Hey everyone... thinking of adding a CAI.. heard some good stuff about the one from Secret Weapons... Any opinions out there? I am choosing between: AEM, SW, K&N, or other (if I forgot any) Please state why you chose the one you did and power gain ratings if possible / price $

thanks,
Michael

 

Did you forget the WeaponR?

 

SW = WeaponR Secret Weapon

You forgot Injen. Although the Injen and AEM aren't released yet.

Personally I'm going with the WeaponR after all the good things I've heard. The only bad things I've heard are from people who don't even own it.

 

^^AHHH!!^^ Didn't know that about the WeaponR. Sorry!

 

Yeah WeaponR I have been leaning towards also; it sounds well worth the money and the filter is cleanable / reusable correct? I was going to buy a TRD air filter but that has to be replaced as well and costs a good 45-50 bux. Knock that off the price of the CAI and it's not too bad... Guess I'll start saving up now

 

Why does Scion say you can't install these intakes?? I want one but don't want to void anything.. toyota has some BS support most of the time

 

personaly i'm waiting for the AEM just because it has the bypass valve

 

I'd imagine with Scion they wouldn't want you to buy other intakes 'cause they're in the mix with AEM creating an intake. Short ram generally don't need bypass valves because their placement under the hood makes it damn difficult to suck up water.

 

Just to let you know the Weapon R SW isn't a CAI (Cold Air Intake), meaning it doesn't get its air outside of the engine bay, unless you buy the cold air kit for it, but that still isn't really the same. That being said the Weapon R is a great Short Ram intake but shouldn’t really be compared to true CAI's. It seems like everyone really likes both of these intakes, so the choice is yours. Also, I'll be surprised if the AEM and Injen intakes perform that much better then the current K&N intake, seeing how all three are designed so much alike. Although I'm hoping that Injen and AEM come out with great intakes!

 

i went with K&N. easy to install for a cai, good gains, sounds great, sucks fresh air from the front rather than the air in the engine.
if you want you can install a bypass valve if you're worried about suckin in water.

 

A car in motion at about 25mph, will see about 1º of difference in intake temps between a CAI and a shortram. At rest, the difference is seldom more than about 10º. The advantage of the CAI is in the longer plenum length, and ability to tune the intake to respond better over a more broad powerband-- which in my mind is compoletely offset by the ability to ingest a motor-killing quantity of water.

And forget about bypass valves. The negate most gains. Any aftermarket intake will have higher peaks in power, but generally show losses at the bottom and midrange in the powerband.

Remember: it's a bolt-on. Don't expect more than 3-4hp from it on it's own, and that 3-4 will be at the peak. Leaving the OEM airbox/resonator alone and replacing the upper pipe with smooth, mandrel bent will show similar results with less likelihood of dips in the powerband. Been doing it in Hondas for years-- cars that need to preserve every ounce of torque that they can.