I know that there are alot of companies out there who make cold air intake systems. What are some of the better ones, and why are they better than the rest? If it matters, I have a 1999 Honda Prelude.
Here's the short version. If the intake point is not outside the engine bay, it's a ram air intake. (Which still add hp, just not as much.) If it IS outside the engine bay it's a cold air intake. Colder (more dense) air at a higher rate of flow always more horsepower for your motor. The claims vary by brand about hp gains and the levels of gain also vary depending on if it's a ram air intake or cold air intake. The two most important things are 1. How good is the intake filter itself and its overall design? And 2. Are there dyno results to back up claims? Good brands are AEM, Injen and Weapon-R. check the #'s for yourself and decide.
extremely tough issue. search in yahoo or google. this may help!
I would say Injen's cold air intake. they are good for Honda's. I know a lot of people are saying they are not a cold air intake but it all depends on how it was made and where the company placed it in the engine and It is considered a cold air intake because it is not taking in the hot air of the engine. It is taking in the air from the outside of the car. That why you get the power gains. Like on my RSX I have injen's cold air intake. It sits in the front bumper where the fog lights are on the base models. A short ram does not give you as much power. It just make your engine sound louder. look it up online there is a sight that will tell you everything you need to know if you post threads and ask questions. They know alot about honda's
Injen is good, but I prefer AEM. AEM has a good reputation put out a very good product. What makes AEM the preferred choice is their relatively new V2 model. This unit looks a bit strange, having a pipe that's mated mid-point as two pieces of dissimilar diameters. What AEM's done is create a cold air unit that brings a mild supercharge effect into play. This is done by 'resonance tuning' the air flow so that it creates an area of higher presure at the valves during the fuel intake cycle. This is exactly the concept employed in 'Varial Volume Induction' systems (aka VVI), found more more on sport sedans coupes. Anyway, the dyno spec sheets I've read show it supposedly provides about another 10% power gain over everyone else's CAI systems. Indeed, cold air induction is not truly 'cold air', it's more precise to say it's a cooler air flow than what the stock box provides. Any cooling (by introducing air from outside the engine compartment) will result in a denser, more oxygen-rich flow.more horsepower. Two other things you can do to make more horespower from your induction w/o using forced induction (super or turbo chargers). 1. Wrap the cold air pipe with reflective metal foil made for this purpose.check the performance tuning websites or just do a Google search for 'wrapping cold air' system. This addition will reduce the amount of convection heat coming off the engine block from heating-up the CAI system. 2. Install an OUTLAW Engineering set of thermal spacers/gaskets. These are sold as a kit that replace the stock gaskets of the throttle body and between the intake plenum and the top of the engine head. This inexpensive product ($100) has shown to add up to 8hp to certain engines. It works by reducing conduction of heat from the engine block. This isolation of heatflow keeps the air coming in through/past the throttle body cooler more dense.again, more horsepower.
