Tell me how good the CAI is...

i got ms cuz i dont want to deal with anything since im paking payments on 23k..id rather have some security with my dealer visits...but every does what they want and the individual dealer plays a big part....if they void s*** or if they hook u up cuz they like the car and like to see it running and whoopin up on other brands..
 
Injens had a lot of problems for the regular mazda 3. They threw cels and were prone to getting wet.
 
Here is why I went with the MS CAI:

239 whp and 280 wtq. That folks is on a Dynodynamics dyno and would show around 260 whp on a Dynojet. I have not seen any CPE CAI only numbers, they seem to want to include the CBE.
 

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chaos4 said:
Here is why I went with the MS CAI:

239 whp and 280 wtq. That folks is on a Dynodynamics dyno and would show around 260 whp on a Dynojet. I have not seen any CPE CAI only numbers, they seem to want to include the CBE.


Here is the dyno we got with our shop SPEED3. The car was stock save for the XCel intake:

speed_3_horsepower_lg.jpg


And Street Unit also independently tested our CAI:

2zpgv6


And for whatever its worth, getting consistent numbers out of the SPEED3 is almost impossible. Comparing dyno numbers from different kinds of dynos and cars and locations will only make your decision that much harder. For every dyno you show me where a CAI (I don't care what brand it is) made 25whp, I'll show you another one where the exact same CAI made zero horsepower on another car. Blame it on the e-throttle and this car's fickle behavior in varying weather conditions.

Anyway, it sounds like the OP made up her mind on which intake she's getting, but if anyone has any questions about ours, please feel free to ask and I'll be happy to answer the question if I can!


Jordan
 
I appreciate it. I guess I just want an intake that is reliable and good at this point. But Mazda is the way I was going. :) thanks
 
I have the MS CAI and I think its great. I kinda wonder how the CAI's get such different numbers hp/torque. I mean the all have the same shape and diameter. So shouldnt they flow the same amount of air? The only difference is the placement of the MAF. I think the Injen has it closer the the turbo inlet.
 
SAVAGE70 said:
I have the MS CAI and I think its great. I kinda wonder how the CAI's get such different numbers hp/torque. I mean the all have the same shape and diameter. So shouldnt they flow the same amount of air? The only difference is the placement of the MAF. I think the Injen has it closer the the turbo inlet.


That is good to know. :) Agreed.
 
meha11 said:
I have heard that K&N are the worst filters going, beleive they let in more small dust than any other filter.
Dust in engine = bad.

just my $0.02


LOL OMG YOU PEOPLE!!! SO what exactly did people do before AEM came out with their dry filter, STAY STOCK?????????? Thats my $100 bucks, keep the change....
 
SPEED305 said:
preach it player! i would go with the Injen too Speed3girl. They have a rep for giving not only excellent power, but excellent quality and fit.


And yes agreed man, thats why I bought mine and its great. OH AND MY DEALER THINKS ITS SEXY TOO (birthday) For all you warranty freaks
 
How cool will they think it is when you get a CEL for a MAF?

Remember to tell them you are buds and they thought it was cool that should get you some good leverage for warranty work.

The fact remains that you either save the $90 and roll the dice, have hook ups at a dealer that will turn their head, or be 110% covered by paying the extra $90 for the MS CAI.


PS I did run the K&N CAI on a supercharged Tacoma and it did let dirt in because time and time again I had to clean the MAF and have it replaced once. Thank God they over looked the CAI which clearly was the reason for the failure. Boosted cars are going to create a s*** load more suction and a oiled filter at some point will draw oil into the pipe and attract the dirt it lets buy.

Yes you can not be dumb and not over oil it but you tell me how you know you havent over done it by a tinny bit or not put enough on the filter. It was oiled by a machine and done perfect when first bought but you will at some point have to clean and oil that filter. It will be interesting to see what the outcome is going to be.

Plain and simple the best filter out there is the new DryFLow type and you know K&N will be on to this soon and make all their old type obsolete. Call it a great buy at $215 shipped all day long but I still dont see the quality and benefit vs cost over a better product that maintains the warranty with no questions asked.
 
voiceKoil said:
And yes agreed man, thats why I bought mine and its great. OH AND MY DEALER THINKS ITS SEXY TOO (birthday) For all you warranty freaks


Each dealer will be different. I have had both Injen (on our 2007 Si) and AEM before. I tend to lean towards AEM, but have had no problems with Injen either. I guess in the long run as long as I get a CAI I will be happy.
 
chaos4 said:
Here is why I went with the MS CAI:

239 whp and 280 wtq. That folks is on a Dynodynamics dyno and would show around 260 whp on a Dynojet. I have not seen any CPE CAI only numbers, they seem to want to include the CBE.
Im also on mnmazda.com Three of us had mazdaspeed3's. One member of ours with a Mazdaspeed CAI and a Turboxs race pipe put down 220whp and 267 wtq on a dyno dynamics. I had a CPE CAI only, I put down 222whp and 257wtq. The last member that ran was completely stock. He put down 213whp and 253wtq.

We had no fan blowing directly on the TMIC, only a fan blowing the radiator, hood open. They set up the dyno for accuracy with tuning, and did no correction factor. Also they explained their exhuast setup isnt the best and they are looking to upgrade. Basically put, he said the cars also read lower because there is less oxygen in their shop than they would like.
 
SAVAGE70 said:
I have the MS CAI and I think its great. I kinda wonder how the CAI's get such different numbers hp/torque. I mean the all have the same shape and diameter. So shouldnt they flow the same amount of air? The only difference is the placement of the MAF. I think the Injen has it closer the the turbo inlet.
If you knew anything about dynos you would know why that is. Each dyno is different. Even location matters. Some shops put in correction factors like crazy just to inflate numbers, some shops have bad dynos etc
 
Jesse MS3GT said:
Im also on mnmazda.com Three of us had mazdaspeed3's. One member of ours with a Mazdaspeed CAI and a Turboxs race pipe put down 220whp and 267 wtq on a dyno dynamics. I had a CPE CAI only, I put down 222whp and 257wtq. The last member that ran was completely stock. He put down 213whp and 253wtq.

We had no fan blowing directly on the TMIC, only a fan blowing the radiator, hood open. They set up the dyno for accuracy with tuning, and did no correction factor. Also they explained their exhuast setup isnt the best and they are looking to upgrade. Basically put, he said the cars also read lower because there is less oxygen in their shop than they would like.

Based on the figures you posted of these cars it looks to me as though the CAI's are able to produce about the same amount of horsepower on our cars. So in this case, it seems that the choice of CAI is really personal preference. One thing that's got me curious though is the car with the MS CAI is producing a bit more torque. Could this be because of the Turboxs race pipe???? If that's the case then that combo(not necessarily manufacture combo) seems to be the way to go in my opinion. It'd be really nice to see some tests of stock, CAI, CAI w/race pipe, and cat back on the same car, same dyno, same conditions to get a better feel and understanding of the potential performance gains.

Also, do you have the dyno runs for the three? I'd be interested in seeing the how the hp and torque curves look over the rpm range.

BTW, in your opinion how did the cars' exhaust note sound between race pipe and non race pipe?
 
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I don't understand one thing ladies and gents... A CAT BACK SYSTEM IMO, IS A WASTE OF MONEY. If you want to get some real hp and tq with cai, then you need to replace everything from the turbo back. There is so much talk about a cat system and this and that... Doesn't make any sense to me.
 
clos561 said:
yea when i get exhaust im not going to only buy the catback, also a downpipe from cp-e


Agreed. That is probably as far as I will go also. CAI, Exhaust, and DP. But again I hate to spend that kind of money.
 

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