AEM cold air intake VS short ram air kit

[92SEric240SX]

I've heard that cold air intakes produce more power because of their location (denser air) , but don't the short ram air kits produce similar results. Is there a power difference or are they both about the same?

[naed240sx]

It all depends on the application, location, brand, ect. Generally, a CAI is better, because of the colder, denser air that it pulls from outside of the engine bay, rather than the hot, thin air from under the hood. I have an aem, and it definately produced some gains, but I wish it was a cold air. I actually used some venting from the front bumper to feed it colder air. The only 2 CAI systems that I know of for the 240sx are made by injen and cp racing. Alot of people worry about Cai systems because of the possiblity of sucking in water, and hydrolocking(usually destroying) the engine. If you live in a really wet area, or arn't very careful over pedals, then dont get one.

[InsanityInc]

CAI systems produce minimal gains over normal cone filter underhood intake systems. Underhood temperatures are typically around 100-180F depending on the ambient temperature, and while that's a lot hotter than the outside air, you have to consider that the air travelling through the intake pipe which itself is soaking heat from the engine compartment, and the intake manifold which is very hot, and heat transfer occurs at a faster rate when there is a higher disparity in temperatures, so the actual density change in your intake charge is going to be minimal.

[naed240sx]

Has anyone ever tested this hypothesis? I would be curious to see how true it really is. I do know that aftermarket intakes come with a heat reflective coating, but do not know how effective it is. It would be interesting to do a setup, with thermometers poking into the 2 intakes before the throttle body and look for any differences. Definitely a good point. However, the air put through the intake is moving at very high velocities, and it would seem that it would not have much time to pick up heat from the piping, before being pulled into the cylinders. Also, as the air takes some of the heat away from the inside of the piping, the interior of the pipe would get cooler. Its really hard to make any claims about this sort of thing. The heat from the intake is only going to be able to heat up the intake air a certain amount, so regardless, if you start with colder air, you will end up with colder air. But dont get me wrong, i personally run a SRI and I like it, I just think that better gains are to be had with a well designed CAI

[Veriest1]

Header wrap should keep the temps down further. I see no reason why it wouldn't serve to keep heat out instead of in but I could be wrong.

[naed240sx]

Yes, but keep in mind that wrapping a header will usually cause its life to decrease significantly. The header will retain a much larger amount of heat, as it will have now way of cooling off, and can often over heat, causing expansion of the metal and eventually failure(cracking) . I Know a guy who's exhaust manifold on his sr cracked in a week from using wrap. This was a cheap ebay mani, but either way, you get the point. Just dont be too surprised if it eventualy causes a problem. It does a damn good job of keeping the engine bay cool though

[Veriest1]

Well, I was talking about wrapping the intake piping with it to keep it cooler by keeping heat out. Sorry, my post wasn't to clear. I was to busy digging on ebay. If it will keep the intake cooler then it would probably lengthen it's life span since the air on the inside is signifigantly cooler than the air in the engine bay. I'm thinking in terms of insulation (like in houses) that keeps heat in and cold air in depending on the season. I'm not sure if header wrap works this way but if it does then it could be viable.

[naed240sx]

Yeah i bet that would help alot. the only reason i havent wrapped mine is because there is very little hood/fan shroud clearance