So I know we have discussed to death about an intake sucking up water and hydrolocking and the such...but what about the opposite?

What are the potential issues to the engine of driving with an intake in the desert? How much harm will the dust sucked up do to the engine? Or will it not even suck up any dust, and this is a non-issue?

Is it safer to run a Cold Air Intake or a Short Ram Intake or Stock?

If stock is best, is there anyway to protect the CAI/SRI setup? I've heard someone say "put a sock over the cone" to help keep the dust out...any truth to that?

The filter should do pretty well on it's own, since that's what it's designed to do. But in an extreme case like desert conditions with lots of sand, I'd put a hydro shield over it. Everything I've read says that it rejects any particles/debris larger than .005" or something like that. It's also similar to the sock technique...just more advanced lol.

As long as you replace/clean the filter often, I am sure you will be fine with any intake

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm

Check the filtration section... then just ignore what I wrote and listen to our man from the middle east... :)

Actually, in a dusty/dirty environment, the bigger the filter the better. The issue you have, hydroshield or not, is stuff clogging the filter.

Cars designed for the Middle East have huge cone filters stock. I had a Tacoma with a 5" filter. It was crazy and I'd just take it off and shake out the dirt once a week. So here's what I'd suggest.

1. Biggest filter you can find
2. Go with a dry filter. Last thing you want is dirt turning into mud in your filter.
3. Go SRI so it's easier to get the filter off and clean it regularly.

If you live in a very dusty/sandy enviroment, I would stay away from the cotton gauze filters. The filtration rate on a cotton gauze filter is extremly poor. Point your filter towards the sun. IF you can see sun ray through the cotton gauze, dirt and sand with go through those voided pours. Here is some read for you guys and just a little FYI regarding filtration quality. Injen Technology actually use Amsoil filter media and the same filter media is used in the military in the M1 Abrams tanks. Here's a link:

http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/eaa.aspx

http://www.amsoil.com/video/company/EaFilters/index.aspx