Is the cool air intake worth it? Has anyone actually compared Xbs with and without the intake? I am thinking about buying the Xb with a manual transmision and want to know if I should add the intake.

some of the aftermarket ones really make a difference. I have the SPFR one in mine, and I love it.

you should be able to find an intake cheaper then what the dealer sales it for. injen always makes nice products. you also can't expect a 20 hp gain from an engine that puts out 108 to the crank.

i got the injen cold air intake and i got a automatic and i felt alot of difference. It picks up more on the 2nd gear. Helps the scion alot when going up hills.

CAI's can cause engine damage during the rain. You should keep that in mind also. I have heard a couple of stories of people ruining their cars because of water.

now is this only for the ones that run the longer version vs the short style?

The only way you are going to get water in your engine is if you drive in water that is about waist high....and if you do that...well...i don't think i have to tell you, but, you're lookin at alot more damage than just water in your engine....LIKE THE WHOLE INTERIOR UNDER WATER!....just not possible, and YES, it does increase the power of the car dramatically...i bought mine without the intake and added it later...good sound...good power. :wink:

yeah thats a good point! an interior replacement could easily total your car however the cost of purchase and install of a brand new crate motor won't.

CAI's can cause engine damage during the rain. You should keep that in mind also. I have heard a couple of stories of people ruining their cars because of water.

I've heard stories of this, but never encountered anyone who has actually experienced a hydraulic lock-up. Back in the Olde Dayes we used to pour water (or diesel fuel, or Rislone) into the intake with the engine running to "de-carbonize" the engine. You would hold the throttle open and pour water into the intake, regulating the engine speed with how fast you poured. My feeling is that this procedure passed water through the engine at a higher rate than it could ever be sustained by rainfall hitting an air filter.

Theory 1: Somebody actually ran their car into 2 feet of water and managed to hydro-lock their engine. Kind of hard to blame the intake when you put the filter in the water!

Theory 2: The CAI runs horizontally, then loops upward to the throttle body. It might be possible that water droplets could accumulate in the lower bend of the cold air intake until the tube in very nearly filled, then get inhaled in one "slug" to harm the engine.

It seems to me that with the ample under-hood room of an xB, you could run a CAI that loops downward rather than upward. You could get plenty of cold air by making the non-functional upper grille functional! This would get the filter up away from the ground as well.

George

yeah ive heard stories too but i don't know anyone whos experienced hydrolock from a cai. does anybody else on this(very connected) board know anyone?

altough here in vegas. floods are about the only disaster we get! and i know of plenty of people who move here from california and somehow think their cars can "make it". they have the hydrolock issue.

http://www.ccrfcd.org/floodimages-20030819.htm

check out the one with the fire truck. i friend of mine is assigned to that engine but she just ended up taking three hours off that day for an appoinment. and of course while she was off the whole flood melee happened.

i had a cold air intake on my CR-V(which isn't that low).
it started sucking up water and the engine stalled a ton of times..
in the rain.. i had to crank it over and over and when it did start..
it sounding like it was GARGLING WATER! lol..
well i rev'ed the crap outta it and th en it worked ok..
now im running a shortram.. it was raining the other day(last week).
i drove along the sidewalk curb and there's water.. my car(with the short ram)
started to do it again. so i dunno? my car sucks up water pretty easily.. thank god
not enuff to flood it

yeah ive heard stories too but i don't know anyone whos experienced hydrolock from a cai. does anybody else on this(very connected) board know anyone?

altough here in vegas. floods are about the only disaster we get! and i know of plenty of people who move here from california and somehow think their cars can "make it". they have the hydrolock issue.

http://www.ccrfcd.org/floodimages-20030819.htm

check out the one with the fire truck. i friend of mine is assigned to that engine but she just ended up taking three hours off that day for an appoinment. and of course while she was off the whole flood melee happened.

I find it interesting that the first picture's caption talks about how dangerous it is for the bus to cross the flooded street, but note that it wasn't the bus, but the fire truck that didn't make it!

I lived in Tucson for a while and the flash flood potential there was also quite high. The stupidity level of drivers was about the same, and not because they were from california. Even the locals would attempt to cross the washes because they had a big tough SUV.

A Scion would be scary in any water more than an inch or two deep. I'd be scared of ripping the skirts right off!

George

yes it defenetly makes a difference.

okay, the C.A.I. does increase power. Now, which one should I buy and how much can I expect to pay? I was also considering installing a hood scoop. The scoop , for me is cosmetic but after reading about the water horor stories im stating to think it might not be a good thing when used in conjunction with a C.A.I.

George, your awesome, I lived south of tucson in douglas. I remember that trick, with the tranny fluid telling my buddy to hold at 3000 rpm while I poured it down my quadajet on my 396 Nova SS.

Flash floods were problem there. My friends and I would have mini-mudbogs after the floods ( no, not with my nova). we never hydolocked a engine, burnt out some starter. We where a bunch retards but we had fun.

Now when I was at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina,Yes home of the 82ndChairborne( don't anyone get mad, I was airborne all the way) The young soldier there would go out and buy fourwheels drive and with no experiance, they would go swamp running. Some of those guys would lock up engines have 1/4 inch of waterin the combustion chamber. In can happen. it would take something extreme. Bill Turner

okay, the C.A.I. does increase power. Now, which one should I buy and how much can I expect to pay? I was also considering installing a hood scoop. The scoop , for me is cosmetic but after reading about the water horor stories im stating to think it might not be a good thing when used in conjunction with a C.A.I.

Don't get a hood scoop, just put a hole through the stock "grille" for your air intake. The stock upper grill is actually a solid piece (there's no radiator behind it) so it is the ideal location for an air intake. You'll get better pressure recovery from the grill location than you would from a hood scoop, which would probably be good for another 1/10 hp or so!

George

It doesn't look like you would run into any water troubles with the Injen, since it doesn't dip down at all but runs straight across right under the headlight...

...on another note I've never been fond of aluminum intakes since the are great conducters of heat and get really hot... I like to lean towards products like the Comptech Icebox, and the Iceman Intake... but that's just my personal preference...

Well I am partial to AEM considering that they have a bypass valve. Not to mention that the valve will work with any aftermarket intake (even though AEM says you can't).

i'd look into the SPFR intake, Jon has by far put the most time into developing and testing his intake, and he's got dyno results of around 4whp - that's 4 horses to the ground here it counts! plus his intake *resists* heat and electrostatic buildup, unlike the AEM which is made out of metal and gets hot to the touch... ask yourself how much cold air is getting to your motor, when your intake pipe is to hot to touch?

Just shop around and don't believe the hype, do your research and you'llyou'll see who's selling the best stuff for the best prices, and who's selling over hyped marketing.

Brian

On my civic hatchback I use an Injen CAI. Noticable difference in power. I think Injen makes a quality product, and it looks really good polished. There is a threat of getting water in the CAI and hydrolocking your motor, but it usually would not happen in the shortram type. Alot of intake companies who made the longer intakes that ran down near the bottom of the engine bay actually started selling an inline valve that wento n the intake and would actually open if water got in therefore eliminating the chance of hydrolock. I forgot who made this item, but one company offered an front mount intake which looked like an intercooler and they actually made a cover for it so when it rained you wouldnt hydrolock. The grille is an ideal place to route an intake, if you have te skills to do a good job on it and have access to quality materials that wont interupt the flow of the air entering the intake i.e. mandrel bent tubing. Although this would increase chance of hydrolock due to the car sitting out in the rain and water runing down the hood and over the grille, where water sometimes collects. To prevent water from entering the intake when routed in the grille it would have to be cut at an angle so that the lower portion would not sit flusk with grille. Unless someone could think of some sort of filter. I think this rambling has gone on for too long. Laterz.

that's the BY PASS VALVE.. from AEm

Hey guys, keep in mind that there is a reason that large companies like Injen and AEM are still in business and will continue to be for a long, long, time. Countless hours, days, and weeks are spent developing an intake and they will not and refuse to release a product that will cause serious problems in rainy situations.

If you let yourself drive in water that is knee high (enough to reach the filter), you've been asking for a lot more trouble that just hydro-locking the engine.

On another note, polished intakes to have a tendancy to heat up quicker than a plastic one. BUT... it also does not hold heat like a plastic intake. With the amount of cold air entering the filter, the polished piping will cool down much, much quicker than the plastic. Metal dissapates heat much more effectively than plastic and it looks much better to have a shiny polished intake than a colored piece of plastic.

Just keep in mind, when Plastic intakes get hot... They stay HOT!!!

-Steve

NOT SO! THE PLASTIC THAT IS USED IN THIS DESIGN REJECTS HEAT NOT CONDUCT IT!!!!!!! YOU CAN ASKED ANY OF THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE THE SYSTEM ON THE CARS WILL TELL YOU THAT IT DOES NOT GET HOT, LIKE THE METAL ONES... MY CAR WAS DRIVEN ACROSS THE US FOR 28 HOURS NONE STOPPED AND THE PIPE WAS NOT EVEN WARM WHEN WE HAD RETURNED BACK TO CALI....

Whatever happened to ICE MAN intakes? Havent heard from them in a while.

Anyways, i could be wrong, but from my understanding a metal pipe will get warm, but it really doesnt matter too much because the velocity of the air will reach the throttle body before it heats up.

I do agree with bBist, AEM and INJEN have done their share of R&D so i doubt either company will make a product that will not work. Whether it composite or metal, they will both work well. I doubt you will ever feel the 1 or 2 hp you lose or gain from either material. If anything the bypass valve will loose more HPs then the material.

NOT SO! THE PLASTIC THAT IS USED IN THIS DESIGN REJECTS HEAT NOT CONDUCT IT!!!!!!! YOU CAN ASKED ANY OF THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE THE SYSTEM ON THE CARS WILL TELL YOU THAT IT DOES NOT GET HOT, LIKE THE METAL ONES... MY CAR WAS DRIVEN ACROSS THE US FOR 28 HOURS NONE STOPPED AND THE PIPE WAS NOT EVEN WARM WHEN WE HAD RETURNED BACK TO CALI....

You're arguing over trivia. The air spends so little time in the intake that it cannot pick up or lose much energy there. The temperature of the intake will be the temperature of the air passing through it. If the air is hot, the intake will be hot. If the air is cold, the intake will be cold. The material of the intake doesn't make any difference.

George

I've got my SCION PANT Parts & accessory News Today bulletin in front of me...
skipping the BS and going to the features section:

Patented AEM Air Bypass Valve

Eliminates the chance of hydro-lock in the unlikely event the filter on the Cold Air Intake system becomes submerged in water.
Valve shuts down induction at the filter when it becomes submerged, rerouting air through its internal diaphragm to keep water out and air flowing in.

And the only cars I've seen hydro-locked were cars from the Allison flood, and my friend's Prelude (also with an AEM intake) that he hydroplaned & flipped into a 12 foot, water-filled ditch.

Search google. There is a formula that states XXX colder denser air = + XXXX hp.

NOT SO! THE PLASTIC THAT IS USED IN THIS DESIGN REJECTS HEAT NOT CONDUCT IT!!!!!!! YOU CAN ASKED ANY OF THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE THE SYSTEM ON THE CARS WILL TELL YOU THAT IT DOES NOT GET HOT, LIKE THE METAL ONES... MY CAR WAS DRIVEN ACROSS THE US FOR 28 HOURS NONE STOPPED AND THE PIPE WAS NOT EVEN WARM WHEN WE HAD RETURNED BACK TO CALI....


I am happy with my SPFR intake, I feel the difference and I would not go with anything else.

bunnyblue

Hippity Hop my box Rocks!!!!!!!!!

I purchased with the AEM cold air intake on my 5 spd xB, though I've done no comparison, I'm certain that it adds power, especially in the mid-range, sounds good too. As for water damaging your engine, it can't. The AEM cold air intake (V2) has a silicone valve to prevent hydro-lock. Should you ever run into water (but that would be very deep water!) the valve opens to protect your engine. Go to AEM's website for a better explaination.

the aem bypass valve also bleeds air through it making it very inefficent - as it's still sucking warmer air near the top of the motor through the bypass - probably loose a few potential HP just because of that.

i dont think hydro-lock would be a problem with any of the current xB cai's unless you want to be fording rivers with your box

Brian

I feel they are worht it...look at the dyno slips....

i put a CAI on my tc last week there is about a foot and a half clearance from the ground and the only way u can mess ur car up is if u drive under water or in a huge puddle

You'll see a few (very few) horsepower from any of the brand name aftermarket intakes, if any at all. Like fishing lures, many are designed more to catch fishermen than to catch fish...

The lack of real numbers is telling- No Zero-60 before and after figures, and none for the 1/4 mile, either... but they'll give "up to" XYZ horsepower gain...

Which is not to disparage any of the equipment available, but rather to tell potential buyers not to expect any miracles...

If heat soak were a serious issue, then intakes would be insulated, which would be very easy with the short ram aftermarket units. Even though homecenters don't usually have the larger sizes, any plumbing supply outfit will have pipe insulation large enough for the purpose...

I've driven through quite a few downpours since having the FX1 intake installed. The filter element was wet each time. After one of the rain storms, I unhooked the intake and checked it over. There was no water anywhere inside the intake, just the outside around the filter element.

Just curious,
I too, am considering a CAI for my box, how much impact does it have on the MPG?

Just curious,
I too, am considering a CAI for my box, how much impact does it have on the MPG?

I have gotten up to 37 MPG with my intake--but that was going slow without AC. It should have no negative impact on MPG............

after my xA got totaled last christmas I put my Injen cai back in it's box cuz I bought a Tc. from personal experience the injen cai is the best looking of all and performance wise it had very noticeable gains. just ask in the scikotics forums how many a$$e$ I handed with just a cai and a magnaflow axle, including a supercharged xB many times. mine was 5 speed, his was auto and a couple more with pulleys and extras. I have mine in box with new licence frame, maybe instructions and stickers. willing to let go very cheap. PM me.;-)

I have the K&N Typhoon on my xA, I'm very happy with it. I managed to get it from Crutchfield using a coupon code found online (its expired now) for 170 shipped. I have no numbers to prove it but there absolutely feels like an improvement in hp. Even if there wasnt, this thing sounds incredible when you get on it. Completely worth the money.

The only way you are going to get water in your engine is if you drive in water that is about waist high....

Several people have gotten water into their CAI by driving through shallow water or deep puddles. The CAI intake is usually right behind the driver side fog light about 2-1/2 feet off the ground, and the water on the ground can be a lot less than that to get splashed into it.