Warm Air Intakes

Note: These are discussions from the previous thread that were transferred over. Feel free to start your own unique thread on this topic

Also note that most of this discussion revolves strictly around CAI, but the reference to WAI is relevant enough. You'll find some WAI talk under the current CAI thread that I have posted.

WAI's available:
- search aleroupgrades.com for WAI

Anyone installed a warm air intake???? I got one from RSM racing in Toronto a week ago, Took about half an hour to put it in, and so far i think it's great, Sounds good but not so sure how much performance it gives, however it feels like i gained a little power, How would this compare to the cold air intake???? i was going to get the civic one but changed my mind

a CAI will give you around a 9 hp gain over a WAI.

I just bought the Injen WAI today. =\

I HAVE THE CAI AND I THINK THE THROTTLE IS QUICKER NOT TO SURE ON THE WAI WEPONR SAYS THERE CAI GIVES YOU 15 MORE HP THAT THE ONE I WENT WITH SO FAR SO GOOD

what CAI do you have?

WAI = waste of $$

Does anyone have any scientific data to back this up? Has anyone taken actual temp readings?

for what you gain compared to price, it is a waste. I paid $175 for my old WAI and probably only gain 3-5 hp. My CAI was well worth the money.

WAI has an advantage of being easier to service... Also if you're handy with fabrication you can create a nice lil shield to shield the WAI away from the heat of the rest of the engine bay.

I want to see a dyno shoot out between a few of the more popular WAI and CAI out on the market just to see which ones perform the best for the 2.4L.

well APoC did a dyno comparision between his CAI and RSM WAI. His produced 9hp more than RSM.

I agree, and would not spend $$ on a WAI. I fabbed my own adaptor, and put a large K&N cone from my previous Turbo Talon. I've used the same filter on 3 cars now. Sure, if $$ was no object, I would spend $200+ on a CAI. I also fabbed my own heat shield.
I know that all cars are different, but someone performed an experiment on an Explorer -- using an open, cone-like filter in the engine bay. It was determined that the ambient temperature of the air entering the filter was only slightly hotter than the outside air temp at low idle or stop-n-go traffic.

with my CAI, you can tell you are getting cold air in because after driving, you can open the hood and it will be hot, but if you touch the tube for the intake, it is a LOT cooler!!! CAI is the way to go.

oh and BTW, total cost of mine was less than $50..

wow thats like EXACTLY what i'm trying to do... I got dryer tubing but I can't find a 2.5in dia rubber curve to come off of the tb... what did you use or where did you get it from?

mine is flexible stainless steel tubing used for exhaust repair...its 2.5" in diameter and the elbow i got is a 3" rubber elbow for plumbing, has to be modded to fit properly...heres what you ahve to do with the elbow.

ahh makes sense... yeah i've seen that flexable exhaust stuff before... i actually like that idea better... next question though... what did you do with the sensor?

also did you just put a breather filter on that hose from the intake manifold?

and did you have to remove the bumper to get out the lower resonator?? if not how did you get that out of the way to get the tubing through..?

you have to take the resonator out, you can do that w/o taking the bumper off, just has bolts

my sensor is down by the filter

no i didnt put a breather to the hose on the intake mani

That is a LONG-assed intake tube ander, notice any throttle lag? Must take some time for the air to travel all that distance... j/k..

I HAVE THE DRAGON INTAKE BY WEAPON R

nope, no lag!!! course i havent driven my car in 2-3months, so i might not remember!!! haha

i think it is a total of 4ft...maybe a little less.

dragon intake? is it made for the 2.4?

I like the fit and look of my ID and there is a noticeable difference. I statrted with the ID installed but as WAI, didn't go down in the fender, and i noticed a lag over the weapon R.

Induction Dynamics is being really slow at replying to my email. I emailed some questions to them 2 weeks ago and no reply. I guess I'll send another email, or maybe I'll just order the mantapart CAI instead.

normally ID is pretty goodwith responding. If you think they are slow just wait til you talk to mantapart.........lol

My couplings were special ordered and i waited 1 month for my intake. Not bad considering some of CAI waits there has been w/o special items.

huh? Mantapart has responded to me within 1 business day everytime I've emailed them, and I've emailed them 3 times already.

make sure to find out where their filter is placed. My weapon R i had came from them. So don't get conned into a WAI when you want CAI

Yeah, I'll only get mantaparts one if I can't get the ID one.

Hey, for anyone who got ID's CAI, how did you pay for it? Paypal? I usually prefer non elctronic methods of payment, but I can deal with it if need be.

i paypal ed the money. Most people have paid this way.

Kinda late here buuuuut

APOC has proved to be the biggest gain. Admittedly there may be some wait time . The ID would be my second choice, esp in CA, or try FDP for the APOC one from a canuck source http://www3.sympatico.ca/fjpeters/ you may (or may not) get a faster response from them. ID has always responded to me VERY quickly (even given my strange hours )

To switch gears....If you use paypal you have one level of security and If you pay with a CC you have an additional level of security. I am not sure of the laws in Canada but stateside this is about the safest way to conduct a transaction for a number of reasons. I know b/c I work in the CC industry and have friends that work for PP (in the despute dept)

Well ID finally emailed me back (they were extremely sorry for the delayed response) and I will be getting their intake for sure. They said they can accept Canadian cheques so I'm just going to go that route. I was going to drive up there, but the shipping cost from Ottawa to where I am in Ontario is so cheap its pointless.

Yeah, I'm quite confident in the safety of Paypal, but I don't like the idea of additional charges, plus I wouldn't doubt they would start sending me junkmail etc. Their privacy policy to too long to read.

well i made mine a cai from my previous RSM warm Air and i had no noticable difference... however... i used a piece of 3" pvc to 90 it into the scoop where the fog light is.... maybe thats slowing me down..... and i raced a GAGT also with a FDP and exhast just like mine and im faster....

i recently did my custon like AnderbrA did (pics on previous page). Definently happy with the results... and it only cost me like... $40?

where did you get the DRAGON INTAKE BY WEAPON R ?

I notice you installed the filter right behind the fog lamps...

You're not afraid of the filter taking water when it rains ?

look under COLDER IS BETTER in the 2.4 performance forum.

For those of you that have endeavoured to make a CAI for the 2.4L, I have a few questions. I was thinking of doing something similar to AnderbrA's CAI. I was at the autoparts store last night and found a cheap filter but it has a 3 inch intake. The question is has anyone tried to use/found a 3 inch flexible pipe and will it fit under the hood? I figure this would be easier than converting it from 3 inches to 2.5 inches to connect the flexible pipe. And the rubber 90 degree elbow is 3 inches anyways.

i did have the weapon-r wai waste of money
but i was not about to pay over $400 bucks for a cai
so my cheap ass went to rk sport and bought there intake
$205 looks real good! and boy does that intake suck the air in!!! i like it i feel a small difference easy to install nice polished tube big ole k&n filter iam happy until i get a bug up my ass and people statrt sayin dude!! stop being so cheap and go buy from induction dynamics
but right now iam happy <<see

o ya i got the best of both worlds. i have a AEM WAI and then i got a tube and cut out a hole where the fog lights go and i ran the tube from the hole to my air filter so i get some nice cool air :thumbsup: and i tought that WAI give you more torque becouse of the shorter pipe

So you "converted" your WAI into a CAI??

When it comes to air intakes, everywhere I look I hear nothing but complains/bashing/etc... of WAI's. I'd build my own but there's some fellow around here whose willing to (once he gets his poop in gear) make all the peg Alero's custom CAI's :thumbsup:

[b-spot]

yeah.. i know on cavi's with ecotecs though they found something like a 2 degree difference in temperature. Not even close to worth it if you ask me.

yeah.. i know on cavi's with ecotecs though they found something like a 2 degree difference in temperature. Not even close to worth it if you ask me.

Just for the WAI's?

[b-spot]

Originally posted by havik@Nov 28 2003, 12:16 PM

Just for the WAI's?

Nope,

it was just a couple degrees difference between a CAI and a WAI. I've popped my hood after driving hard for a bit, and the thing doesn't feel warm at all.

Oh ok, I was thinking you meant a couple of degrees different between the stock air intake and WAI.

i bet my ... riged air intake runs better than any CAI and i am almost postive that the shorter the pipe the more torque you get becouse the air doesn't have to travel as far proply gives you better responce time to. O ya i also don't have to worry about getting water in my intake which i hear is really easy with a CAI

Moderator EDIT: Removed offensive content

^^^^^let`s see some pics of your "riged air intake"

ok then

thats a gutor guard i put in the pipe to keep out any in coming poop such as rocks bugs sticks. then there the 3" hose that runs up to where that arrow points and the average temp here is like 30 degrees so its nice cold air

Originally posted by aleropimp1@Nov 29 2003, 06:24 PM
i bet my ... riged air intake runs better than any CAI and i am almost postive that the shorter the pipe the more torque you get becouse the air doesn't have to travel as far proply gives you better responce time to. O ya i also don't have to worry about getting water in my intake which i hear is really easy with a CAI

:huh?: First off, I find the term "... Rigged" quite offensive (if you are abbreviating the word that I think you are...)

Secondly, there is not that much difference between you stock air intake system and your "new/modified" system when it comes to length of pipe. If there was a way to prevent dirt, rocks, water etc... from gettin thru a filter, your best option would probably be coming straight to the wheel well, and relocating the battery. This would use the least amount of curves in the pipe, and thus increasing the amount of quick cool air airstream being delivered to the engine. Nevermind the fact that your intake will prolly take the "easiest to attain" surrounding air, and if not in motion, it will likely just pull the warmer air from the engine bay, as you havent sealed the pipe that leads from the front clip to the filter and enclosed it...

Thirdly, your intake is probably better off referred to as a Ram Air intake rather than a Cold Air Intake, as the use of forward motion to thrust more air, increasing with speed, is the same concept behind Ram air kits - Similiar to setups I have seen in the past on Buick GN's... There are kits (though im not sure if they are made for our cars) made by a company called Weapon R, where a lil box is mounted in the the front grill, and runs to the filter using hosing... Check out the pics - http://www.weapon-r.com/ramairpics.html -its a neat concept...

i also don't have to worry about getting water in my intake which i hear is really easy with a CAI

that's what a filter is for

btw, not a bad setup you have

[j{}n]

which would work better? the ram air thing or a cai? i heard somewhere that those ram-air things suck

I truly believe that a proper cai leading straight to the wheel well would work best, and provide the most consistent and significant gains between the two. The problem with ram air, is that your gains are rather low when starting from a stand still, yet improve only when you are moving...I dont have numbers or actual specs/stats to prove this but I think its a matter of simple dynamics...

plus the fact that the cai that I mentioned uses a straight pipe, and has less bends, means that there are less wind pockets or vortex's created in the intake pipe, and thus making airflow that much easier and faster...

:rolleyes: with all this talk about air intakes and you guys discussing which is better and for what reasons... you'd think it's a turbo kit or something.

Engine needs air. The colder the better. Shorter pipe the better. Less bends the better.

thanks, I guess I wanted to explain the points that you just mentioned...

Originally posted by Final-Reality@Dec 12 2003, 11:02 PM
Engine needs air. The colder the better. Shorter pipe the better. Less bends the better.

Case closed, we should post that up somewhere