89civic

looking for the best choice of an air intake for an 89civic lx....... short ram.... aem... etc

Kenny McCormick

Best bet would likely be a custom job. 99% of the shelf-bought CAIs don't actually suck cold air, rendering them nothing more than noise modification devices.

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KSIMP88

Look at pics of CAI's. Just get the K&N Cone filter, tubing, and section it off.

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2001 Tahoe LT Autoride
w/ third seat +25hp
K&N air filter +50hp
Custom Radio +15hp

Soon to buy:
Exhaust +50hp
Lowering kit (2") +30hp

Felipe the Ant

And a degree in fluid dynamics..

Shrimpykins

Only for those who want to try the ram air technique. What most people don't understand is how air travels over a car. They put these scoop that raise off the hood maybe 1.5" at max yet they don't realize the blast of air in the front lifts the actual moving air nearly 2" off the cars surface, then it hits the windshield at which point it's slightly closer, then jets above the car.

See the crude drawing:



The green is the lower air flow, red the air flow at the height of the air ram (or about so) and blue is the air ram and where the air flow should be to make use of the air ram. Notice how the air flow goes completely above the air ram, thusly making 0% use of the ram air technique.

Now, you can raise the scoop and get some use of the ram air technique... But another problem arises. The problem of pressure. How much pressure do you think you can build up and force into the engine? Because after all, this is nothing more than forced induction without the mechanical side of it. Done guessing? Last time I checked it was around .2 PSI at about 180mph (wish I could find the darn link). That amounts to about 2HP on a 300BHP motor. Not much, not to mention you would have a hard time in most cars getting up to 180mph.

Now onto how a cold air intake works. Cold air is more dense and therefore contains more molecules per unit of volume than hot air does. So theoretically, the colder you can get the air, the more oxygen content in the air for the combustion phase. So... A cold air intake isn't actually a cold air intake unless it's taking in... That's right class... COLD AIR. This will not be found under the hood, unless you place the intake filter in an area where fresh air is circulated. You also don't want any restriction in your intake. You do need a filter though.

Kenny McCormick

Another great place to put an intake is in the cowl vents. A high-pressure 'tube' of air tends to form there, and on every vehicle I've ever driven or ridden in that has cowl vents, it's powerful enough to force air through the HVAC no matter where it's set. You tend to get a slight amount of ramming effect from sucking air here, not to mention the air there is equal in temp to the outside air.


IMO, if you want a functional hood scoop that doesn't obscure visibility, get a 2" cowl hood and plumb your intake accordingly.

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cs_maan

Just lead your intake to the wheel wells where the air is roughly the temperature outside of the car, but that all depends on how that wheel well is covered/sectioned off from the engine.

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My Ride

Year: 2001
Make: Acura
Model: TL
Color: Dark Metallic Blue
Engine: 3.2L SOHC V6 with VTEC, 225HP/216 ft/lb torque.
162k Miles and still going strong!

lautinjr

Most cars already have a air feed from under the car to the air box replacing the tubing and using a better air filter like a cone while removing the box will make minor improvements, but just sectioning the air filter off with a wall between the filter and engine bay can make a major difference with out rounting the actual filter under the car or in the fender. the factory feed usually works really well with out mod. You just need to have a barrier between the engine bay and filter the air doesn't radiate in the bay long while the vehicle is moving anyway it constantly circulates.

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Please help reduce our mini van population and wear condoms!

cs_maan

If anything you can just remove you intake resonator and just get a K&N filter to pop into your box. This is implying that your intake resonator is the size of a microwave oven like mine is lol so I took it off. Do this only if your filter box has a lead to the wheel well though, otherwise its not really worth doing this rather than getting a CAI.

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My Ride

Year: 2001
Make: Acura
Model: TL
Color: Dark Metallic Blue
Engine: 3.2L SOHC V6 with VTEC, 225HP/216 ft/lb torque.
162k Miles and still going strong!