AEM CAI vs. SRI

[dustinhurley]

Is the cold air intake worth the extra money for 2 extra hp, compared to a short ram?

[madbrain]

Thats up to you, but I say reap all the benefits you can. If money is the issue you can make your own SRI or CAI for that matter.

[fishboy]

i say go with a CAI. just invest in it now and you won't have to worry about it again. if you get a short ram you might wonder what it might be like with a CAI and then you might go ahead and buy it. save yourself from that and get the CAI. unless, of course you are planning on going turbo, then just forget about getting intake for now.

[02SilverSiHB]

screw the intake! screw the exhaust! screw the header! Just get a turbo! And then wait to see which exhaust would be good for your setup :)

[SpeedRacer]

get the CAI even the the SRI seems to be almost just as good the power drops down after the engine heats up but the CAI is more consistant.

[dustinhurley]

I had an AEM cold air on my 99 hatchback. I liked it a lot, but that was before the bypass valve came out and I was worried a lot about sucking up water. The filter was pretty close to the ground. The filter doesn't seem to be so close to the ground for the Si. Is it low enough to worry about water? I noticed there is no bypass valve available. Also, does the cold air require any modifications in order to fit?

[K20ACTR]

There are no mods that you need to perform for the CAI to fit. The AEM CAI is easy to install and the power is noticeable.

[fishboy]

just don't drive through any deep puddles.

[esmith13]

There is a bypass valve for the AEM CAI for the EP, just not for the injen CAI. AEM's web site lists the part number for the bypass valve and states it's available for the CAI for the '02 Si.

Not sure you really need it (unless your dropped). The filter seems to be fairly high above ground level on the AEM CAI at stock height...

[MoodySi]

I got the K&N SRI and it gives really noticable gains. Not to mention it's half the price of a CAI and you don't have to worry about water.

[iHeartOxycotin]

My Friend has a AEM CAI on his 01' GTI VR6 and it has H&R Coil-Overs on it and is dropped as far as it can go and the filter is barely hidden behind his front bumper it is so low to the ground and the last time i talked to him he was getting the bypass valve and obviously has been going threw puddles when it rains and i haven't heard and bad news yet, so hopefully all my Si Br0vaz! are okay. (and of course everyone that does have a bypass valve) but anything can happen. :cool:

[SpeedRacer]

GET A BY PASS VALVE if you want to get a by pass valve you might as well get a SRI. I have seen dyno results with the BpV and you lose power when you insert this if you are worried about puddles all you have to do before you run over the puddle is push in the clutch and take the car out of gear and it shouldn't suck any air in. Anyways just my .05 fragment of a cent

[nikkotyper]

CAI seems to be a more logical way to go for our car. CAIs generally improve low end TQ better than SRIs. Thus, the real world gains will be more noticable.

[David K.]

I have the Typhoon SRI on my car as well as some other mods, and when I raced SubliminalSi the other day he did a damn good job keeping up, better than I thought he would. He has the AEM CAI but is otherwise stock, so I think the CAI is probably worth it. I'm looking into rotating my Typhoon down so that it becomes a CAI, but I thing I'll have to relocate the battery.

[silver ep]

Ive been reading threads on the Bypass and CAIs, and I havent heard of one person having problems with hydrolock. Dont waist your money by getting the bypass.

[SpeedRacer]

Originally posted by silver ep
Ive been reading threads on the Bypass and CAIs, and I havent heard of one person having problems with hydrolock. Dont waist your money by getting the bypass.

true that