Love my base 08 TL with Navi

I wanted to start doing some things to my TL.


What are the PROS & CONS of putting on CAI? Any possible issues that will jack up my ride and screw with warrenty? I have read things about flooding and trippin oxygen sensors?

Let me know... i'm itching to go to work!!!

 

con is the possibility of hydrolocking it... so stay out of water higher than your fender... that is all...

pros... it is worth it.. just do it..

 

Pro: Great mean sound when the crossover hits,more power,supposed to get better mpg,just a better appreciation of the vtec engine etc:
Con: If you submerge the filter in a huge puddle you hydrolock the engine and your F*cked. Kiss your engine goodbye!! A couple people on here have done it but in all you should be good. As long as you don't drive through a river. I've been scared shitless in downpour's where streets were flooded and I was good. I've had CAI on 3-4 prev cars as well as my type-s.

 

pros-increased mpg, throaty sound in high rpms,more torque and horsepower.
cons-none

 

only way to suck in water and hydrolock your engine is to completely submerge the filter. you can still hydrolock your engine with the stock intake

 

how about warranty issues when putting in a CAI? are you still covered?

I know the whole they have to prove that it caused it BUT i know some dealers are just straight pricks as soon as they see anything done to the engine so I'm just wondering if anyone has had issues with this when getting warranty work done

 

I just recently put one on my 05 tl and yeah you need to immediately leave this forum and get your credit card...then purchase your CAI....I must say yes hydrolock is in the back of your head but its weird how the intake screaming at vtec seems to clear those thoughts about hydrolock right out....

 

A CAI does not help mileage, get this out of your heads guys. That's probably the biggest single myth on the internet.

Performance wise, the only real pro is a cooler charge.

The downside is inferior filtration of most of the filters provided in the kits and the chance of hydrolock though it's harder to do than you think.

Keep in mind the TL already has a semi-cold air induction. The hp gains quoted are a little hard to believe when the car is dyno'd with the hood up negating any benefit of the cooler charge air. I'm sure they help in the real world but the dyno claims are a bit rediculous.

 

hahaha i like thinking

 

never had a prob with CAI...while slammed to the ground,....driving in the rain all the time...idk why many make it seem such a big problem.... if ur driving like a maniac at 7k rpm through heavy rain, then god help you....

lil bit of common sense will take care of u....

and as far as better mpg.... its the biggest bullshit ever advertised... but of course, average drivers care more about mpg than the extra power..so they're easily intimidated.

here's the thing.... there's 2 ways.... add power to ur motor, or release power....

adding power is a simple thing to understand... the more air and fuel u can combust, more power u will make...that's without getting in to many details...

releasing power...will give u a bit of better mpg...such as...taking away drag from ur motor...maybe a lighter crank pulley....getting rid of AC, lighter cams, lighter flywheel, lighter wheels, lighter axles. better flowing exhaust would let the motor fart a bit easier lol (not to be confused as some just tend to think bigger is better. your low end needs some velocity, unless ur boosted, a 3 inch straight through exhaust will kill ur NA motors low end, while it will be good for top end, but lets not get into that now)..which frees ur motor a bit from spinning itself and its components... now requiring lighter throttle to do the same thing it did before with the heavier spinning weight will save u some gas.

but anything thats an "input" into ur motor will not save gas, it will burn more.... i hope one day everyone will understand this...

Making power with better MPG do not mix together, they never have and never will.

 

EXACTLYYYYYYYYY. thanks for saying that

dyno numbers are just that...NUMBERS

i made around 267whp(real, corrected numbers) with my car, and ill bet ANYTHING i will be neck and neck with a n/a tl with "300whp"

 

How easy is it to reinstall the stock air filter and resonator box and those rivets on the resonator box near that pipe that curves up to the radiator near the headlights that are a nuisance to take out during the CAI install. Can those rivets be replaced even though the plastic is busted?

Tip to just remove the bumper for easier access to everything

 

Why would the plastic be "busted". You should just drill the rivets out...which would be easily replaceable with new rivets if you chose to reinstall the OEM intake.

I'm dubious about the HP gains as well...basically, the CAI is a nice, shiney noisemaker, looks pretty cool too.

I like my AEM V2.

 

My MID went from 13 mpg to 16 mpg after installation. This could be cause of break-in period, i push the car harder now then i did when first purchased. I was skeptical about a 3mpg increase but its still nice to see better number after a mod. Also Im going to buy some tb spacers and insulate b/c on long drives i feel the CAI gets much hotter than the stock plastic would

 

just do it.

 

The increase was not from the CAI. In fact, the government did a study which I posted on here a long time ago comparing cars with a new airfilter and a severely plugged air filter and no difference on the fuel injected cars. The carbureted cars showed a decrease but that's to be expected since it's like running with the choke halfway closed.

The only thing you will gain is power and the only thing you will lose from a plugged filter is power, not mpg.

 

We did it with the bumper still on. The rivets were removed with pliers because the drill just couldn't fit through. I'm sure the pieces aren't hard to replace if I ever decide to go back to OEM.

 

Good to know thanks IHC. Where did the gains come from then?

 

I'm bad at clarifying my posts, I get confusing sometimes lol.

I was talking about the airfilter and lower restriction not making a bit of difference in mpg.

With a car like the TL that's prone to detonation straight from the factory, if the CAI lowered intake temps enough to prevent some detonation (assuming yours was detonating in the first place) and the computer didn't have to pull timing, you could get the gains you saw. Once the computer starts pulling timing you can see a decrease of 5+mpg easily.

I'm not saying that's what is going on. There are tons of other factors that affect this such as summer vs winter gas.