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confused on cai

VUte89

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mmmmk well i need some clarification on cai's

pods, panels, growlers, airboxes, otr and whatever else i have seen on the forums.

what i want to know is why people put **** on pods and say k&n panels are the greatest then others say pods have to be enclosed to work better, then others say cai is just an expensive bit of plastic,
i understand that cold air is better for the motor and its better for the motor if it can "breath in" easier so i guess im gonna read the same replies to this as i have on seen on other threads but just some explanation would help.... thanks
 

TrikkBen

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What are you asking for help with?
Why does an engine make more power with colder air? Simple, the air is more dense when cold, that meaning there is more oxygen per square inch of air, compared to a hot example of the same mass. More oxygen = more burnablity = more power.

^^ Very simple explanation.

Ben
 

soop

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That's the most concise answer I've seen. And 100% true.

Another thing to take into account is flow. Flow is everything. The air can be sub-zero but if its not getting to the motor efficiently you ain't going far.
 

VUte89

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haha sorry umm is a pod better at its job then a panel is a ss inductions one better then say mace. im definately not going to do some home job haha. i looked on wikipedia and it said exactly what you said. i dont understand why people on here have such different opinions on the matter in my head cai's are either helpful or not haha im sorry if i make no sense
 

soop

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Google "Laminar flow" I think that's spelled correctly.

Nothing wrong with home jobs if you do your research. In fact, in most cases you can get it to work better then anything you'll buy.
 

HamaTime™

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A bare Pod filter in the engine bay (not enclosed) is worthless as it draws hot hair from the engine bay.

An enclosed pod shields the intake/pod from the heatsoak/hot engine bay air, thus allowing the majority of air to come through the pod from behind the headlight which is generally alot cooler (cooler air = denser with oxygen = more power)

A Panel filter works the same. However the problem with the stock airbox/panel filter is the flow side of things (See soop's post above)

But this is all two and one half dozen the other ... meaning a bolt up CAI is really going to make that little difference it's not worth thinking about.

Modifications yield their true potential when they are all paired as a combo, i.e. if you put a catback on, you've gained little, change the whole exhaust, you gain alot more.

Think wider than just a little mod giving you some BS marketed 5kw gain or greater fuel efficiency etc etc.
 

soop

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Pods also disrupt the air flow, causing turbulence which will effect the MAF's ability to read the true volume of air.
So if you use a pod, have it as far away from the MAF as possible.

A big panel filter would work better IMO.
 

graham7773

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soop, not trying to hijack the thread but is the standard otrcai on the VT no good?
 

soop

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IMO no.

Run it on the dyno, then pull it off and run it again.
I'd put $50 down saying it doesn't do a thing.

More again, invest in a temperature sensor and digital thermostat from Jaycar and plum it into the air intake and measure the difference in intake temps. This will tell you for sure.
Again, I'd confidently put money on the difference being less then 5kw and/or 10degrees.
 

VUte89

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yea i got the exhaust sorted headers cats and the rest of the system, got a 69mm throttle body on rockers to put on when i get the chance it still has the stock intake tho and i looked at the mace on and a pamphlet for the ss inductions.

so with what i have already done to my car the cai will make more of a difference
 
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