Thread: CAI vs WAI: Myth?

All else being equal, a CAI will be better. The problem is all else is not usually equal.
It's not hard to make a CAI way better than a WAI. It's hard to make a WAI better than a CAI.

i didnt feel like reading through this whole thread so i dont know if any one brought it up but...

a wai will make more power on a dyno because its not a wai with the hood up. with the hood closed it just sucks in hot air loosing hp. most people dont drive around with there hood up so the power given on the dyno is inacurate for actuly street whp.

also for every 10degress is usally about 1hp.

I don't even have a VE but CAI is better than WAI.

i disagree.. i had a cai on my car an it was holding it back.. when i took it off i gained noticeable throttle response an low end power.. not sure on the top end since i didnt play with it on a dyno or anything..

however it was a 2.5" cai an not a 3" cai so im sure that plays a role.. i would like to get a nice 3" full cai but its prolly not gonna happen for a while lol, although if you look at most peoples ve setups, an im not talkin about john does halfass swap lol you will see most of us are running WAI's.. now im not sayin to run with the rest of the herd im jus sayin..

do panel filters fall far behind wai/cai setups? im still using a piperx panel filter in a drilled oe airbox. ive read threads whereby SR members are moving back to panel filters, as its a short feed cold air intake setup already
dd

in the back to back dyno tests (trying to extract the best #'s) that were performed on my VE equipped car, a short ram (with bellmouth and NO filter) produced NO benefit over a hotshot cai (with jwt pop charger) . this was ~4+ yrs ago when a local sr20 turbo freak ; and i were testing different header and/or cam designs (i don't remember which).
i've tried running short ram on the street a few different times, and my calibrated butt dyno agrees. best performance for my particular setup is WITH the cai installed. fyi, i've gone away from the oiled K&N filter and gone with the AEM dryflow. not really for any power gain, i just "think" it filters better. ymmv
once my VE build is finished i want to protect it with the BEST filter on the market, regardless of a couple hp + or - .

So whats the results? cai wai???

I mean from the dyno results posted earlier not someones opinion.

If you really want to find out hit the dyno. Leave the hood closed when u make the pulls and you will see. With the hood up the cold air intake won't make a difference.

CAI is better. Couple of buddies(actual forum members) tried it on the streets with some spirited driving*.

94 SE-R Stock Lowport Mods: WAI, Arospeed dual tipped muffler, advanced timing
91 SE-R JDM highport Mods: CAI, Apex-i Dunk muffler, advanced timing

All intake tubing was PVC from home depot. CAI section was run through the fenderwell, 3 inch tubing all around.

From a 20mph roll it was dead even to the top of third gear.

Pulled Over, removed CAI section from the 91 SE-R and installed it in the 94 SE-R. Repeated the same driving.

From a 20mph roll to the top of third the 94 SE-R was ahead by about a car and a half.

At the time I was riding shotgun in the 94 SE-R and I weighed about 180 back then.

IMVHO CAI > WAI any day except when there monsoons.

Proven trials^^^^. those were the days, lol. I would buy PVC piping and heat it up to get the bends, then we would disconnect the fpr vacuum line or tap the top of the regulator to add pressure. After these testing we all started riding home depot intake upgrades,lol

then the motor got thirsty one day and I basically drove into what looked like a lake and the motor took a big gulp.ftl