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Old May 7, 2005 | 02:08 PM
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Exclamation SRI > CAI

right now I have a SRI on my car (I have a 5spd). The SRI is very nice, and I love the sound, but so cal is getting HOT... and the SRI just ain't cutting it. I need to know where can I get the pipe (long) to connect to my SRI setup? Homedepot? Lowes? Any other place? Other CAI ralliarts owner say it's a better setup and there is a difference of power. Thank's...

P.S. Did a search, couldn't find my answer.
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Old May 7, 2005 | 10:15 PM
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From: The Ghetto
you can always do what my brother did on his OZ... https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=137092
that is a how to on how to get some good cold air to your SRI
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Old May 9, 2005 | 12:48 AM
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^^^ wow, that's really cool... never thought of that.
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Old May 9, 2005 | 01:52 AM
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I asked a couple of guys I work with that race their cars and they both said they go SRI over CAI. When I get my SRI I'll probably rig something up like that too, but eventually I plan on getting RRM's cf hood that has the vent for the SRI.
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Old May 9, 2005 | 06:32 AM
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Did they give you a reason why they would go SRI over CAI?

i had the SRI on my car for like 2 days.. the lost of low end torque just killed.. so i went to the CAI setup and it was soo much better..

-joe
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Old May 9, 2005 | 06:38 AM
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From: Akron, OH (but Philly is where my heart is)
Something about with the CAI you don't get air into the engine as fast because the air has a tendancy to start bending because of the longer tube. The one guy has been drag racing for almost 20 years and has an 1100hp car that he runs right now, so I trust his word. I am curious however to what you guys have to say about this.
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Old May 9, 2005 | 06:38 AM
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SRI's are almost always better than CAIs.

Next time you're at McDonalds graw one straw and suck through it in the air.... now connect a second straw to the end and try again... notice it's a lot harder to suck when there are two straws connected. Your ECU is programmed to expect to suck about the same length as a SRI so went you put a CAI on your car without tuning it's going to hurt performance.

The other false theory is that a CAI gets colder air. Your hood is not a sealed compartment and lots of air gets into the car while you're moving down the road. All the heat is against the firewall (unless you're driving backwards).

The only time a CAI might help is when your sitting in stop and go traffic and the filter along with everything under the hood will soak (including the charge pipe of your CAI).

People often believe they are making more torque with a CAI - most of it is noise and the fact that their throttle response is a lot worse so after the "lag" from all that sucking is done the car will feel like it's pulling harder when in reality it's just overcoming poor design.

ever notice that people who setup the more extreme street/race cars (not show cars) don't often use CAIs...

Last edited by theblue; May 9, 2005 at 06:42 AM.
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Old May 9, 2005 | 06:41 AM
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From: Akron, OH (but Philly is where my heart is)
I knew others on here would be able to back my boy up.
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Old May 9, 2005 | 08:08 AM
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Exclamation

Originally Posted by theblue
SRI's are almost always better than CAIs.

Next time you're at McDonalds graw one straw and suck through it in the air.... now connect a second straw to the end and try again... notice it's a lot harder to suck when there are two straws connected. Your ECU is programmed to expect to suck about the same length as a SRI so went you put a CAI on your car without tuning it's going to hurt performance.

The other false theory is that a CAI gets colder air. Your hood is not a sealed compartment and lots of air gets into the car while you're moving down the road. All the heat is against the firewall (unless you're driving backwards).

The only time a CAI might help is when your sitting in stop and go traffic and the filter along with everything under the hood will soak (including the charge pipe of your CAI).

People often believe they are making more torque with a CAI - most of it is noise and the fact that their throttle response is a lot worse so after the "lag" from all that sucking is done the car will feel like it's pulling harder when in reality it's just overcoming poor design.

ever notice that people who setup the more extreme street/race cars (not show cars) don't often use CAIs...
Whoa, good writeup... I never thought of it that way. Looks like im staying SRI, thank's for the reply.
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Old May 9, 2005 | 10:14 AM
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From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
there is always the one non-beliver..

i put a temp probe by the SRI and one down by the CAI and it's almost a 20 degree difference..

tell me that does't make any difference and i got the brooklyn bridge to sell you

-joe
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Old May 9, 2005 | 11:23 AM
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From: CA
Back when I had my 3G Eclipse, we had some guys datalog the temps with the CAIs and the SRIs. There was a big difference, especially when it got really hot during the day.

Has there been a dyno done with a SRI and a CAI on the same car?
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Old May 9, 2005 | 01:16 PM
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How about the amount of travelling the cold air has to do to get to the engine...
It travels farther through a pipe that has been heated by the engine bay in the same way a SRI gets hot...

What's the price tag on that bridge you were talking about!? LOL

I just bought the CF EVO 7 Hood & that takes care of that...
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Old May 9, 2005 | 03:45 PM
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i'm going to have to disagree. i have datalogged intake temps from both a sri and cai. if aem and injen have set the MAS in stock distance from the throttle as stock, why doesn't the MAS record a different air temp if there's heat soak? whatever aem paints their intakes with seems to deter heat. there is about 20 degree difference from a stop as sillypuddy said, and 2-3 degree cooler air at cruise.

the whole straw argument goes deeper. in this argument, most people say to suck as hard as you can out of a long straw. this only simulates a top-end situation. in this case it's true. it's harder. also, proportion between you sucking through a 6" straw is much different than the proportion to that of an engine and intake system. the idea is only half there. low end torque is where a cai does work better but is also hampered by lagged throttle response. to compensate for top-end fall-off, cai piping is enlarged in diameter from stock. the whole thing about having the ecu have a pretermined length intake is somewhat false. what is true is that the ecu variable is about the distance of the MAS from the throttlebody. this sways readings during load, not length of pipe from the MAS to the entrance of the intake.

sri are definately for drag racing as guess where you'll be most of the time; in the top end. with large turbos and what not, the name of the game is to get as much air into the engine and let the intercooler handle the temps. this doesn't happen to work on a NA app. sri get hot from sucking in air from the engine bay, not particularly from heat soak.

IMO, the best setup is something of a compromise of a CAI and SRI with a cold air source. nothing too long or wide in diameter with some kind of ram air supply. apparently, the AEM V2 intakes tries to resolve this. Import tuner also did a article on testing both SRI and CAI on a flow bench. you can either criticize the source or use the info they got.
http://www.aempower.com/press_events_detail.asp?aid=12

Last edited by rhyzin; May 9, 2005 at 03:52 PM.
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Old May 9, 2005 | 03:54 PM
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I see...
So EVO 7 Hood w/ vents SRI good!?
Or should I still be looking into a CAI even w/ an EVO 7 Hood!?!?!?
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Old May 9, 2005 | 03:55 PM
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Living in an area where we frequently get water deep enough to touch my license plate (which, BTW, is mounted with the bottom set of holes, not the top, so the water is actually flowing over my bumper) I prefer the SRI setup To allow for colder intake charges, I used some NASCAR ducting (ahem, dryer hose) and fed the duct from the front driver's vent to the SRI. Does it work? I haven't datalogged before and after, but the area where the duct points is a lot dirtier than the rest of the filter- so the duct IS shooting air from the vent to the filter. I hope to turn my battery so I can have a straighter shot at the filter..... but that's later.
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