I have the AEM short ram and have noticed a couple of people recently saying that you should get the cai and nor the sr. I was told that sisce the car is a turbo, the sr would be fine.
I like the shorty a lot, but I wanted to get opinion on the negatives of it vs. the cai.

 

The main issue is one of air temps. With the short ram, you are drawing hot air from deep inside the engine compartment. With a CAI, the air comes from under the compartment (mostly) and is cooler. Cooler air is more dense which means more air for your engine/turbo and more power.[&:]

 

i thought that since we're intercooled this wasn't as bif of an issue

 

i was hoping i could get away from the risk of hydrolock w/the short ram

 

You can get CAIs that have special filters to "lock out" the water if you drive in really deep stuff, otherwise an oil impregnated filter cover will keep snow and the occasional water spray out....

 

to the intercooling question.. think of it this way, the cooler/more dense air you can get to the turbo, will allow even more air to be compressed and heated... which then passes thru the intercooler... it is just my opinion and have no facts (at the moment to back this up) but you do better to allow the cooler air in before the intercooler anyway...

 

Well, I WAS going to go the CAI route myself, but after reading rather dubious HP claims, I figured the HP gained per dollar cost was just too high. My K&N air filter works fine and sounds "Billy Bad A**" with the Stage 1......

 

I guess i jumped into the short ram a little too quick.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the short ram should be just fine as long as i'm moving and recirculating fresh air into the bay as in autox - but-.
I'm guessing that I will feel the difference between the two intakes at the dragstrip, where there is hot air sitting in the bay.

That being said - will I experience this at its worst from a standstill?

And what can I do to get some air in there at standstill if that's that case?

 

i'm a little scared of cai after losing a car to the demon hydrolock.

 

The only other suggestion I have is one that an infamous SRT-4 owner in Houston did, cut a hole in the top of the airbox and a corresponding hole in the BOTTOM HALF of the hood (the bulging part above the air box) and glue dense foam/rubber seal to the top of the airbox so you get a tight seal when the lid is closed. The air from the hood scoop would give you a homemade ram air....