cai -vs- wai

i know cold air is better than warm air, but what are some positives with the wai?
i know it has to be some.
or just give your opinions on ethier or.

[smokinAMD]

Warm is cheaper and easier to install. Thats about it. Cold gives you more power, and thats what matters.

I remember a throughtout discussion on this...must've been on the old site...oh well, lets start it again.

Pretty much agree with the statement above, CAI's provide better performance. (although don't expect too much more in some ocassions)

I'm with these guys, cai.

[sound_xtreme]

WAI's dont suck in water. guys with CAI's will try to tell you there's dont either. but i know where i live we get some pretty heavy rainsand mine sucked up water all the time. to the point where it would want to stall out.

I really think it depends on the design of both. If you have a CAI with a lot of piping and bends compared to a short piped WAI, than they will essentially be the same. Especially once the car is over 35 mph the underhood temps are almost equal to ambient outside temp.

[johny_boy32]

i got a wai and i can feel a gain...i can really squeel my tires now....I like but i will end of switching over to a cai sometime this spring.

[Pimpalero03]

cai

[Redog]

WAI: cheaper, easier to install, best power gain 5 to 8HP
CAI: More Expensive,More difficult to install, best power gain 10 to 15HP and you have to clean the filter more often.

CAI is a PIA but I think it's worth the money

[leroBob]

this topics been played out.....ny theres lots of info about this on GrandamGt.com
just go to search and type in CAI and u will get pages upon pages

[Fast Eddie]

Originally posted by sound_xtreme@Feb 23 2004, 03:23 AM
WAI's dont suck in water. guys with CAI's will try to tell you there's dont either. but i know where i live we get some pretty heavy rainsand mine sucked up water all the time. to the point where it would want to stall out.

hmmm I drove through a CO. winter snow after getting mine installed and last summer I drove through water that was almost upto the cone in chi. the flooded intersection of Interstate we drove through was on the weather channel the next day. Silent may remember that storm last summer, was like the worst in years and NP with my CAI.

Ill have to say WAI, i have had both on my car and i have noticed with the WAI i have gained more power through first and second gear. I also get lots of air in through my headlight and it doubles as a ram air, which mainly help me in 4th or 5th gear


For any questions or pics email me at NMGX1201@aol.com

[b-spot]

I live in Canada, the air is cold already. Plus I've never taken my car to the track. Basically the WAI will give you more low end, letting you bust of the line a little harder, and you will still feel the gains even when you aren't red lining it. If you want to drop your 1/4 mile times, get a CAI.

Oh yeah, both sound cool as hell too

your back?!?!?!?!?!!

omg it is teh bspawt!

[b-spot]

Yeah, montreal ran outta hoes so i came home

[Fast Eddie]

Originally posted by b-spot@Feb 26 2004, 05:44 PM
I live in Canada, the air is cold already. Plus I've never taken my car to the track. Basically the WAI will give you more low end, letting you bust of the line a little harder, and you will still feel the gains even when you aren't red lining it. If you want to drop your 1/4 mile times, get a CAI.

Oh yeah, both sound cool as hell too

true that but under hood temps are not usually too affected by ambient air temp. I find it odd that a WAI would give yo more low end, since usually longer runners give you more low end and a CAI would be longer and the WAI would be shorter.

WAI give you more airflow because of the shorter pipe..the filter is closer to the TB which, like I said, give you more airflow. More airflow will give you better low end (off the line power) CAI is ideal for those 60mph punches on the interstate..wow I had a WAI on my car..then switched to CAI and sucked in water 3 diff. times within 3 months so I switched back to WAI and i seriously hardly notice much of a difference. I do notice a LITTLE off the line response..its better w/ the WAI but seriously..I REALLY think if you have either..you're fine and just about equal.

Now, at the track or strip a CAI with the headlight removed would probably give you the BEST gain because that would be Ram Air and I could definitly agree the CAI would be better in that scenario. What someone needs to do next time they go to the track/strip is run 2-3 runs w/ a CAI...then take it off and put in a WAI and run 2-3 runs and see the difference (if any) in the times.

Originally posted by 1WhiteOSV@Apr 21 2004, 10:04 PM
WAI give you more airflow because of the shorter pipe..the filter is closer to the TB which, like I said, give you more airflow. More airflow will give you better low end (off the line power)

I'm not sure if you're trying to re-iterate what I've said many times or not, but that's not true. A WAI and a CAI with the same pipe width and filter will "flow" the same amount of air; a WAI won't flow more air just because the pipe is shorter.

The whole "issue" revolves around the fact that when you hit the throttle and the throttle body plate opens up, it sucks in air (durr). But with the longer pipe of the CAI, that air has to travel a farther distance from the filter into the throttle body. A WAI can deliver it's air from the filter, through the piping, and into the throttle body noticeably quicker than a CAI, thats why you get better lower end "response" with a WAI, because at idle the engine doesnt need much air, and when you punch it off idle the shorter piping of the WAI delivers air more quickly to the throttle body, but it does NOT deliver more power. Once the air velocity in the piping of both the WAI and CAI is moving, the CAI will provide a bit more power due to its cooler air. It gets HOT under the hood of a car and a CAI can really be beneficial especially on a cold day.

I'm so sick of these threads I want to shoot myself next time somebody asks this question or there's another mis-leading post about the subject.

I realize some people are bitter because they keep going swimming with their cars and their CAI's suck in water, and it's fine if you warn them of such issues, but there's no need to mis-represent the facts as if you're trying to "sell" them on the one that you're currently using.

Man, this topic debated once again. I'm not trying to sell you on any specific type of intake, but I have had both on my car. With the wai, there was better low end response (reason has already been discussed). I had this on my car when I was in Texas during the spring and summer of last year. It sounds better than the CAI, but I prefer the overall performance of the CAI. About the water issue, there is the possibility of getting water into either one. I checked out my filter after driving in the rain with the WAI and it was wet. If you all think the hood is perfectly sealed and it keeps the water out, you're mistaken. I've also checked the filter and inside the piping of my CAI after driving in the rain, and the filter was wet and there was water inside the piping that was down in the wheel well. However, no water made it past the 90 degree bend in the intake. I even buried the gas pedal a couple of times to see if it would suck water up any further and it would not. The reason for some of these guys' cars stalling out when the CAI filter gets wet is probably due to the filter being soaked and not letting air through, not because they suck water into their engines.

Originally posted by Final-Reality@Apr 22 2004, 03:28 AM
I realize some people are bitter because they keep going swimming with their cars and their CAI's suck in water, and it's fine if you warn them of such issues, but there's no need to mis-represent the facts as if you're trying to "sell" them on the one that you're currently using.

I live in Peoria, IL....where I live there is NEVER any flooding of any chance so it's impossible for me to go "swimming" with my car. ALL 3 times water got into my motor it was just a normal rainstorm. I really don't feel much of a difference going from WAI to CAI BACK to WAI...seriously. They're both fine. I just think $180 for a CAI vs. my $50 WAI there's DEFINITLY NOT $130 worth of noticable difference between the two!