AEM CAI Vs a 3" generic short ram intake!

[Honda_Tengoku]

http://forums.hybridgarage.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=newbies&Number=87928&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=14&part=

ok all u non believers. Here is a little dyno comparing the AEM vs a generic ebay type of short ram intake. Obviously I know the AEM is a cold air but it the comparison is very impressive! The AEM made 8 hp, and 9 foot pounds of torque over the generic one! If that is not enough just look at the power curves! It kills it at almost every RPM. Still anyone a non believer about frequency tuning and AEM not being worth their money?

[Fatal070]

yup ... ill never buy a cold air ever again after 2 of my friends sucked up water and blew there motors wasn't even that bad out... o well short rams not that bad but yeah id get AEM ive always had before ...

[ebpda9]

i always stated that the aem is better :yes:

and fatal070 that's why aem makes bypass valves

[pdiggitydogg]

Im choppin my sri this summer, inserting it into my stock intake box, and then running piping to the fender well hole where the U tube would go

Bam - cheap ice box

[Fatal070]

bypass valve yeah... my friend had that... that didnt save his motor though u know the foam shizz well it wore i guess and that got in there too.. o well but AEM is the shit

[sohc_vtec 2NR]

AEM Short Ram represent... :thumbsup:

[94_AcCoRd_EX]

Originally posted by Fatal070
bypass valve yeah... my friend had that... that didnt save his motor though u know the foam shizz well it wore i guess and that got in there too.. o well but AEM is the shit

The first gen bypass valves were recalled. They could get sucked into the intake, so AEM sent out little plastic clips that prevented that from happening. Otherwise I can't see why that would have happened?

[pdiggitydogg]

where did the clips go and how do they prevent it from happening now?

[4drmadness]

very true on the AEM bypass recall....that is a great comparison. thanks for the info and link...

appreciate it.. especially for the non believers...:yes: ;)

AEM puts alot of testing/tuning and dynoing of thre products to make sure the best HP increase can come from the design......

[AzCivic]

i've driven through some big ass puddles during the monsoon season and have never had a problem.

[G-M-W]

Originally posted by sohc_vtec 2NR
AEM Short Ram represent... :thumbsup:

werd

[94_AcCoRd_EX]

Originally posted by pdiggitydogg
where did the clips go and how do they prevent it from happening now?

These "clips" are nylon C-rings that are the same size as the ID of the widest part. You bend them and clip them in. Supposedly the foam flaps that seal off the BPV could get sucked into the intake in certain situations, sticking in the TB, causing WOT problems. This combats that problem.

[pdiggitydogg]

wow...still doesnt sound that great
I'll stick with my sri/box

[ebpda9]

i never had any problems and drobe thru puddles knee deep without any damage to my engine.

[94_AcCoRd_EX]

Originally posted by pdiggitydogg
wow...still doesnt sound that great
I'll stick with my sri/box

I feel pretty confident that the BPV will work just fine now. Though I never put it in during the winter anymore...

[Honda_Tengoku]

screw the bypass valve. U dont need it. I was running a CAI the whole time I was down in Louisiana without a problem! It doesnt rain there it gets monsoon storms (basically). Anyone who blows their engine from puddles is an idiot. U have to submerge the entire filter in water to do it. The filter is still a good ways off the ground, even in a lowered car.

[AzCivic]

Originally posted by Honda_Tengoku
Anyone who blows their engine from puddles is an idiot.

:yes:

[silver]

that dyno looks like one from aem, can you check and see if that is an independant dyno?

also you stated yourself that it isn't a good comparison with the aem vs. the 3" due to the diameter of the generic one. but anyways i've seen gain differences of up 16hp between cai and sri intakes, but i'm still never buying another aem again, their quality blows.

[94_AcCoRd_EX]

Originally posted by silver
but i'm still never buying another aem again, their quality blows.

What was wrong with yours?

[ebpda9]

well on mine i had to rebend the pipe a bit and modify the inner fender to fit.

[Honda_Tengoku]

Originally posted by silver
that dyno looks like one from aem, can you check and see if that is an independant dyno?

also you stated yourself that it isn't a good comparison with the aem vs. the 3" due to the diameter of the generic one. but anyways i've seen gain differences of up 16hp between cai and sri intakes, but i'm still never buying another aem again, their quality blows.

it is an independant dyno. Its Mista Bone's car. He is a very reliable, honest person when it comes to Hondas. He also a real tuner and not some loser ricer. He is what we all call the D series Guru in the hybrid forums. As far as the intakes goes are saying that u have seen 16 horsepower at the wheels over a short ram? I have never seen a dyno where a CAI gains 16 WHP, even from stock! Thats unheard of. Even for AEM. The most I have ever heard of is 10 to 12 WHP over stock. Basically what this dyno proves is that it does take some good thought process to make power on an intake. U cant just throw anything together and make power. This is not a chevy! Products take engineering to make power. Every other knock off company just copies AEM intakes. Why? Cuz they are the best! As far as your quality issues, thats strange. Mine was very good quality. I have never heard of anyone having issues with the quality. U should try getting the iceman intake (they are horribly crafted). Ohh well to each his own.

[silver]

check the cai dynos for the k20a2...insane gains.

as for my aem exp. when i had my hatch i didn't use aem, i used injen and dc. then on my s14 i used japanese stuff. with my current car, spec-v, i figured i'd go with aem since i hadn't tried it yet. well i got their cai and it needed to be "modified" due to fitment issues. no prob really, that happens. then the bracket snapped one day. they sent me another, bam, snapped again. this is a recurring problem with their intake for my car, lots of other people have had the same problems. so during all this k&n uses my car to test fit their cai, so i drive around with it and the quality is off the chain compared to the aem, or all the other ones i've had before(it's also $150 than all the others retail). so anyways i then move out here to florida and decide to go sri as opposed to cai, so i get the aem sri. fitment is horrible, my filter has this instinctive urge to have sex with my battery, i'm on my 2nd sri and 5th filter. its just stupid. plus they fudge their dyno numbers, but so does everybody else so i'm not complaining. maybe it was just me though.

[Honda_Tengoku]

I wouldnt say they fudge their dyno numbers. There is some truth to them. As far as your bracket breaking on the CAI's, is one of your motor mounts busted???? It sounds like u have worn or broken motor mounts. The engine sounds as if it is moving way too much. Its strange u had fitment issues. I used a Del Sol DOHC VTEC cai on my 92 CX with my D16Z6 and even that fit perfect. The reason why I used that Is that I was going to get the B18B swap, but the guy screwed me. So I just had this paid intake sitting at my house for it, So I decided to use it on the D16Z6. I ran a best of 14.8 with just bolt ons, LSD, and Z rated street tires. Personally I dont know anyone that reaches this ET with my bolt ons so I figured it was making good power, and had no reason to change it to the proper one.


As far as the SRI intake having "sex" (that was funny) with your battery well. Again sounds like a motor mount issue. Anyways as far as the K and N CAI's, well I think they are just as good. As everone knows K and N builds the cone filter setup for AEM and most of the power gains are in the cone. Obviously K and N would have to make the correct size pipping, and length to get the tunning resonance correct for more gains. I dont have any dyno graphs to compare the two but I have always known K and N to make good quality stuff. That would be the only CAI setup I would ever buy besides the AEM. BTW Comptech's cold air box set up makes good power too. They make as good as power as the AEM but without the noise. The only reason I exclude it, is cuz u have to buy the box and their CAI piping for it and all that runs about twice as much as the AEM CAI. Too overpriced for me. So I dont even consider it. Besides I like the noise that a CAI makes at WOT.