I was offered a used Injen CAI today and have to pay by tomorrow. Its a good deal but I heard that it leans out the engine and other comments like - no improvement. Can anyone shed some light to this ?
Do not take this as 100% truth, but from what I have read on various forums over the years, a CAI does not help the Subaru boxer engines. I am sure someone more qualified will offer their opinion shortly. By the way, how much are you spending on it?
Some of the intakes have quirky little features that fool with the MAF (or MAP, I forget which we've got) signals. The Injen is a good intake that doesnt screw with the ECU but I wouldnt expect too much of a gain without tuning. Some people have actually lost power with intakes without tuning. If it's a good price I'd go for it but if not you could spend that money elsewhere and net greater gains.
Yeah, you will likely not see any real gain with it. Better off spending the $ on an uppipe which probably would be pretty close price wise.
I decided NOT to go for it. The CAI will still take air from the body cavity and i have a Black car so it will be hot air so in future I will be looking for a short ram. What Ive read that our airbox can handle to about 300hp and im not even close to it. Ill save the money and go for suspension for now - Thanks
The airbox is rumored to be ok for some 500hp, so I wouldn't sweat it. As for hot air, keep in mind that the engine can suck in hundreds of cubic feet of air every minute, so it's not like it is sitting around warming up anywhere.
yea intake to me is not something i am going to invest in. Those sensors are to easy to f up with aftermarket intakes. plus like everyone said now enough gain.
i have the injen cold air you notice a lot better throtle response with it .. it also gives a nice little sound if you are still running the stock bov
Intakes are noise makers. I do believe the top rated one for the STi is the K&N Typhoon. Why? because it does not change the diameter of the charge pipe and retains the stock MAF location. Thus you will not throw a CEL. Apparently, with the K&N you can get about 11 bhp. Its more a cool noise maker than anything, lets you hear the turbo a bit more.
YIKES!!! Apparently I have not been doing my local boys justice in the information passing department. I apologize Okay some MAJOR things about these cars: 1) Stock is a GREAT cold-air. With the hood snorkel forcing air into the fender box, and then into the intake, it works well. 2) A drop-in panel filter, like a DRIED OUT K&N (they come wet enough with oil to foul the MAF) or a Green is worth 1.8 to 2.0 whp across the board. 3) A *PROPER* CAI is worth a few more. Maybe another 2,3, even 4, AND you get the cool sucking sounds and the recirc sound. 4) A short ram is *HOT!* air intake. With the HOOD OPEN and a fan BLOWING on it, it might make a few more whp. With the hood closed you can be seeing 70-100 degree INCREASES in ACTUAL intake air temp (what the ECU sees). Contrary to some myth, the turbo and IC do NOT make it the same temp regardless. A 50 degree difference in the air going INto the turbo can be a 70+ degree difference on the way OUT of the turbo (turbos are not 100% efficient compressors). Yes the IC brings is closer back to ambient, but it's not 100% efficient either, so hotter air in, is hotter air out. 6) Injen is actually the CAI that MOST CLOSELY replicates the stock flow over the MAF. In other words if you are NOT going to tune for it, the Injen CAI (NOT the limited though) is what I would call the "best" intake. If you are going to tune for it, the flow over the MAF is less important, because the tuner can fix it and make it right in the ecu. 7) With that ^^^ said about the Injen, I still like the APS CAI also. If you just install it without tuning, you will be RICH at the top. I've probably tuned 30+ cars with APS Intakes, they all have the "APS wave" at the top of the fueling map. So with tuning, I can lean it back out, but without it would be very rich. So to sum it up, stock is great, panel filters help, CAI's make a little more, but Injen is one of the few to install without tuning... short ram's are BAD. Hope this helps, sorry it's late, SS
awesome scott thanks I passed on the CAI because it was for sedan and its $100 the wagon supposedly has a different model
Scott, Great information, I am sure everybody appreciates it! One question: With most FMIC kits I've seen, they supply/require a short ram to make room for the piping. What are the options for a better setup here?
I prefer not to mod the intake/exhaust unless i have my gauges (boost, Oil temp and EGT) and have the AP (or somekinda ecu mgmt). I have time
I don't know.... intakes seem like a pretty good mod if you do it the right way. The install isn't bad, not terribly expensive, increases the noise, nice little HP gain, engine bling, etc. My train of thought is, if I'm gonna get a custom tune anyway, might as well toss one on.
if u just took out the snorkel, u might wanna look into the silencer delete elbow... not sure how much it helps but i dont see it harming any
You guys should have been in my car while Scott was tuning it. I have a Perrin FMIC and Perrin short ram intake with the Perrin Turbo inlet tube. All this feeding or being fed by a TD05h 18g turbo. It was around 64 degrees outside yet the EcuTek monitor on Scott's laptop was showing 110+ degrees of intake air temps! :eek3: Scott kept insisting that I get a CAI and told me to do so before I got tuned but I was strapped for cash at the time. Scott....I found out that you can make the Perrin CAI work with the FMIC with minor trimming of the piping. I will most likely do that. I will install it and get it trimmed and situated and then take it off so that I can install it when you retune. However I read somewhere that throttle response will get worst and the turbo will lag more. Can you work around that? You said yourself that there was still a lot left to tune in the car and also I will be getting meth injection soon! Tell what your opinions are? Yay or nay and what should I be expecting with Meth inj. on the car? 340 whp and tq sound right?