I was told that living in the Pacific NorthWest I should not invest in a CAI due to the enhanced moisture and rain we get up here. Does anyone have some knowledge they would care to share on the topic?

Also - Is there a significant difference in performance between a CAI and an SRI?

 

In my experience the only people that have problems with water and CAIs are idiots that think that they can drive through anything. These are the people you see stuck under underpasses. You have to drive through some serious water to hydro lock the motor. Basiclly unless you drive through water high enough to touch the side skirts or are at a high RPM in the rain driving through puddles you will never have a problem. The difference between a CAI and a HAI is where it sucks the air from. The colder the intake charge the more HP. There is not a huge difference between a CAI and a HAI, but the CAI will give you more power.

 

That is completely right. Your best bet is a CAI that can double as a short ram, like the K & N Typhoon CAI, this way you get the best of both worlds.

 

From the other thread.:

If you are worried about moisture - just get a sri.

I have hydrolocked a motor previously and it is not an experience I care to repeat.

I have the aem sri and love it. Everyone I know who HAS a sri is happy - but there are a lot of people who don't that poo-poo them.
Better throttle response than stock or cai. No worries about sucking puddles into my engine. No problems in the winter. Combination of sri and 60 mm tb is ideal as far as I am concerned. It works on racecars, it works on our club racers, it works, period. The only advantage of a cai is on the strip where half a second of stale air is sucked out of the bay. Once moving there is very little difference in temp. (we checked with a probe and found this to be factual).

 

Excellent feedback! Thank you. I think I will just go with the SRI to play it safe......
Anyone have the K&N Typhoon that can vouge for it? I'm tight on funds and so far this would seem to be the best purchase....

 

The K&N cai is a great piece - just ask 71roadrunner.

It only has one limitation. It is a 2.5" intake, whereas the aem/mopar and others are a 3". On a stock turbo this shouldn't be much of an issue, but I like to breathe as freely as possible, myself, and that is why I chose the AEM. If you ever plan on hitting more than 300 hp, I would go with 3" for sure, otherwise, I'd say it is an opinion call and you'll be fine either way.

The convertability factor sounds great, as it will work as cai or sri. That way, you don't have to make a choice. I just didn't want a 2.5 incher.

 

I can actually speak from experience on this one... I havent installed a CAI in my srt yet... but i had one in my honda accord

I ran through a giant puddle of water before and totally drowned out my car.... then i parked it for about two hours sucked all the water out of the interior ... yes i flooded my car completely.... and took off the intake and let it dry then put it back on started the car and drove off... I had the bypass valve installed so it stopped all the water from getting in my engine... i assume that the srt cai has this option.. why wouldnt it... i live in florida... it floods here like its a job... and with that valve i wouldnt be concerned...

any thoughts?

 

From an old post:
There are bypass valves that were made to be the cure for CAI's sucking water up, but they actually say in the instructions that they can cause a loss in performance, especially in turbocharged cars (this is straight from AEM's bypass valves papers/instructions), that is why I don't use a bypass valve either


My though:Nope. No way. Never put a bypass valve on a turbo car. You'll be sucking air through the bypass all day long. Turbulence is not a good thing. Plus, the filter has to be completely submerged to make it work.

 

One quick question... more like a poll. I'm getting an AEM SRI what color should I get... Blue, Red, or Polished? Keep in mind I have a Flammer car oh I mean flame red car .

 

RED,with red plug wires and the red SRT on the engine all looks good!