Funny, but I thought aluminum was a great conductor of heat... pick up a potato straight from the oven that's been wrapped in aluminum... yep, about the same temp as the potato. Take off the aluminum and it gets instantly cold. Its a conductor, not an insulator.

Also, I've never owned a CAI, but I thought most of them were aluminum coated plastic or is that just the cheap ones?

Anyway, if some of you are getting impatient to know, it takes like 5 mins to remove the bumper, another 10 mins to remove the resonator if you don't know how to pull on stuff, and then another 10 mins to line up and put the bumper back on. Try the car without the resonator once... You'll be pulling it out for a CAI anyway.

 

the whole plastic vs. metal is a big time debate. It basically comes down to this. Plastic takes much longer to heat up, but once it does it retains heat and thus passes it on to air in the tube longer. I guess it probably depends on the driving situation which one is better. A metal tube wrapped in insulation might be the best solution possible.

 

yea it is a big debate, but i think that metal loses heat alot quicker once the cold in starts coming in. the plastic seems to hold the heat. but then again im no expert.

 

i think the overwhelming heat in the engine bay will over ride any cold air coming into the intake. With this in mind the intake tube will heat up and stay hot when the motor is running. This is why i feel plastic is a better material to use for intake construction.
BTW- Iceman, honda, mugen and comptech all use plastic intakes. I am super happy with my comptech icebox on my rsx-s
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oh!! i never know that!! i thought they are metal since they are shinny on pictures!!