just talking off the books.

Your reading the wrong books.
An Ebay filter collapsed, I don't doubt it.
A grain of dirt won't destroy an engine. It can scar the cylinder walls up but it's not gonna kill an engine. A bolt will most definitley kill an engine!
If a CAI is your first mod on your car, the power difference will definitley be noticeable.

Ebay intakes typically have poor fitment, cheap hardware and/or come with a cheap filter. The #1 thing you do not want to skimp on is the filter. K&N make arguabley the best aftermarket filter you can buy. I know AEM uses K&N filters with their intakes, perhaps others do too.
Any respectable brand name intake will also have quality mounting hardware so the intake/filter isn't rubbing up against your ABS lines, AC lines or the body itself. Some Ebay intakes come with no mounting hardware whatsoever, and the shit is just laying there like a dead fish flopping around and rubbing up against everything it can reach.
And most brand name intakes come with a C.A.R.B. sticker so your cool with the Law at inspection time or if you get pulled over and they wanna pop your hood.

 

[LSiNtegraDB7]

I was looking into either this or this. And yeah, I was going to replace the filter with a good brand. The picture they have on the item page is the intake on a B18B, which is what I have. It seems to me it would fit in there nicely, and I'm pretty sure it comes with hardware, if not I probably have some laying around or can buy it. Sadly neither have a CARB sticker. Im leaning towards the first link though. What do you think?

 

[mikexmayhem]

I was looking into either this or this. And yeah, I was going to replace the filter with a good brand. The picture they have on the item page is the intake on a B18B, which is what I have. It seems to me it would fit in there nicely, and I'm pretty sure it comes with hardware, if not I probably have some laying around or can buy it. Sadly neither have a CARB sticker. Im leaning towards the first link though. What do you think?

i think getting an intake from ebay is a great idea. but dont use their filter. they're worthless. i bought one on ebay and just put a k&n filter on. a tube is a tube. but the filter makes the real difference

 

[Anthony90]

Dont mean to be rude but SEARCH...this topic has been covered thousands of times.