Which is better Cold/Short Ram?

[soccerislandbouy]

I am looking to put on an aftermarket intake on my 1998 Nissan 200SX 2.0, but I cant consider if I should buy a short ram or cold air intake. Which would you recommend and the manufacturer?

[RED_DET]

CAI... Injen, AEM, etc.... which ever, they all give about the same gains. Just make sure you get a bypass valve.

[nametakennow]

CAI gets more power, definitely. Any good name brand will do.

I've run without a BPV for years and never had a problem, even lowered through some pretty rough GA thunderstorms.

Unless you have ever had a situation where you've had to drive through puddles that completely submerge your bumper up to the grille, I wouldn't bother. Even partially submerged you won't flood.

[jnxelectronics]

It is true you DO NOT need a bypass valve. I got a "water deflector" and that WORKS JUST AS GOOD, and it ONLY cost me $5. But in ALL honestly, you donot EVEN need that. The "bypass valve" is just ANOTHER part that people like AEM and INJEN make STATING that YOU DO NEED so they can make MORE MONEY off you. For ANY EXTRA PART you PUT IN is ANOTHER PART that can BREAK. THEREFORE more money to the companies. If you leave in Cali., WA. or ANY OTHER place where it rains A LOT, it might not be a BAD idea to install a water deflector. It is a FRACTION of the cost and it has NO MOVING cost, so it WILL NOT BREAK. Now about your other questions, for A NISSAN a COI is the best...HANDS DOWN. And about the brand, even THAT does not matter. The reason why I say that is BECAUSE NYONE can bend a pipe and make a COI. The ONLY thing that matters on BUYING A COI, is the PIPE SIZING AND TYPE OF MATERIAL USED FOR THE FILTER.....THAT IS IT. For the BIGGER the piping, the MORE AIR goes in...hence the FASTER YOU GO. And from PERSONAL experience I came to realise that the GENERIC brand piping is BIGGER. SO what I did was buy a COI on Ebay for $20 and an K&N filter for $50. That gave me a 3" piping (bigger then INJEN and NISMO and AEM and K&N) which means I get MORE airflow. That was a TOTAL of $80, which is LESS then ANY BRAND NAME.

[Evil_Twin]

All depends on what you're doing with the car. I have a short ram in my 05 Spec V, and I have heard things about people saying with a SRI you get more torque and with a CAI you lose torque. Yes you're getting cold air, but with the daily driving that I do, I would rather my car last longer in a rain storm. I have 2 friends that hydrolocked their motor. I don't understand why people depend on the bypass valve so much. If you're driving and you go through a massive puddle, all that water isn't just going to go out of the bypass valve.

I owned a 92 Nissan Maxima with a CAI and never had a problem. Just stay away from the puddles if you want to go with CAI. But if you're racing and you're worried about not getting enough cold air, I would say just take out the headlight so you get direct air flow.

Just my opinion.

[nametakennow]

You gain torque period. You may trade a little more torque for a little more hp with a CAI rather than a short ram, but even the butt dyno would have trouble noticing.