Question About Air Intakes

crissyvylle007 · 01-22-2007, 03:21 PM

I Know This Sounds Kind Of Remedial But I Had A Question.... What Is The Difference Between A Cold Air Intake And A Short Ram Air Intake? And What Is The Best Deal To Get? Thanks For Any Of Your Help

PurdueGuy · 01-22-2007, 03:36 PM

A short ram, or warm air intake (same thing) puts the intake filter generally in the same location as the stock air box, under the hood. A cold air intake puts the filter outside of the engine bay, generally inside the driver's side fender, where it can get colder air. Colder air is more dense, and contains more oxygen to burn.

*WARNING* Many e-bay and other sellers will call their warm air intakes cold air intakes. Don't be fooled. If there aren't 2 pipe sections, it's not a cold air.

A good warm air intake will give you like 2-4hp, while a good cold air will be around 10hp, in general.

crissyvylle007 · 01-22-2007, 03:40 PM

So The Cold Air Intake Is The Ones That I Have Seen In The Bumpers? Well I Found An AEM One But Wasnt Sure If That Was A Decent Product And Which Would Suit My Needs And I Didn't Realize There Were Two Kinds

PurdueGuy · 01-22-2007, 03:47 PM

yup, cold air is in the fender/bumper. Only thing with the cold airs is you have to stay out of puddles so you don't slurp up water.

BTW, they don't make cold air intakes for automatics (don't know if you have auto or manual). One can be home-made, though.

the Shaolin UWP · 01-22-2007, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PurdueGuy

A short ram, or warm air intake (same thing) puts the intake filter generally in the same location as the stock air box, under the hood. A cold air intake puts the filter outside of the engine bay, generally inside the driver's side fender, where it can get colder air. Colder air is more dense, and contains more oxygen to burn.

*WARNING* Many e-bay and other sellers will call their warm air intakes cold air intakes. Don't be fooled. If there aren't 2 pipe sections, it's not a cold air.

A good warm air intake will give you like 2-4hp, while a good cold air will be around 10hp, in general.

Ram air is usually referring to having the filter run to a hole in the hood.

A good WAI is good for making your car sound better.
A good CAI is good for making your car sound better, plus a handful of ponies if you're lucky.

PurdueGuy · 01-22-2007, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Shaolin UWP

Quote:

Originally Posted by PurdueGuy

A short ram, or warm air intake (same thing) puts the intake filter generally in the same location as the stock air box, under the hood. A cold air intake puts the filter outside of the engine bay, generally inside the driver's side fender, where it can get colder air. Colder air is more dense, and contains more oxygen to burn.

*WARNING* Many e-bay and other sellers will call their warm air intakes cold air intakes. Don't be fooled. If there aren't 2 pipe sections, it's not a cold air.

A good warm air intake will give you like 2-4hp, while a good cold air will be around 10hp, in general.

Ram air is usually referring to having the filter run to a hole in the hood.

Correct, but sellers tend to use "short ram" as the same thing as a warm air intake. Guess I'm just falling into using too much seller terminology, and not correct terms. *shrug*

Quote:

A good WAI is good for making your car sound better.
A good CAI is good for making your car sound better, plus a handful of ponies if you're lucky.

A good WAI will make some hp, just not a lot (and most people think it does more than it does because of the sound it makes).

Hotshot WAI dyno, +3hp:

http://www.qksltwo.com/dynohotshot.html

AEM CAI dyno, +10hp:

http://www.qksltwo.com/dynoaem.html

the Shaolin UWP · 01-22-2007, 07:17 PM

I still don't see how you can measure intake gains on a dyno...

SouthPole1989 · 01-22-2007, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Shaolin UWP

I still don't see how you can measure intake gains on a dyno...

you can't really measure it. It just gives you a more of an idea.

maybe if you had the dyno inside a wind tunnel?

Techun · 01-22-2007, 08:32 PM

isnt the hood up? with big fans pointing at it?
thus making all intakes receive cold air?

PurdueGuy · 01-23-2007, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Shaolin UWP

I still don't see how you can measure intake gains on a dyno...

Well, considering he's using a software dyno that measures while he drives down the road, it's being measured in a real world environment, not sitting in a building.

http://www.qksltwo.com/dyno.html

01-22-2007, 03:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
crissyvylle007 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 7 Marketplace Feedback: 0 Status: Offline	Question About Air Intakes I Know This Sounds Kind Of Remedial But I Had A Question.... What Is The Difference Between A Cold Air Intake And A Short Ram Air Intake? And What Is The Best Deal To Get? Thanks For Any Of Your Help

01-22-2007, 08:32 PM	#9 (permalink)
Techun Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Manheim, PA Posts: 473 Marketplace Feedback: 0 Status: Offline	isnt the hood up? with big fans pointing at it? thus making all intakes receive cold air? __________________ 98 sc2 manual Thermal R&D piping and a Magnaflow muffler CAI, STB

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01-22-2007, 03:36 PM	#2 (permalink)
PurdueGuy Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: West Lafayette, Indiana Posts: 7,744 Marketplace Feedback: 0 Status: Offline	A short ram, or warm air intake (same thing) puts the intake filter generally in the same location as the stock air box, under the hood. A cold air intake puts the filter outside of the engine bay, generally inside the driver's side fender, where it can get colder air. Colder air is more dense, and contains more oxygen to burn. WARNING Many e-bay and other sellers will call their warm air intakes cold air intakes. Don't be fooled. If there aren't 2 pipe sections, it's not a cold air. A good warm air intake will give you like 2-4hp, while a good cold air will be around 10hp, in general.

01-22-2007, 03:40 PM	#3 (permalink)
crissyvylle007 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 7 Marketplace Feedback: 0 Status: Offline	So The Cold Air Intake Is The Ones That I Have Seen In The Bumpers? Well I Found An AEM One But Wasnt Sure If That Was A Decent Product And Which Would Suit My Needs And I Didn't Realize There Were Two Kinds

01-22-2007, 03:47 PM	#4 (permalink)
PurdueGuy Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: West Lafayette, Indiana Posts: 7,744 Marketplace Feedback: 0 Status: Offline	yup, cold air is in the fender/bumper. Only thing with the cold airs is you have to stay out of puddles so you don't slurp up water. BTW, they don't make cold air intakes for automatics (don't know if you have auto or manual). One can be home-made, though.