evo_soul

Conflicts of interest check list
_________________________
INJEN Sponsorship : NO
Relationship or Contact with INJEN : NONE
Funding : Subsidized or donated by car club revenue
Cost : 300$ Canadian vs. 450$ Canadian Regular price



INTRO
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The SRI Vs. CAI debate. After taking a position on this topic early this year, I never thought I would be so eager to jump back into it with real time evaluation feedback. Previously, my position was set to be rather neutral, giving a slight edge out to the CAI. Further still in my initial recommendation to those who posed the question to me “Which intake should I get”, my answer was always if you have a CVT then stick with the SRI. After getting a chance to sample the CAI for our car, my new position is of more certainty regardless if you drive a CVT or a 5speed manual. Hands down, I would highly recommend diving into one of the two CAI options over the SRI. And here is why?


In the beginning!
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Before even buying my Lancer I was already running a CAI setup on my other older cars. I have been running so long with my INJEN varity Intake that to be very honest, I had almost forgotten how much performance this critical piece of automotive hardware can provide. I had forgotten that unmistakable difference that you get just after gutting your stock airbox and replacing it with a beautiful chrome center piece for under you hood. Lol well after spending something like 300 dollars plus, your damn right I am going to take some satisfaction out of it. When you crank that key, put that transmission from park into drive / first and just let that car rip. Its not just exaggerated butt dyno hopes, that ummm I think there is something there and not being really 100% sure. No with this CAI its the real deal. You feel it, you have to sometimes fear your led foot because you just don’t want to let go. The problem is, after day one, you tend to forget what you were driving before the intake, your expectations ease and you come to get use to that level of performance. Fast forward years later, when you buy a new car, the canvas is now clean again. The parts for your car aren’t even out yet (Lancer owners, you all know what I am talking about in summer of 2007) Your eager to jump on the first performance part that hits the market. First thing that did hit the street were a few offerings of the SRI.


SRI, the quick, the dirty, and easy to install?
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The first hardware to come out for any car is usually the short ram. Its quick and dirty, pretty straight forward logic, and pretty easy to install? Or is it? A good buddy of mine who saw my car in my driveway on day one, went out and bought himself a lancer too. He was even more eager to beat me in the Lancer performance ARMS RACE. As soon as the SRI’s started hitting the street, hey flew down to CALI to visit family (so was the excuse) and bought a FUJITA intake. They day he got home he flew up the hood of his car gutted and threw away the stock box with almost no compassion. Installing the intake turned from a joyful activity to utter confusion, then it went from that to utter panic, he asked himself (standing next to me) did I buy the wrong part or something WTF!!!!, he finally came to the conclusion that his CVT didn’t have the proper mounting points for his car, he said it just like that, the proper way to say it is the intake doesn’t have the proper points for his CVT. After 2 hours of sitting there, we decided to mount it anyway and take it for a spin. With lunch dawning on us, I went inside to eat, he Started the car and took it for a spin. He drove around the block once or twice then hitting that straight-a-ways just outside our neighbourhood, redlining it. He came back for that slow victory lap in front of my house claiming air intake supremacy. Fast forward the next day, I get a call from him about a CEL, he has no clue, we assumed it would be something with the install, maybe a connection is not secure or its hanging too much. We look it over for a few minutes and notice that the MAF just isn’t sitting right on the short ram. We fiddle with it and still cant get it to go away even after battery resets, it comes back. Conclusion to this little story, if you notice one flaw in the design of a product involving the installation, right away that should tell you that the R&D effort was not long enough or extensive enough and what your buying may not be what you bargained for. Now this is not smack talk session on Fujita, to me making mistakes like this for any company = big frowning in my books. But, I always believe in redemption, I love to see a company out right and say we F’d up, we dropped the ball, and we are going to make changes and improve our product. I heard loose rumors that they will make another attempt at fixing their product, a third try. If its true then that is good news indeed.


SRI Plus / Minus
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SRI like I said is pretty straight forward, its something hard to get wrong. Successful makers such as RRM for the lancer are a good example. The idea behind a SRI is one of two things. One is to recover HP by replacing a restrictive stock box with SRI that has better air flow capabilities, basically a wide open mouth for the engine. Second, (and this is somewhat related to the first point) the design, if done correctly, trades off higher temperatures from the engine for better flow performance thru proper diameter piping and proper ram effect. In other words a good design = a better ratio of temp vs. Flow. This is an important theme that I will revisit in the next section, this Ratio of TEMP:FLOW. Don’t worry I am not going to thru any math at you guys, but its just important to look at these two things.

Talking about the SRI for our Lancer, my own testing didn’t yield enough HP to warrant keeping the SRI configuration. A comment made by a good advisor / tuning guru Frank @ four star motorsports. Paraphrasing the comments. “Manufacturers these days do a good enough job at providing decent performance and excellent sound dampening. There might be the odd car out there that will give you crazy gains but most of them, stock box is fine enough vs. An SRI.” He continued to show me in the case of a short ram on my car how when you see gains like 4hp on a open hood, the gains look great on paper, but then he went on, when you slam down the hood, air temps rise, and that 4hp gain on the dyno turns into a margin 1 to 2hp. He said even still, say your gain was 6hp with the hood open, your still going to get stripped of half of that gain when the hood is down. When I asked about heat shields, his take on it was, A) it depends on the configuration of the engine by, and your ability to get as far away from the engine and engine exhaust manifold as possible. B) having a proper heat shield design and materials that do not conduct heat, that means steer clear of shields that are metal, and hug too close to the filter. Bottom line, if your gonna buy a SRI, better make sure its the best one out there for the money. Time will tell who has the best performing intake, RRM has updated their intake design and rumour has it that there are more offerings coming next year.
Personally, I wouldn’t have minded a SRI configuration if it wasn’t for the sound. Due to the intake manifold being at the front of the car, the logical location for a SRI filter puts it facing the driver close to the firewall. The result is a sound like you just ran over a bear. The constant ROAR of the engine is fine for some, but to others, such as women its a turn off. My girlfriend hated it when I upped the RPMs. First it was complaining, then it evolved into just a look that she gives me. As if I clubbed a baby seal to death or something. After the dyno day, I just couldn’t continue using the SRI if the performance was only 1 or 2% gain. *note every SRI is different and is capable of outperforming other SRI’s keep that in mind before you rule out SRI’s all together.

Enter CAI. Limited applications and the industry.
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A CAI operates under the same rules, but has some added benefits vs. A SRI configuration. Some CAI in the past were design to operate as a full length CAI or convert to a shorter SRI. But today we see more specific tuning done on making a perfect setup. The INJEN was the first in the market place to make the CAI splash for the Lancer. Now I previously ripped into INJEN for other things such as the design of their Exhaust system, which included the PZEV market but left out the lion share of FED spec lancer owners. It left everyone outside the clean states in a rage. I even was somewhat turned off by the design of the intake itself, I wasn’t convinced. But at the same time, INJEN isn’t really to blame, the position of the battery led to a clear obstruction from the engine to the wheel well. Also, we the announcement of the 2.4L engine, it seemed like INJEN as well as every other vendor were caught off guard and unsure how to proceed. AEM, Injen’s Step brother from a different mother, answered back with their own CAI intake. In this case, performance is quoted as being just as good, but their design couldn’t over come mounting issues dealing with the CVT. Their intake would be a Manual transmission intake only, something that again sends a good chunk of tuning enthusiast into a rage. Something that complicates matters worse, no one seems to be clear on if their intake is fully compatible with the new 2.4L engine released by Mitsubishi this year. Lose emails to both manufacturers leave you with the impression of “ it should work, but if it doesn’t, its not our fault” At the same time, is it really the intake makers fault? I mentioned this in numerous threads before. It just seems that Mitsubishi isn’t really in control. It seems that they are under the gun and attempting to thru all hail mary passes with their Lancer family line of cars. First its the GTS in 08 fully loaded with a 2.0L, then in the second year they announce a 2.4L. Then a Rally Art that almost mirrors an EVO X, that has clearly been mauled and raped to reduce performance, then half way thru the 09 year, they announce a touring package GTS that will have stability and traction control. Now if you spent 32k and bought a GTS in 08, you would be pretty pevved at missing out on all those nice goodies. In my eyes it just seems like Mitsu is rushing, and when you rush things, you make mistakes. Prime example is the SST transmission delays with EVO X and RalliArt. What I am getting at with this slight off topic rant, is these snap decisions and radical changes put pressure on the aftermarket product makers. The introduction of a new engine trim puts these makers in the position of having to spend more in R&D, thus driving up costs. Instead of being focused on one product for one engine, they have to spend double to compliment two trims. You get where I am going with that point / rant.


CAI first impression
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Getting right down to it, for the 300 you have to spend, I must admit, the CAI performed 120% over my expectations, if you ignore the pain in the *** installation. Driving around downtown, going from countless dead stops to a spirited sprint in a 40kph zone. At times I completely forgot about the installed intake, the car just responded so naturally that I didn’t even realize I was pushing it. This is one of the few times that my girlfriend now just places her hands on my lap. We I am just too gun ho with the pedal and at risk of mowing over little children she is right there to quickly tap on my thigh and say “baby, baby, watch out, or sloooooooooooooow it down” At times when i am lost in a conversation while driving, I find I have to try to wrestle with the brakes to try to come to a complete stop. I notice that I am under estimating braking distances in the first 72 hours. Having to apply harder and harder to stop on that line white line. Now, taking a step back, I am not trying to give you the impression that this upgrade gives you a million HP or allows you to drive like the latest need for speed game. But comparing this to stock or when I had my SRI. There is a crystal clear feeling that is felt letting you feel the responsiveness. My reservations about a CAI in a CVT were very real. I did not think it would be advisable. I feared that the ultralow RPM behaviour of this transmission 1200 – 2000RPM would work as a handicap instead of a performance gain for the CAI. I am happy to say I have renewed confidence in this INJEN intake.


Temperature
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As I mentioned before with SRI’s, pipe design is very important, specificly because a SRI must overcome heatsoaked air engine bay. With an CAI, design is just as important, but as a added bonus air is no longer hot, the air from the wheel well can reach temps as low as outside temps. And on average about 5 ‘C above outside temp. ScanTool monitoring has given me a great snap shot into intake temperature and pressure and a few other sensor readings. This will allow me to do a heads up comparison from a CAI to at SRI, and finally stock.
A detailed test will be conducted in mid Sept. At the next local Toronto Lancer Club meet. This allows for real time testing with multiple cars of different configurations. Results will be posted here.


Dyno Expectations and True Power
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INJEN has posted on their webpage and relevant press releases that this intake will do in and around 10hp at the wheels on a DynoJet. Prior to the install, I would have laughed that right out of the park and called the guy who operated that dyno a 24/7 drunken sailor. But now having the car running for about a week now, I am starting to believe that the claims could be – and say this quietly, “plausible”, well sort of. As I mentioned early in a post about CVT technology quoting from some of Mitsubishi’s white papers. There is some power loss in the wheels due to the CVT, but its not exactly the CVT’s fault. In a nutshell, All CVT transmission, or at least of this type, exibit natural vibrations during its operation. A counter vibration algorithm is used to dampen that characteristic so the driver remains unaware. The cost of this is about 9 hp maimed at the wheels reducing the CVT version at 118 unmodified on a Dyno Dynamics Dyno vs. 126 HP on a Manual. So in terms of CAI gains, I would peg the gains of the CVT at about 7hp. I could say with confidence that this intake to me should break the 6hp mark (minimum) on a unmodified exhaust, and push 8hp with synergy gains from an exhaust upgrade.

Independent testing (DynoDynamics) of this will be conducted at Four Star Motors sometime early this Fall. The results will be posted here. Then testing will be turned over to another shop to ratify the results using a DynoJet.


Prioritized Recommended Performance top #5 list of Warranty Compliant Upgrades
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1. Any 2.25”(internal diameter) Exhaust axle back upgrade (FYI: exhaust products vary in effectiveness because of design and materials used)
I personally prefer my own custom exhaust, but there is a chance that the original manufacturer may release this exhaust configuration in both dual and single tip configurations.

2. INJEN CAI or AEM CAI INTAKE variant
3. RRM Header 4 – 1
4. Not yet selected
5. Not yet selected

Currently evaluating to add to the list above

RRM V2 SRI
GREDDY 2.50” Exhaust (Version 2 exhaust (the one that doesn’t roast your bumper  )
K/N SRI
K/N Drop in filter



Blockade / banned Performance List
1. Fujita SRI (first and second generation)



Note: I started typing this review late in the night, so at this point I dont care about grammer, and I dont care about spelling. matter a fact, I just dont care about anything right now... i want sleep. i hope this review helps

Bawb3

Good stuff evo_soul, once again very informative. So, the reason why the cvt has lower power is primarily because of an anti-vibration algorithm that restricts it's power? Is that so the vibration doesn't damage the tranny/engine, or just to make the ride more comfortable?

Looks like I might pick up a CAI and see the difference for myself.

Now get to work on the cvt computer!!

But honestly, keep up the good work, the Lancer community wouldn't be the same without people like you willing to spend time/money/resources on researching and testing various things about the car.

evo_soul

thanks for the warm comments

Bawb3

Ah, so it pretty much IS just for ride comfort, I'd be willing to vibrate a bit more for some power powah . Vibration doesn't really bother me when you take a 69 Firebird with a bored out pontiac 400 under the hood, to the track almost every week.

Staying on topic, I dont know if another 300$ is worth the extra 3-4 hp I might get though, Maybe once I get the other mods I want, Ill sell my V2 and get a CAI.

LuDa

dont know how it could have been said any better evosoul great job 5 stars..

question you seem to know a lot about the CVT i still have my lancer CVT and still plan to mod it but with the slowness and Tq loss we have in low end...

do you think there will eventually be any mod or tune possible without going turbo that will allow the CVT to take off a lot faster like a normal car or more like the manual trans?


after reading this i am def going to throw out the SRI and get the CAI

Nathan0490

I bought headers instead of going for the CAI since I already have the SRI v2.

09GTSLancer

wait evo soul do you have a cai in your cvt? because if you do ill just get an injen as well for my 09 gts i was going to get the rrm sri v2 because i thought a cai wouldn't fit on the lancer with cvt. But if you have one on your car ill either get the injen or aem cai.

leeminho86

The AEM CAI won't fit with cvt but you can get an Injen CAI that will

Hydrolikz

^+1 I also have the Injen CAI installed on a CVT.

09GTSLancer

okay thanks guys.....INJEN here i come!

evo_soul

To be fair, the AEM can be made to fit the CVT, but they will not state that on official levels. Right now I have the INJEN CAI, I am holding a dyno day the 16 and 17 of January to test both COLD Air intakes. So far AEM has commited to donating hardware. INJEN seems to not care. So we will aquire a new INJEN intake and test it!

NJ08LancerGTS

INJEN FTW in my book anyday! have had 3 of their products without a simple hicup!!!!

evo_soul

Contact has been made with INJEN for the evaluation of their Intake, to be fair to them they have been busy for the past few months with a Corporate Move so I should say they dont care they have been busy.

I would like to thank JRPOnline for putting me thru to INJEN directly and getting the logistics worked out

The Dyno Day was pushed back to the 31st since they were a USA Rally Event during the week of the 16th

keep you guys posted

09GTSLancer

YOU LIAR!!!! j/k nah i went with AEM CAI for my CVT and it did fit perfect only thiung i need was the relocator bracket.

evo_soul

I think the semi official story was that AEM didnt feel cumfy releasing a CVT version. I think it had to do with the proximity to the oil cooler.

Anything can be made to fit and work. its all a question of money