Big_Bird

If your that woried about your CAI, just get a SRI, shorter, lose a little horsepower, but not much difference

mpbrown

gti 1.8T comes stock with a cold air intake holla...chill winston

NHGrafx

Since weere on the topic of water and engines. Is it safe to hose down the engine bay when the engine is off to get all the dirt and grime out of there?

TheScionicMan

Hydro-locking occurs when you get enough water sucked in AT ONE TIME that it fills the space between the piston and the top of the cylinder. Water doesn't compress like air. When the piston comes up and hits that solid object, the piston stops, but the crank is still going and it will usually break the piston rod, not to mention valves and other stuff. Until you get to that solid mass amount, the engine will pass it thru. You couldn't squeeze a spray bottle fast enough by hand to drown out an engine, it'll suck it right thru. The heat comes during compression to combustion, that's when the water gets vaporized.

The car into the puddle scenario could happen with a stock airbox, if you get into deep enough water to cover the intake tube. The Wranglers I've seen that hydrolocked had stock air filters. Of course, they were trying to cross streams at the time of their problems...

If I'm in water deep enough to get sucked into my CAI, it'll probably be coming in the floorboards too. I ran mine thru a pretty wet NorCal winter with no problems, no worries.

A couple of other things - The CAI is better for shows, the SRI is more stealthy

I'd wager that the performance differences are more theoretical than anything...

boxlover

new pipes? down pipe for the exhaust???

chopstickhero

no worries... you would have to drive through a lake before you suck enough water.

i had a CAI on my protege5 for 3 years and it had no problems, evern through WINTER; slush snow and other assorted crap. yeah, filter was dirty as hell though, but inside of the filter is clean and new. i just cleaned the filter more often. pain in the ___, but i feel more comfortable knowing it's operating properly.

i say go CAI or stock intake with a better drop in filter. an open short ram filter inside the engine bay is not really that efficient anyways cuz you're sucking in hot engine air. unless you get an open filter with a box to act as a heat shield.

chopstickhero

stock intake with a good K&N or TRD air panel filter is fine...

Dr_Isotope

iTrader: (1)

Difference in intake temps between a short ram and a full CAI, with the vehicle in motion is negligible. AT rest, the difference can rocket to as much as 8 degrees! There is really no reason for a CAI. Air temp is a non-issue in terms of power production. As long as the motor gets the CFM it needs, it will adjust accordingly.

And to those that beleive you'd have to drive through a lake to experience hydrolock, think again. Folks from the Honda side of things will fill your heads with countless tales of hydrolock horror, some from driving through as little as 6" of water. You don't have to submerge the whole filter-- ever see the neato test the guy did with the AEM CAI + bypass on the NSX? even with the bypass fully open, and a ridiculous 5' long intake pipe, the water still climbed the bottom 8-10" of the intake. Now take your real world intake, half as long, less bends... and a TB pointing up.

A 5hp ShopVac draws about the same CFM as a 1.6L motor at WOT. Do your own test. Put even 1" of the side of the filter in a bucket... and watch how fast the bucket empties.

Add to this the requisite loss of low-end torque, and the gains of a CAI really do not outweigh the caveats. K&N or TRD drop-in panel will serve you just fine. Risk aside, the $ per HP ratio for an average tC CAI just isn't good. Money better spent elsewhere.