I've been watching forum opinions for more than a year know on intakes for WRX, and still haven't came to a conclusion on whether a cold air intake is appopriate for replacement of the factory set-up. I have a few questions that seek for specific answers:

1) Does the addition of a cold air intake in conjunction with fine tuning yield more horsepower and torque or not?

2) If yes, which intake has proven to work better stand-alone, regardless of FMIC conversions?

3) Does anybody have the XS Engineering intake that claims to produce +13.9 hp? What do you think about it?

You can assume that there are exhaust improvements to enhance car performance as a whole, but please think of the above questions from intake perspective. Can a moderator help too?

Thanks a lot,

John

16 views and no answer. Imagine if hadn't brake it down into individual questions...

1) no
2) even though cai have failed to prove hp #'s, the APS cai has worked the best stand-alone or with a FMIC imho
3) no, i havne't even heard/seen anything about it. 13.9hp? i doubt it. somebody prove my wrong and i'll buy one!

hope this helps, let me know if you need further explanation, etc.

Thanks man. At least somebody bothered to answer.

John

John...

1. The answer to this question is no. You are going to want to stay away from cold air intakes. They do not address the MAF air flow sensor properly regardless of tuning. Even if there were no MAF issues it has been pruven that any power increase that would be accquired from getting air that is a couple degrees colder from the wheel well is negated by the extra distance the air has to travel through the intake pipe.

2. Short Ram intakes are the way to go if the address the MAF correctly, there are only two intakes which accomplish this, namely the Perrin and the Turbo XS.

3. This is extremely unlikely and contradicts virtually everything we know and have learned about intakes and their effect on the WRX, stock or not. A short ram in a stage IV vehicle recently picked up 5WHP on a VF30 equipped vehicle which has a much greater need for air flow than the stocker turbo. How much do you think it would gain in a similar situation?

I hope that I have answered all your questions. Sorry that I didn't see the thread sooner.

Cheers,

Garret
President
World One Performance
www.worldoneperformance.com

I have the XS Engineering CAI. It is a very nice piece of equipment. Good quality and easy install. As far as the 13.9 whp gain, I don't think it is quite that much without tuning. I have noticed gains though and I haven't had any problems with the engine or lights. Turbo magazine I believe were the ones to dyno the intake at 13.9 gains on a stock WRX.