Is cold air intake really worth it?

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Old 09-04-2014, 11:52 PM
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Is cold air intake really worth it?

Hi, guys. I have a '97 Acura CL with a 2.2L engine. Is it worth it to add a cold air intake? Does it really improve performance where I can really feel the difference? Right now I am using a K&N Air Filter. Also, how do I add fog lights to my car? Do I need buy a mount to install fog lights?
Old 09-05-2014, 07:23 AM
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if you can construct something like this
Originally Posted by jcooper97TL
Here are some pics of the intake installed

The short cone filter is inside the fender well and I use dthe stock 90 deg. turn in the plumbling for a few reasons. One is tha it has the bypass valve in it already.



from here: https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-tl-performance-parts-modifications-121/2-5-tl-true-cold-air-intake-632956/

however, I personally believe that it will bring more noise than power.

but if you're into that kind of thing, go for it
Old 09-12-2014, 11:28 PM
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Lol.
Old 09-17-2014, 07:29 PM
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For a better sounding car yes. As far as performance gains the answer is no.
Old 09-18-2014, 11:33 PM
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Originally Posted by SupraManAG
For a better sounding car yes. As far as performance gains the answer is no.
Sounds about right. However, in conjunction with headers and exhaust work, then, I believe it makes a difference.
Old 11-24-2014, 07:23 PM
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Cold air intakes and headers

I'm Trynna get more power, should I go with the headers or the intake first ?
Old 11-28-2014, 01:37 PM
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^Headers
Old 11-28-2014, 01:37 PM
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The honest answer regarding cold airs is, the 2.x engines it's not really worth it since the intake remains in the engine bay. The 3.0's, the CAI is worth it because the intake actually dips into the fenderwell and gets colder air
Old 12-20-2014, 01:11 PM
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Originally Posted by 97BlackAckCL
The honest answer regarding cold airs is, the 2.x engines it's not really worth it since the intake remains in the engine bay. The 3.0's, the CAI is worth it because the intake actually dips into the fenderwell and gets colder air
Exactly. What your effectively doing is leaning out your air/fuel mixture. The car has whats called an "adaptation" value and the ecu will try to compensate for the denser air charge by adding fuel but within its permissible range. Typically after adding power adders, a tune that makes use of the new parts gives you the most gain. This is especially true when you leave the NA realm and venture into the turbo or supercharged applications.
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Old 12-20-2014, 11:44 PM
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Get ready for it to whistle on a 3.0. I've never been able to get rid of that noise, but it sounds cool just turns too many heads.
Old 12-23-2014, 09:46 AM
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^The whistle doesn't bother me, the damn humming with an SRI was just ridiculous
Old 12-23-2014, 10:36 AM
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Mighty car mods did some myth busting on intakes.
They proved a cold air intake has very little gain over a stock intake or sri with pod filter.

They took temps of the air being taken in and did a dyno with a stock filter, a second with an sri pod, and a third not only with cai but with a shop fan hooked up straight to the cai.

They saw little to no gains on an intake hooked up to a fan. It doesn't get any more cold air than that.

Worth it is in the eye of the beholder. Some people have the ignorant idea that speed tuning is the only for of modification a car and undergo. Sure an intake is made to increase performance but for some just swapping parts is enough as b it fuels a hobby they enjoy.

Will it make your car faster? No. Is it worth it in my opinion... yes.
Old 01-08-2015, 05:08 AM
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i had a cold air intake.....and honestly i couldnt tell the diff between that and a SRI...if you ask me its just extra shit to do as far as taking off the wheel and inner fender lining to be able to install it....i dont even have fender lining (car too low...scraped it up so much that it just fell apart haha) so id have to take it off during the winter season...

if yer going for performance id say, at least, get headers, exhaust with piping (i think i have 1/2 and inch piping from the cat back)...even then a full exhaust manifold does very little...unless yer doin engine swaps and crazy turbo builds like a couple of the folks on here, you kinda have to except the fact that our cars arent ferraris....

on that note, do yall remember those intake blower things they used to sell on tv or on ebay hahah....i actually bought one of those a long time ago. man..what a waste of money
Old 01-08-2015, 10:10 AM
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Depending on the application, some vehicles do experience horsepower gains from CAI's. It can be very difficult to tell just from driving the car what gains you get. You may not think there is any difference at all when there is, or you may get the placebo effect and feel the car is much faster from the added intake noise when in reality your gains are minimal.
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Old 01-08-2015, 02:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Germ
on that note, do yall remember those intake blower things they used to sell on tv or on ebay hahah....i actually bought one of those a long time ago. man..what a waste of money
Old 01-10-2015, 11:33 PM
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thats not the worst part....

my cousin had a bad ass bmw 5 series setup ..think it was an early 2000 model... we were so convinced that the shit would work so we bought one for all the cars we had....


you know the idea was there...hahaha...
Old 01-13-2015, 08:21 AM
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Old 02-01-2015, 08:37 PM
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Originally Posted by usdmJON
Mighty car mods did some myth busting on intakes.
They proved a cold air intake has very little gain over a stock intake or sri with pod filter.

They took temps of the air being taken in and did a dyno with a stock filter, a second with an sri pod, and a third not only with cai but with a shop fan hooked up straight to the cai.

They saw little to no gains on an intake hooked up to a fan. It doesn't get any more cold air than that.

Worth it is in the eye of the beholder. Some people have the ignorant idea that speed tuning is the only for of modification a car and undergo. Sure an intake is made to increase performance but for some just swapping parts is enough as b it fuels a hobby they enjoy.

Will it make your car faster? No. Is it worth it in my opinion... yes.
That does also depend on the car. They picked a bad car to do the tests with because the S2000 with it's 240hp 2.0 liter NA engine is already perfectly tuned from factory and there is not much you can do to get any gains unless you go FI. I'd know..
I've even seen people put reinforced retainers, springs, and keepers then raise the redline from 9k to 10k with Hondata or AEM ECU in hopes of more power but all it really does is keep you in Vtec longer which does help but not worth the work.
Only thing that does have noticeable gains for S2ks are ITBs. They are super expensive though as the require you to get an aftermarket ECU to tune for the extra airflow. Might as well put that muneh towards a nice snail!

Knowing what I know now though, I wish I would have went with a CAI instead of SRI. The SRI does sound beast though.

Last edited by GhettoNinja06; 02-01-2015 at 08:50 PM.
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