Various Short Ram/Cold Air Intake Systems

[PrimeTimeV6]

In the past I have had several different intake systems on my cars and installed some on other vehicles. Here are my personal opinions on each.

AEM cold air. It was a 2 piece intake with all the installation hardware including instructions. You could actually say that it was a short ram with an extension to make it cold air. The installation was very easy and it had tabs welded to the short ram and the extension. It had rubber mounting points so that it would move with the engine as needed. The gains were moderate and I have no complaints at all about this intake.

AEM Brute Force. Smooth straight forward install with detailed instructions. It has all of the installation hardware you need to get the job done. It also came with a block off plate that keeps the air charge temperatures down since there was no where to run an actual cold air intake. The gains were moderate and a good upgrade.

Comptech cold air with Ice box. This intake was also an easy install with detailed instructions and all the required hardware. It was made of a thick plastic and had very little heat soak. It was a short ram going into a box that is located in the same spot as factory with a tube going down behind the bumper to get its nice breath of cold air.

Ebay special cold air intake. This was a cheaply made cold air intake system, with no installation instructions, no welded on tabs for securing it and missing a bung for the oil return. It did come with a small filter to put on the valve cover where the return line was. It gave some gains with a lot of heat soak since it was cheaply made and ran rather close to the coolant lines.

Ingen short ram intake on a Toyota with a MAF sensor. Installation was a breeze. It had detailed instructions with actual pictures of the application taken step by step. It also fit like a glove and was mounted to rubber mounts in the stock hanger locations for movement. Heat soak was about the same as the AEM with moderate gains.

K&N Cold air intake. This intake was another very well put together system. Installation was easy and straight forward. Came with all the necessary hardware for a great fit and finish. It also had a plate to keep the high engine temperatures away from the intake filter. Gains were moderate and heat soak was minimal since it was made of a thick plastic.

Ractive short ram intake. The gains were moderate, the tube would get heat soak BAD but the installation was sketchy since it came with NO instructions. It had no welded on tabs to secure it under the hood. So I had to fabricate a mounting bracket so that it wouldn't rattle around. It also was missing a port for the oil return so I had to buy separately an oil catch can.

All of these views are my own experience on various applications from domestic trucks to imports with and without MAF sensors. If you have any personal experiences with intake system feel free to post your reviews here.

[8695Beaters]

Nice. Isn't the Brute Force a truck intake though? And what would you say about insulating the intake pipe. Think that would help with the heat soak?

[PrimeTimeV6]

Yes the Brute Force is for trucks/SUVs. It would help to a certain extent. To get the most out of it would be to get thicker manifold gaskets to keep the temps down on your intake manifold as well. The gains are minimal but every little bit helps.

[8695Beaters]

I meant wrapping the whole intake pipe in fiberglass or something like that. I guess that would only really do anything major to a turbo'd car though. The weight of the insulation probably wouldn't overcome the power gains on an N/A car.

[PrimeTimeV6]

Wrapping it really wouldn't help much. Like I said it would be better to cool the intake manifold with thicker gaskets. Now to keep under hood temps a little lower you could wrap the manifold/header to keep the heat down. Keeping the under hood temps down will keep your intake cooler.

[8695Beaters]

I don't see how a thicker gasket would help intake temps. I haven't hit thermo in engineering yet, so maybe I'll get it later on.

[PrimeTimeV6]

You would be surprised what heat soak can do.

[8695Beaters]

I know what heat soak can do to power, but I don't see how a thicker intake gasket will help keep intake temps cool.

Actually, my car ran its fastest drag pass last night. Since it's NA, the heat doesn't affect power that much. But since my tires suck, the extra heat gives me more grip. I cut off 2 tenths and almost hhad another, except I launched to high.

[PrimeTimeV6]

What were you running?

[ricardo95]

I had an ebay short ram that I converted to Cold air buy buying an extension pipe and the silicone wrappiing to merge the two pipes. The great thing is it had a K&N filter and that was my main concern. Gains were noticeable above 3K RPM and it roared when teh Vtec kicked in. Better gas mileage as well. No issues. RIP 1998 Acura Cl. Now looking to drop a K&N in my accord. Anyone notice any changes or issues?