Cold Air Intake

[JayRyan]

OEM FTW. I put mine in only because it was free

[Dubber]

So - I am confused how the turbo makes the CAI useless??

[JayRyan]

So - I am confused how the turbo makes the CAI useless??

I'm with confused. Find me a person who's water-locked their engine with a CAI too. Vortex mythology is what that is right there.

Aeron was right on: while CAI's are good, pulling from the engine bay (short ram) isn't the best. While the intercooler, does it's job, pulling in unnecessary hot air doesn't help the cooling job. That's why most people don't like short ram intakes. You pulling hotter air than what you can get close to the ground. That's also subjective because ambient air temps would need to be measured

When it comes to boosted cars, it's about flow. The OEM intake on most 1.8T's is pretty damn efficient. I wouldn't change it out unless you're feeling like you want more sound or a different look.

[Mikewire]

I wouldn't say a turbo makes a CAI useless, but a turbo's heat rises into the engine bay which = hot air into your CAI -> IC and back into your intake, which raises your intake temps and decreases A/F ratios, increases heat soak, etc. and if your CAI is sitting in your engine bay with not venting or partition...well you are just sucking even more hot air into your "cold" air intake. Other than giving louder growl to your revs, I would say it's useless, and it's just a filter on a stick - you are better off going with a K&N in your OEM intake (ahem...not swisscheezed airbox...ahem ) It looks cool tho.

edit: JR beat me to it

[Dubber]

So first off, I'm talking an actual cold air intake, not a Short ram intake Also - the airbox for my 1.8t certainly did not look like it was very good at flowing air.

JR
I've driven a car whose previous owner hydrolocked the engine by driving through a huge puddle.

my question was merely to the point of - why, on a turbo car, would the CAI matter less than a naturally aspirated car?? it does not make all that much sense to me...

[Rennwagen1]

hydrolocked the engine by driving through a huge puddle.

And who's fault was that?! I blame the guy behind the wheel for hydrolocking any motor CAI or not, unless you were a victim of Katrina.

LIke Mike said, it is all about flow. Your engine is essentially an air pump, the more air sucked, squeezed, banged, and blown, the more power your car will produce. Period.

That being said, the more, denser, and less turbulent air you can get in your car, the better it will be. Intake kits are built on those principles. Think of a cone filter with a built in venturi on the inside, now think about your flat filter that is trying to pass all that air into the small inlet hole. The cone filter will be more efficient every time. most cone filters will also flow much more air than a FACTORY panel filter. Obviously K&Ns and the like are different. I strongly believe in Intake kit, and that is not because I sell them. That is based on real world experience and years of installing them. K&N actually guarantees thier filter kits. If you (have the ability to)put your car on a dyno, run it, log the power, then install the intake it, run it, and log it, and it does not make more power, K&N will buy it back from you. That is a pretty bold statement, I think.

Anyway, I already know where this arguement is going, which is nowhere, so I will probably save my future comments for when we can all hang around someone's back yard on the YNP, get us a bunch of beer, and figure this whole mess out!!

[Dubber]

Your statements echo my thoughts on the matter Aeron - I agree with the beer/cigar/buzzed car debates!

[JayRyan]

hydrolocked the engine by driving through a huge puddle.

And who's fault was that?! I blame the guy behind the wheel for hydrolocking any motor CAI or not, unless you were a victim of Katrina.

Anyway, I already know where this arguement is going, which is nowhere, so I will probably save my future comments for when we can all hang around someone's back yard on the YNP, get us a bunch of beer, and figure this whole mess out!!

^^^what he said^^^

[ryan's05gli]

yeah you guys make a good point about bringing in cooler air. it makes sense and on a NA car it definately makes sense. I have seen the differences it has made on previous cars. But the cooler air you are pulling in immeadiately gets sucked into a turbo, for those of us with turbo cars. all that cold air you have been sucking in has just been heated up to the same temperature had it been sucked from the engine bay with a short ram intake. you can see for yourself what really produces power. if you ever get a chance to look into a group b rally car they have huge air filters right next to the turbo and extremely short exhausts. basically a tube coming out of the turbo. maximizing flow is everything in a turbo car. and a short ram intake has the potential to flow much more air. if you are looking into cooling intake temperatures save the money you would spend on a cold air intake and invest in either water/meth injection, a better intercooler, a halo kit for your intercooler, or a power gasket for the intake manifold. those will all help improve the intake temperature much better than a cold air intake on our car.

[Dubber]

So - here is where I find failing in your logic. You are bringing cooler air into a N/A car, which is where you get the power gains.With a turbo'd Even though the cold air is going into the hot turbo - its still going to be cooler than it had been previously. so regardless it will help, now, maybe the gains will be marginalized.
Does that not make sense? Who knows, maybe i'm wrong =)