Short Ram vs. CAI

[fitbikes07]

Hi everyone, this is my first post here.. Just bought an 06 speed6 with 18k miles on it... completely stock.

I have no experience with newer engine set ups.. I had a 71 olds 442 (455ci engine, about 475hp) a few years ago and did many modifications myself, but these engines are obviously FAR more advanced..

I am just curious about the CAI vs. SRI horsepower differences.. I have seen some dynos that posted some pretty serious increases with CAI's, but have not come across many with SRI's. I live in Mass, so rain, inclement weather are a factor as this is a daily driver. Will the HP difference be all that different between the two? like greater than 5? I love how it sounds and it seems like it's the quickest and easiest hp boost for these cars

Also, i've noticed that some intakes have problems setting off the CEL.. i would prefer to stay away from that..

Any advice?

Also, I did search through this forum to see similar posts and did not see many that covered these concerns.. sorry if it's a repost.

Thanks,
-Dennis

 

[JaxJeff]

Welcome to the forum !

I have a a fujita cai now and it works well, If you do go cai I'd def get a hydro shield.

I do plan on getting a short ram shortly though. The difference in bringing in cold air is little difference. There is alot of heat under that hood my CAI actually gets so hot you can barley touch it sometimes.

Also with the cai , if you are lowered standing water can be a prob, I went through a large puddle once with mine and the car stalled out ..... I actually had to clear out my system B4 restarting ...found bout 1/4 cup of water in my throttle body.

Soooooo if you careful CAI is fine

Short answer ....I'd go with the cobb SRI

Enjoy the car ! Its fun

 

[crlsnlopes]

welcome to the forums. the hp difference is not great. but i would advise you to get the SRI since your from the bean. a couple of weeks ago some members of NEPOC went to a meet and someone that had a CAI hit a small puddle and his car trew a maf cel. plus the sri is easier to uninstall for dealer visits

 

[Blendercloud]

By going with a SRI you cut out the above problems that the previous users mentioned. To further illustrate what crlsnlopes said about uninstallation... with a CAI you have to remove the most difficult portion of the factory airbox to be able to install the CAI. With a SRI you can leave that pain in the ass piece in and it won't make a difference.

If you're worried about the condition of the air it's sucking in from under the hood, replace the intercooler with a bigger one by ETS or SU. Nearly all users I've talked to about their bigger intercoolers have testified that their engine bay temperatures dropped significantly. By the way, the intercooler is a pretty nice HP gain and is easy to install/uninstall.

 

[BoostedSpd6]

on the other hand ive never had a problem with my CAI..i did however put a piece of roof venting material inside the inner fender part where the vent holes are..the CAI filter sits right there behind those vents ,i noticed that it was moist to the touch one day and decided to make sure there were no more problems in the future, so i replaced the filter, put the piece of roof venting in and have never had a problem since.. since putting it all together ive driven to florida and back through tons of rain with no problems and have hit some puddles and it has never through a code, never did to begin with anyways..

 

[all4bspinnin]

i remember hearing about a study that topspeed did by comparing an APS cold air vs a K&N short ram on a subaru...

if some of you guys do not know, subaru's get pretty hot under the hood...

What they did was put on the k&N short ram intake, dyno the car and saw around 6-8 whp...

They put the APS cold air intake on the subaru, dyno the car and it made about 7-10whp

Only 3ish wheel from a cold air on the dyno... cold air's not worth it right? wrong!

They took the subaru out with short ram and did road tuning and logged the IAT's... They brought the car back in, switched out to the APS cold air and logged the IAT's while driving...

On average, once the car was moving down the road, hood was shut, etc... The IAT's (intake air temperature) was 20* cooler from the cold air intake than it was with the short ram...

So in conclusion, the difference wasnt apparent on the dyno but on the road, the cold air blew the short ram out of the water. COLD AIR INTAKE FTW!

 

[cpspeed6]

I'm torn between the 2. Where I live it rains a lot so the SRI would be the safer bet, but several people have told me that the SRI will suck in too much hot air for the car to perform well, and the CAI is the way to go.

 

[ms6acton]

i would have preferred to get the cai for the colder air. but went with the cobb sri cause its super easy to take off for dealer visits. im not tracking or racing the car so i figure the sri is still better then stock

and welcome to the forum

 

[cpspeed6]

hey ms3acton, do you think I'm asking for trouble by going with the CAI living out here in BC?

 

[ms6acton]

well u guys do get tonnes of rain. but i would just invest in a hydro shield and make sure not to be on the throttle when going thru deep puddles. the puddles have to be pretty deep to get into the intake.

when i had my speed3 i had a fujutia cai and never had a problem. cept from the dealer hassling me.

 

[cpspeed6]

We get deep puddles that's for sure. Maybe I'll get the CAI w/ hydroshield and the Cobb Short Ram for the rainy season.

 

[ms6acton]

that sounds like a good plan. look around on the forum for used cai/sri's u can get them for pretty good prices

 

[Blendercloud]

You can also look at the Corksport SRI and the Box they make for it. The box helps to isolate it from some of the engine bay heat.

 

[Dr. D]

one thing to remember... CAI is great for an NA car but you need to take into consideration the air routing of a turbo car which is as follows: Intake; Turbo (compressing air heat the s*** out of it HOT!!!); Intercooler (Cooling that hot air); then intake mani and engine... so the short version... intake-->HOTT!!!-->Cooler-->Enigine... SRI FTW! i went through 7 intakes before settling on one the cobb SRI right now but who knows how long this one will last.

 

[Afroman]

I agree with the above poster. In a turbo car any marginal difference in Air Intake Temperatures will be negated as soon as that air hits the compressor.

If you want to truely cool the air before it hits your cylinders then and intercooler upgrade is the best option. Increasing its effcientcy will give you the best reduction in air temperature in the cylinder.

 

[ms6z]

Cobb sri ftw

 

[Marauder.45]

I have the cpe Xcel cai, never stalled once from a puddle or anything for that matter.