I was looking into getting a cold air intake but I really dont know much about it. Seems like most people recommended the Injen cai.

1. About how much HP it acutally increases
2. Does it actually increase gas mileage, and if it does, what can I expect (Or can it decrease gas mileage?)
3. There are no CARB legal cai for TCs in CA (where I live), will cai ever be street legal and are cai street legal for other cars?

Thanks for the help

 

the injen is good intake to get. im not sure about the cali carb rules. it does increase horsepower and you do notice it.

 

1. about 5-7whp gain
2. it does do good for gas mileage as long as you drive under 3500 RPM's
3. It can be CARB legal eventually, there are a lot that are. As a matter of fact, the INJEN CAI for the 04 and under xB and xA are now CARB legal and on the Injen site, it has a list of those that have become CARB legal. Unfortunately, we're not on that list...yet

 

I was looking on ebay and I have seen prices that vary between $50 and $300+ for CAI. Will the cheaper ones have the same effect, or is it as the saying goes, "You get what you pay for."

Some examples:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Bomz-...18185537QQrdZ1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/05-06...15286463QQrdZ1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AEM-C...14115251QQrdZ1

Also, are these easy to install yourself if you have never done any engine mods before or will I have to take it to a mechanic and have them do it. If so, how much would something like that cost. Sorry for all the questions, I am a noob.

 

You get what you pay for. Intake systems might just look like "a filter on a stick," but in reality, a lot of flow studies have to go into it to add any power.

This is why you get consistent variation between the different intakes that run $180-300.

Will a cheapo add power? Probably, but if it doesn't move air through the MAF right, it might balance out the cold air effect with slightly inaccurate readings.

 

Thanks for all the help on my questions.

Have some more questions
1. And also, are there different Injen cai for 2005s, or are there just one?
2. Anyone know a good source to buy Injen cai, a cheap and realiable source.
3. If there is a mileage gain, what can be expected?

 

1. Only one for 2004-2006
2. zeropointindustries.net is selling it for 225
3. not enough to really notice...if u don't get on it maybe 2mpg more

 

I gained about 2 mpg in city driving alone. Granted, I don't race around and practice good driving.

 

lol, intakes do not increase gas mileage, if anything, they would decrease it, but it is such a subtle decrease that it goes unnoticed.
theres a snowballs' chance in hell that a CAI would increase MPG.
sorry, that is just the facts.

 

It really is just some pipes with a filter on the end...either way, does the 2-3 extra horses you MIGHT get from a higher end CAI justify the difference between $80 and $225?

 

My god, as I read down this thread, my heart sank. Thank you for providing the sole voice of reason in this thread. Kudos to you sir, seriously.

No intake on earth will improve gas mileage. People often see an increase, because by the time they add the intake, the paper filter is already fubar. Mental gain, nothing more.

As to "you get what you pay for"... bollocks. It's a filter and some pipe. And we've all seen the timeslips of otherwise stocks tCs slower in the quarter after adding full CAIs.

 

I recorded my gas mileage, had my tC for only 5 months, and was only getting 22-23 in the city. Now, I have the CAI and get 24-25 in the city. Maybe I keep it lower RPMs cause of the sound, but it definitely has gone up.

 

Definetly consider the injen intake. There was definetly some noticable gains but only if you put it in as CAI. You will also love the nice throaty sound at low rpms and the sound of the engine screamign when your ripping it through the gears.

 

my gas mileage has increased by 2-3 miles per gallon in the city, the bigest reason is because I shift earlier and I'm alot lighter on the throttle since the full exhaust and intake. however my highway MPG has decreased about that much. so I didn't really gain or lose anything.

I have a cheap bomz ebay intake, and it flows nice. it gave me high end results that was well worth the money.

I agree with the doctor on this one. its a filter and some pipe for god sakes.

 

I think that's what increase mileage as well. I find that before I got my injen exhaust, i would floor the car alot just to hear the engine, but now, i try to keep my rpms lower to keep the sound down.

 

WOW!!! that's all I can say. Adding A CAI does infact increase your gas milage, Contrary to some popular ( yet sadly mistaken) belief. I saw city MPG numbers as high as 26 after installing my Injen CAI. Now granted if you go around romping on it from every light, you prolly won't see an increase, but with normal driving habit you certainly will. LoL... And the theory of the paper filter being so bad that you see an increase because the stock one was clogged. Wrong, I put my CAI in at like 8000 miles, and I was getting like 22-23, and then went up to 24-26. Putting a CAI in your car makes is more EFFECIENT at what it does by increasing the air flow to the engine, creating more power and burning the same amount of gas. Anyones milage will down if you floor it all the time, on any car CAI or not, but having the nice throaty sound under the hood will lead some people to be a lead foot. Please, don't put information that's not correct or can be backed up. It's misleading to the noobs.

 

see, this is just not possible with our car. The MAF senses how much air is getting into our engine, and will dump more fuel to compensate. Sorry, but this information isn't misleading or false, its the truth.

And this information is backed up. Years of study and the laws of physics are my backing.

 

^^^ gotta go with that, too. if your logic prevails, flintgauge, i should have seen a HUGE increase in my MPG after my blower went on. it increases the air flow by a bunch over any intake out there.
i am afraid the good doctor is not misleading noobs.

 

They must not teach physics any more in school

Intakes do not, never have and never will increase your mileage unless they are MORE restrictive than stock. More air means more fuel, period, end of story. Any product that claims "more hp and more mpg" is lying to you.

An intake does absolutely NOTHING to make your car more efficient. The mentalitiy that since it is "easier" to pull in air, it is working less.. is horribly thought out. If it can pull in air easier, and get more of it AND it is colder (thus more dense), your ECU adds MORE fuel. That is why they allow for more power (although such a small efffect it is negligible).

Flint, no offense, but you are wrong, 100% on this. If you "Saw" better mileage it was due to other factors, not your intake. And unless you averaged your mileage over about 10000 miles in the SAME conditions, that small of a change is invalid, washed out by a million other variables.

 

but when you supercharge or turbo your tC you have to reprogram the ECU to increase the amount of fuel in the air/fuel ratio.. On the other hand, installing a CAI it frees up the air flow into the engine. The stock airbox i s very restrictive( the emphasis being noise control) making the engine work harder to suck in the air it needs than it would with a CAI. CAI vs Stock Intake basically equates to clean air filter vs. dirty air filter. Clean air filter provides optimum fuel economy while a dirt air filter hinders it. It's as simple as that, no physics , or rude comments invovled