Cold Air Intakes

[AD08]

I'm confused...
Is a cold air intake a type of induction kit or is it different. And what about long and short ram intakes.
Also I read somewhere that you need a heater or sumat with cold air intakes to stop them from freezing in cold weather. If this is true do cold air intakes kits come with this heater pre-installed or do you need to buy it separetly.

 

[obi_waynne]

A good question AD08 one we probably take for granted.

In its simplest form most people understand the induction kit to refer to a cone or pod air filter.

The cold air intake is a duct to pull air to the induction kit from outside the warm engine bay. There is no chilling or other mechanics taking part here - its just a duct for the air to follow.

RAM air theoretically forces more air into the engine but you need to have quite a lot of speed for this to make any difference at all.

 

[unityjon]

I'm confused...
Is a cold air intake a type of induction kit or is it different. And what about long and short ram intakes.
Also I read somewhere that you need a heater or sumat with cold air intakes to stop them from freezing in cold weather. If this is true do cold air intakes kits come with this heater pre-installed or do you need to buy it separetly.

An 'induction kit' is just that, its a bundle of bits that control the induction to your throttle, basically a pipe and filter.

A cold air induction kit or CAI is like that above but with a longer pipe to put the filter into a colsd air space rather than in the engine bay, some claim to be CAI but all they supply is some flexible ducting fro you to vent cold air from outside the engine bay in toward the filter, a bit of a cop out but works in theory !

no heater required, it wont get that cold unless your in the arctic/antarctic and the fuel would freeze in the inlet long before the air became a problem. try and avoid putting a CAI in an area prone to getting very wet (possibly submerged), like a wheel arch as you can hydro-lock your engine which is not good !!

 

[AD08]

I see, ok thanks lads

 

[TITAN]

i was wondering, can an induction kit be fitted to a car with a pancake filter rather than air box? i didnt think you could as you normally replace the box but you cant take the pancake filter out, my m8 said he'd got one attached but i havent seen it yet so dont know how it works.

if you can would it be worthwile getting a performance pancake filter as well or would it have no effect?

 

[obi_waynne]

A Pancake filter ? Instead of oil do you spray on Lemon juice?

I guess your talking about the large round filters you get which are sometimes encased with chrome.

These are usually poking up through a vent in the center of the bonnet or encased in a "frying pan". You can replace these with an induction kit it sounds like you have a carb engine so will need some custom piping to connect it.

 

[TITAN]

haha i love the subtle irony here :toung: but whenever i've looked to buy a new filter this is genuinely what they are called

 

[obi_waynne]

It is funny the nicknames given to car parts.

 

[96AccordCoupe]

CAI (Cold Air Intake) - Air filter usually goes through the hole that your filter box sits on, away from the engine heat. Hydrolock should only be a concern if you are planning on aquaplaning large puddles. However there are filters you can buy with water resistant covers or you can get bypass valves for the tubing (but they are argued to be counter productive)

SRI (Short Ram Intake) - Usually shorter tubing, filter sits where the old airbox used to reside or even further in than that. Hence the need for heatshields in some cases, otherwise you will be sucking in hot air which will cause a reduction in power.