I can make a Tornado give you 10 horsepower on the dyno. Dyno sheets aren't always gospel.

 

Look guys I dont know about the rest of you running CAI but I picked up some mid and top end and about 1pis on the boost with the ingen set up, my powerplant is basically stock

 

Did Dorrington ever get himself a WRX?...

 

i have a question for everyone. if cai dont do jack crap how come it leaned out my engine(and im not the only one saying this) and cause it to knock(after installing upipe, together w/ DP and catback). after i took it off, my car was fine. so, i think it's fair to say that cai does take in extra air. the only explanation i can think of is that the stock ecu setting couldnt cope w/ all the extra air(knocking,no noticable performance gain). if im right, then it is fair to say cai only works w/ a tuned ecu. if im wrong, please enlighten me

 

Unfortunately, your reasoning, although it may appear logical, is wrong in principle. The point is the CAI does not have any positive effect on performance. Knocking and uncontrolled mixture leaning are negative effects. The trouble is your reasoning is a bit backward. Leaner mixture is not due to more air in the system but rather to less fuel being supplied by the ECU. You see, most aftermarket CAIs are not properly designed and do not work with the stock air metering system. They are just not calibrated and cause false readings to be sent to the ECU. In reality the air metering system sees less air, the ECU thinks its running too rich for that amount of air and as a result, the ECU supplies less fuel and that causes the car to run lean. A CAI does not supply any more air into the system. The stock air box provides more than sufficient volume of air. The air box is not the biggest restriction even on moderately modified cars. Hope that helps!

Maniac

 

Or just spend that money toward something that will just have a positve effect,like an I.C. hose kit or a swaybar upgrade.

 

Basically after reading over Bansuvs posts i want to put back my stocker, CAI=waste of time and money

 

so would it be better to just drop in a K&N filter and call it a day or what

 

The STi paper filter is a good alternative, but they are spendy.

 

Aww man I just bought a cold air intake yesterday

Of course I have good reason

 

Hush you.

 

Since I just made a random post, let me clarify when it is okay to buy a cai. There are companies that made cai's that will work properly with the maf sensor and times when buying one makes sense(such as when your fmic does'nt fit with the stock intake) but for what you pay for one, even when you need it thier not worth the money.

 

reporting back as promised. Still no issues to report while running with the AEM CAI. I have continued researching and getting criticized and being told to take it off. However, I have still yet to get any real factual answers as to WHY. Recently, I've been told that it may lead to "slight lean conditions" which would not trigger a CEL or cause driveability issues but is "slowly killing my engine".

I was told that people have popped their pistons, fried rings, etc from running with a CAI even though they didn't get CELs or symptoms. I would love to hear a real life account of something like this because from what I've learned about engine management it seems like it would take a seriously poorly designed system to allow something like this too happen.

Furthermore, I've read several accounts of people getting horrible gas mileage which is alleviated by removing their CAI. This to me makes perfect sense because if the tubing is incorrectly shaped and causes erroneous readings from the MAF (computer thinks there's more air than there is) then the computer compensates by dumping extra fuel into the chamber. I'm pretty sure most systems are engineered with a "rich is better than lean" approach.

I'm still waiting for some real info instead of people just repeating what they've heard from the beginning of time. I'm not saying that there isn't a problem because I think there very well could be - but I'm not one to say oh all these guys say pull it off and just do it - I'm one to ask WHY.

Anyways, I am working on yanking it anyways because I don't want to hydrolock my engine after failing to notice a big puddle

 

What you are missing, and many people do, is the Death Combo is a CAI plus and MBC. When you combine the leaning nature of a CAI plus the PTFB from using a MBC w/o fuel compenssation, your car is very prone to go kaboom.

There are many first hand accounts on I-Club and NASIOC. If you read the engine and engine management forums regularly you will see them.

Just having a CAI may not cause kaboom,because really, an non-compensated PTFB is far more dangerous IMO. CAIs are not really terrible. But chances are you will run a little leaner without any benefit, and possibly with detriment, and certainly with a waste of money.

Why not just save the money and get something that will actually increase performce and do it in a proven safe manner?

jason