Well I just won a TRD exhuast, only $91 on ebay , so now its time for an intake. I was thinking CAI but then was told that the gain wasn't that much more the a sort ram, so my question is what does everyone have and are you happy with it? I have also heard that some intakes can either be SR or CAI, it just takes an extra pipe. How are those becuase that seems very flexible.

 

short rams are good, but they pull hotter air into the system from the top of the engine bay, the cold air takes a longer pipe, and is a little bit more of a pain to install - still very easy install, just not as easy as a short ram... but the cold air pulls cooler air from behind the headlight area. cooler air = denser air = more power = you are introducing more gas into the mixture to balance out the introduction of cooler denser air. hp will increase slightly with both the SR and the CIA, specially with an exaust and headers. the short ram will get you a better mpg to hp ratio i believe, don't quote me, but the CAI will get you more of a HP gain. i have the aem CAI and have been nothing but happy with it. your best bet would be to add a set of headers into the mix if you want to maximize your gains. although i believe that the gains from a CIA vs SR are negligiable between the 2, maybe a hp or 2 difference at the wheels.. really i believe that it depends on personal preference and what you want to spend, how convieneient do you want to make the filter changes, etc...
i just cleaned my air filter and because i have the CIA and am lowered, i had to jack up the box, and get underneath it to remove the filter to clean it.. with the SR, the filter in right on top of the engine bay, making service much easier.
also, my CIA is made of alluminum tubing and that doesn't hold heat, some are stainless steal, and that will retain more heat, making the intake air temp higher.. make sure you do your homework and make an educated buy.. sometimes the cheapies are stainless, or chrome plated.. chrome holds lots of heat...

 

I have the Injen short ram, and the filter is down behind the drivers side headlight. I added a vent to the cover over the foglight opening to let in more air. I think the short ram is a much better deal.

 

He drives an xA guys... so it's not the same fitment as far as the filter. The big thing is that the short ram will yield a slight loss of low end torque. The cold air will not really have that loss, but it's pricier.

I'd go with the shortram.

 

I've installed and K&N short ram on my friends xA, the filter is still down low in the front bumper area, not quite as far away as the xB, but far enough away I don't think heat made any difference. Made a difference in power, and with his being an automatic, made a big difference in throttle response. Don't forget with CAI even though the air should be cooler and denser, that the extra tubing affects the air coming in as well through having to go through more bends and slowing the velocity of it getting in the engine. Definately recommend the K&N, i've heard that the injen is good as well.

 

i've got the K&N CAI for my xA, i love it. nice sound (cant hear it now due to exhaust), and the butt dyno said maybe a couple horspower (5 or 6 maybe?). I got it for $213, i dont remember where from. but it was worth everypenny.

 

For more acceleration, what would you be better off with?
I was thinking a CAI would provide a bit more mmph compared to a SRI, or am I wrong?

 

I believe the CAI would provide a little more hp thus increasing top end, but unless you plan at driving at really high speeds I don't think the extra hp would make any difference. With the SRI you get a little more torque i.e. get more acceleration off the line. At least thats how it's been explained to me before.

 

I'm not looking at HP increases or high speed driving. I just want more acceleration.

I'm buying a TRD CAI, so I hope it helps me a bit where I want it.

 

It's actually the opposite of that. The CAI retains lowend torque, you lose a bit with a SRI

 

i had the K&N cai it was alright i had no bottom end power what so ever and my fuel economy was well at the factory marks for city driving and no so good on highway driving...

injen sri gave my bottom end power back and improves my fuel economy a bunch 34city, 41 highway!!!

 

^ Boom. I'd go with the Injen, Tom.

 

I thought the same thing after reading that too.

 

I installed the TRD CAI. Its an easy install and notable gains. very pleased.
Also very jealous that you got the exhaust so cheap! Still looking, still saving