Mazdaspeed CAI
- Thread starter Niko MS3
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scottie137
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Is it finally "approved" for the 09's as well?
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yes it is. you can pick one up at your local dealer or online
oh no im not out to get you. Just crazy how much mazda charges for these things. 400 bucks + 200 dollar install all for just a CAI.
you can install it yourself and still have it be under warranty the dealer doesnt have to do it
funksilver07
Member
- :
- 2007 Sunlight Silver Mazdaspeed 3 GT
What happened did you drive through a stream or something? (boom06) I've had several CAI's and plenty of heavy rain and NO HYDROLOCK...
Nope just a puddle, you see when its dark out and raining its sort of hard to tell how deep a puddle is (Its hard to know how deep even when its not dark out, etc.) It really wasn't all that deep I would say maybe 8-10 inches and thats all she wrote. This s*** can and does happen believe it or not and sense there really isn't any real performance increase over a SRI it's best do just go that route instead in my opinion. I got some friends with EVOS that got hydro locked as well. I'm just saying be carefull if you feel you need to go with a CAI for whatever reason.
funksilver07
Member
- :
- 2007 Sunlight Silver Mazdaspeed 3 GT
Yea I guess it is a bit tougher at night not seeing everything like in daylight. DAMN... that sucks.(boom02)
I have some difficulty accepting this statement. Not saying it's intended to be misleading, but it seems not consistent with the facts and may represent an underestimate of the water level involved.
Fact 1: The MSCAI's filter's bottom edge sits 9 inches above the pavement at its lowest point. This is a very large filter. The lower edge of the CAI intake pipe is 3 inches above that, 12 inches above the pavement.
Fact 2: The MSCAI's filter sits behind the left headlight and ahead of the left front tire. There is a fender liner between the wheelwell and the filter. That fender liner is sealed at the bottom and on all sides except for a series of horizontal vents that allow outside air to reach the filter.
Fact 3: Those vents are, at their lowest, 11 inches above the pavement, and 14 inches above the pavement at their highest.
I just checked my filter to see if it needed to be cleaned - it did not, so I thought I'd make a few measurements. (Incidentally, it's incredibly easy to access the filter, contrary to other statements here - turn wheel hard left, use shorty phillips head screwdriver to loosen the plastic fender liner - two metal bottom screws, two side plastic screws and peel the liner away, exposing the filter - maybe 3 minutes max).
Conclusion: 8-10 inches of water would not reach the lowest vent.
Water entering the lowest vent could get the bottom edge of the filter wet. That's not enough to cause hydrolock. It takes an almost completely saturated, water-soaked filter to produce hydrolock, and then it also takes a huge amount of engine vacuum (high rpm) to pull water up the entire intake tract, past the MAF. Typically, the engine will die from lack of oxygen before it can pull enough water to enter an intake valve.
That is because after the water column gets up past the MAF, it would then have to pass through the turbo inlet, through the compressor side of the turbo (water does not compress and this would stall the turbo), through the entire core of the intercooler and then, and only, then, finally into the intake manifold where it could enter the engine through an intake valve.
Hydrolock on this engine is possible, but it would take more like 14 inches of water, a sustained exposure to the water long enough to soak the filter, and then very high rpm to produce enough engine vacuum to get the water through the long, long track described above.
Those who think that CAI's do not work better than SRI's on this particular car, should dyno their SRI with the hood closed and the fan blowing through the radiator only (the way we drive our cars), rather than going for their numbers with the hood open.
I thought this thread was about Mazda making its CAI available again after getting it CARB certified, and not a new debate regarding SRI v. CAI.
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