Cold Air Intake - What's the deal?
 

Who out there has this on their xA (or Box)? I'm thinking of dropping my ride 1.5 inches, adding 17-inch tires and throwing in a Cold-Air Intake.

What does the cold-air do for the car?
Is it easy to install or should I find a shop or intelligent fellow Sciontist to do it?
(I'm in the Boston area, so I can't go with you geniuses in SF or LA)
What should I expect to spend for the whole install and CAI unit?
I saw something about it not running well - or even getting destroyed - in wet weather. What's the scoop?

Thanks!

Cool air makes more power than hot/warm air. The intakes are pretty easy to install. If you have a reasonable IQ and mechanical ability, a few simple hand tools, and just a bit of common sense you can do it yourself. Unless you ford a river you will not have any problems with water.

ken

Yes, ditto.

Basically, colder air provides a more powerful combustion in the engine, therefore giving a little more horsepower. These intakes help in your engine receiving the coldest air possible. They are very easy to install, and just require normal tools.
If you install 17" wheels, they will naturally be heavier than your stock 15" wheels, so an intake would help in reducing the loss of speed you'd get from that added weight.

The info you've heard about water getting into the intake is nonsense. You'd really have to be going through some deep water for the filter on an intake to get wet.
And for rainy areas, many intakes have moisture traps so no water actually makes it into the engine. It's not something you should be concerned about, unless you plan on doing some rally racing.

The weight of the wheels depends on what kind you get. Some 17's will be lighter than the stock 15's. As for the intake like what has already been said i wouldn't worry about water. We have a special on the K&N intake which comes with a sleeve to go over the filter to help prevent water ingestion. PM if you are interested.