Good point John. I recall Ken posting they were working on one. I've been watching to see if he posts anything further about this inlet. I've looked at the PG SRI which is only $150 and includes straighteners welded inside the MAF. I PM'd him for any dyno numbers but didn't get a reply. Probably a mute point anyway.
MSCAI, Injen CAI, or Cobb SRI?
- Thread starter guitarsoloist87
- Start date
Good point John. I recall Ken posting they were working on one. I've been watching to see if he posts anything further about this inlet. I've looked at the PG SRI which is only $150 and includes straighteners welded inside the MAF. I PM'd him for any dyno numbers but didn't get a reply. Probably a mute point anyway.
john blutarski
Member
- :
- 2004 Subaru WRX STI
^^^ yeah, you may be waiting a long time for that one... PG seems a little late to the party with each part which is a shame because their intake looks nice for the price. They're reacting to demand which is great for us... the more options the better.
With respect to the Cobb guys, I would suggest that there are other reasons besides the very important air straightener for a true CAI and the Mazdaspeed 2nd gen CAI in particular.
1. It is a true CAI. That means it takes its air from the outside of the car and not from the engine bay. That typically means colder air. Colder air means more oxygen molecules per unit of air volume, which has the potential to produce more power up to the point the ECU will permit this.
2. While this may not matter to some and could even be a negative, there is the issue of sound. The MS3 CAI is quiet -- just a very subtle whosh, barely noticable, especially if you have any exhaust mods. SRI's by nature are loud. With a good CAI, you do not hear the LOUD noise of the SRI. I have another vehicle with a K&N SRI (Armada 4x4) and under load it is very loud. If noise is your thing, go for it. If quiet power is more important, consider a good CAI.
3. The MS3 CAI can be run in either mode. If you want SRI, just hook up the filter to the short tube close to the MAF. If you want CAI, put the long tube in place for colder air and quieter sound. Best of both worlds.
4. There are dyno runs posted which do demonstrate that under some conditions CAI's do produce more power. I'm not aware of any comparison dyno pulls that show the SRI to be superior to a good CAI.
5. The MS3 CAI does have a shield over the filter which does a good job of keeping any road debris from hitting the filter.
6. Hydrolock risk is grossly exaggerated. One of my other vehicles is a heavily modded CJ5 Jeep used in high water off-roading including stream crossing. Although a K&N filter sits atop a Weber carb up high in the engine bay, this truck has gone under water. I mean over the top of the hood. When the filter gets saturated, it simply stops flowing air. The engine dies long before it has time to suck water into the cylinder head through the intake valves. In our cars, a CAI would have that long tube that the column of water would have to carry all the way up into the intake before there would be any chance for it to be sucked into the cylinder head. I would think it almost impossible for an engine with a clogged filter from water to continue to get enough air to push the water that far before the engine died from lack of air.
7. Contrary to the observations of some, it is very easy to remove the filter and clean it, should that be necessary. Access through the left front wheel well from below with the car up on jack stands is a piece of cake. You only have to remove some of the wheel well shields when you are installing the CAI, not when you are servicing the filter.
I'm not opposed to SRI's. I run one on the Armada, and have a very open K&N sitting directly on top of the Weber carb on my Jeep -- that's even more direct than a SRI. I do wish to point out that there are reasons one might want to consider the MS3 CAI for our cars.
1. It is a true CAI. That means it takes its air from the outside of the car and not from the engine bay. That typically means colder air. Colder air means more oxygen molecules per unit of air volume, which has the potential to produce more power up to the point the ECU will permit this.
2. While this may not matter to some and could even be a negative, there is the issue of sound. The MS3 CAI is quiet -- just a very subtle whosh, barely noticable, especially if you have any exhaust mods. SRI's by nature are loud. With a good CAI, you do not hear the LOUD noise of the SRI. I have another vehicle with a K&N SRI (Armada 4x4) and under load it is very loud. If noise is your thing, go for it. If quiet power is more important, consider a good CAI.
3. The MS3 CAI can be run in either mode. If you want SRI, just hook up the filter to the short tube close to the MAF. If you want CAI, put the long tube in place for colder air and quieter sound. Best of both worlds.
4. There are dyno runs posted which do demonstrate that under some conditions CAI's do produce more power. I'm not aware of any comparison dyno pulls that show the SRI to be superior to a good CAI.
5. The MS3 CAI does have a shield over the filter which does a good job of keeping any road debris from hitting the filter.
6. Hydrolock risk is grossly exaggerated. One of my other vehicles is a heavily modded CJ5 Jeep used in high water off-roading including stream crossing. Although a K&N filter sits atop a Weber carb up high in the engine bay, this truck has gone under water. I mean over the top of the hood. When the filter gets saturated, it simply stops flowing air. The engine dies long before it has time to suck water into the cylinder head through the intake valves. In our cars, a CAI would have that long tube that the column of water would have to carry all the way up into the intake before there would be any chance for it to be sucked into the cylinder head. I would think it almost impossible for an engine with a clogged filter from water to continue to get enough air to push the water that far before the engine died from lack of air.
7. Contrary to the observations of some, it is very easy to remove the filter and clean it, should that be necessary. Access through the left front wheel well from below with the car up on jack stands is a piece of cake. You only have to remove some of the wheel well shields when you are installing the CAI, not when you are servicing the filter.
I'm not opposed to SRI's. I run one on the Armada, and have a very open K&N sitting directly on top of the Weber carb on my Jeep -- that's even more direct than a SRI. I do wish to point out that there are reasons one might want to consider the MS3 CAI for our cars.
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im that speed pro ^^^^ lol i dunno silicone stays cooler so if the prices of them are close go with silicone cuz it will keep the air cooler and think on fully modded cars they move the maf infront of the mani and just have a funnel and they just make sure the intercooler does its job bueno its not an na so rules are slightly different but being from utah i say cobb lol i would do cobb injen pg cpe and mazdaspeed cuz is the price for the speed one worth the minimal gains that $$$ could go to getting rid of all the plastic pipes and a lighter hood lol(bike)
guitarsoloist87
Member
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- 2007 Mazdaspeed 3
I guess I'll just wait and see. Cars were so much easier when I had a del sol with a b16 and I just knew how to change my oil lol. When some amazing intake comes up I'll get it. Cobb doesn't seem like a big company to me but that's cause I live near to it. So it just comes off as that local good tuner shop. Not holy s*** amazing stuff lol. Oh well I give up maybe I'll buy food instead.
guitarsoloist87
Member
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- 2007 Mazdaspeed 3
Im not really concerned with sound much. As long as I can tell I'm actually driving a turbo'd car now.
guitarsoloist87
Member
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- 2007 Mazdaspeed 3
Well I ordered the mazdaspeed cold air. It's a little more money but...
Warranty should be fine
Actually made for my car
Can run short ram or cold!
Has aem dry flow already
Aem developed alongside =D
Anyone who complains that a cai is hard to install, the filter is hard to clean because its in the fender wall, or because its not as loud as a sri is an idiot. I feel like I'm always stuck around ricer kiddies who want the easy way to do everything, don't want to work on stuff themselves, and would rather sacrifice performance for aesthetics and sounds. "Man my bpv sounds cool not recirculating but my car is slow as hell now! Its awesome!" Or "I'm too lazy to install a cold air and pull some parts off to clean the filter so I'll just get a sri with hot temps and/or bad ltfts and because its cheaper too! Reminds me of my friend who has brand stickers all over his evo, doesn't know anything about it, likes to redline it cold start in the winter just so he can show off his bov, bought it with almost all the mods already on it, and calls his friends to work on it because he doesn't know how and doesn't even have the tools to do it. I'm done.
Warranty should be fine
Actually made for my car
Can run short ram or cold!
Has aem dry flow already
Aem developed alongside =D
Anyone who complains that a cai is hard to install, the filter is hard to clean because its in the fender wall, or because its not as loud as a sri is an idiot. I feel like I'm always stuck around ricer kiddies who want the easy way to do everything, don't want to work on stuff themselves, and would rather sacrifice performance for aesthetics and sounds. "Man my bpv sounds cool not recirculating but my car is slow as hell now! Its awesome!" Or "I'm too lazy to install a cold air and pull some parts off to clean the filter so I'll just get a sri with hot temps and/or bad ltfts and because its cheaper too! Reminds me of my friend who has brand stickers all over his evo, doesn't know anything about it, likes to redline it cold start in the winter just so he can show off his bov, bought it with almost all the mods already on it, and calls his friends to work on it because he doesn't know how and doesn't even have the tools to do it. I'm done.
Geez....
Congratulations on your purchase.
- Hard to install is a relative term. Hard for one person is easy for another.
- It is obviously easier to remove and therefore clean an SRI filter because of it's location. Is this a wise buying decision criteria? Perhaps.
- Any of the above is for idiots? Why so harsh bro?
On the one hand I understand your penchants for the stereotypical, ignorant, ricer fanboy with the stickers and thick skull, but on the other you're stepping on some toes being so critical of SRI products. They are designed and sold by engineers and business people with likely a lot more knowledge than you or me, not to mention many of the members of this forum.
You'll like what you bought, but the other products need not be shart upon.
Have a nice day
speed3driver
Member
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- 07' Mazdaspeed 3
I had the CP-E CAI installed for roughly 20,000 miles and loved it. The gains from a CAI are defiantly noticeable. I now am running a COBB SRI to make my AP happy and to tell you the truth there isn't really a substantial difference in the intakes. The only thing i've noticed, for my car at least, is that with the SRI the car starts to pull hard a little sooner in the power-band. On the other hand, once you get to 110-120mph and up the CAI will get to the 155-160 mark a little quicker.
Great choice with the Mazdaspeed CAI. Lots of good things have been said about it. Hope it works well for you.
Great choice with the Mazdaspeed CAI. Lots of good things have been said about it. Hope it works well for you.
M
my3needsaname
I told you to! I want one too but there's not enough money for it at the moment.
So for the street, generally the SRI setup seems like a better choice than CAI, yes? I mean how often on the street are you needing that extra grunt above 100mph compared to below that?
The dyno pulls for most of the SRI systems I've seen show more low end torque almost every time, so it stands to reason.
Looks like a pretty clear cut choice to me, but I'm just a noob.
speed3driver
Member
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- 07' Mazdaspeed 3
Yeah. For the most part I toy with other cars and play around in the city at under 100mph. Making the SRI better for me. But from my college back to my house is all straight backroads, so i get up to 150ish every once in a while too. Overall i'm happy with the SRI for my "street racing" haha. But i do miss that 120 to 155 pull the CAI gives you.
speed3driver
Member
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- 07' Mazdaspeed 3
Yeah i go to school in Allendale at GVSU. Between there and Holland is all open straights. I find a lot of people to race in Holland and Grand Rapids. Theres like 10 sti's and 4 evo's in holland not to mention the 10 million APR tuned VW's and Audi's.
SubieKiller3
Banned
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- 2008 black mica mazdaspeed mazda 3
in my opinion, a cai on this car is pointless. especially one that is $400 dollars. go with the cobb. you'll be happy with the cobb for sure.
^^^^ i have an injen cai on my msp and i run the ram air in the winter my friend has a gt mustang with different rear end gears k&n intake and clutch wen i run the ram air we are dead even but when i got the cold air part hooked up i pull right when i shift into third and thats only around 50-60ish i think so its not really 100+ cuz it depends on the motor the set up and a bunch of different variables plus cold air is more dense and can pack a more powerful punch i have felt a strone enough pull with my cold air that i chrip from 1st to third gear and on a cement road it can chirp when im just drivin and i step on it in 2nd without popping the clutch when the turbo is spooling and not to quote speed3driver cuz more people say it too... i just wanted to quote u lol
o and i might not know this car cuz i dont own it so it might be right with just the ram air rather than the cai get a hood with a vent/scoop and ram air for bueno results jefe lol i was bored so i threw in my opinions so dont hate lol (drinks)
It makes sense that the extra cold air flow from a good CAI compared to a SRI might not show up in first and second gear. That's because our ECU nanny will not let the throttle plates open up fully in the first two gears and holds horsepower and torque down to about 220 horses or so.
But yes, the posts here suggest that a good CAI will produce more power at WOT once the ECU lets the engine fully breathe.
Maybe most people will not go up to or above 100 very often. But I'll bet most of us do use the 60-80 mph range quite a bit.
