The most basic bolt-on, replacement of the restrictive stock intake system will give great power gains for their comparatively low price. The stock system includes an opening inside the engine bay which leads down a passageway through a sound deadening resonator. The resonator slows down the airflow effectively restricting your engine from breathing in all the air it wants to. After it passes through the resonator, the airflow comes up another passageway into a sealed airbox where the airflow finally meets the filter and is sucked in through the intake hose to find it's way into the engine. Sound like a pain in the ass process? Yeah your engine thinks so too which is why an aftermarket intake system is a must.

Short Ram Air:

Cold Air:
 

The infamous cold air intake (CAI), thousands of import fans swear on cold air intakes to help their cars run at peak performance. Brands like AEM and Injen have made a big name for themselves just from this part alone. These cold air intakes are designed to suck in air from behind the turn signal, inside the fender, or in some cases from the front of the car. The air is much cooler in these places than inside the engine bay which allows a higher density of oxygen to be sucked in, resulting in a larger explosion inside the combustion chamber. Advantages: -Brings in cooler air from the outside allowing a higher density of oxygen molecules to enter the combustion chamber giving a more powerful explosion on ignition. Disadvantages: -High risk of sucking water into engine in partially flooded areas (bypass valve available to eliminate this risk however). -Longer pipe and more bends might cause slight hesitation of airflow.

AEM Cold Air Intake By-pass Valve which engages when it "senses" the filter is waterlogged.

Ice Box:

This intake design from Comptech is a hybrid short ram and cold air intake system. The design was slightly copied from the Mugen CAI however with the Icebox you get to keep your air conditioning (hehe how nice of them). The Icebox utilizes the efficiency of a short ram intake and puts cold air in it. The air filter is sealed in a larger unrestrictive airbox which is directed downward to suck air in from near the turn signal, allowing cold air to come through it's short ram intake. This design is probably the best you can do without chopping off one of your hi-beams and sucking in air from the headlight opening. Peak HP gains compared with the traditional cold air will be negligible however the midrange will be much improved. HP Increase: 5-10 (peak HP less affected than low to midrange power) Advantages: -High efficiency, cold air intake design gives good power gains throughout the RPM spectrum rather than only at peak. -Decreased risk of water ingestion. Disadvantages: -Peak HP will not be as high as with regular cold air intakes. -Might not be as loud as you like your intakes to be.

Purchasing Guide


Short Ram Intakes:

You can buy just about any short ram intake and they will all perform the same. The only differences between the short rams will be in what brand of air filter is used and how well it flows. Even then the differences in power will be very small and not worth spending extra hundreds of dollars on a big name brand short ram versus a no-name brand.

Cold Air Intakes:

AEM CAI - Easily the most popular intake ever made, and for good reason. The AEM CAI consists of a thermal coated single diameter aluminum pipe and K&N-style air filter. The intake pipe is designed to dissipate heat almost immediately when air is drawn in. AEM outperformed just about every intake which had been pitted against it for years. However nowadays it does have some real competition but nevertheless you cannot go wrong buying this one.

Comptech Icebox - As explained above it incorporates a hybrid design which basically gets cold air into a short ram intake. The Icebox is an insulated plastic airbox which draws air in from a tube that extends down near the turn signal. If you buy the Icebox you will also need to purchase either the Comptech Drop-in Air Filter or the Comptech Short Ram intake. The drop-in air filter fits into your stock airhose and fits inside the Icebox. Purchasing the Comptech Short Ram intake along with the Icebox is more expensive but you will have the ultimate Comptech intake setup and how much is that worth to you? An excellent design by all standpoints, it's only downfall is it's comparatively high price.

Knights Engineering Iceman Intake - This intake consists of a two-piece plastic tube which decreases in diameter as it reaches the throttle body. This multi-diameter design was meant to act as a "velocity stack" and increase the speed of airflow as it traveled up the pipe. There have been numerous reports of the lower piece of the intake simply falling off due to bad design.

Injen Race Division Intake - This intake copies AEM's design however the tube is polished instead. Under real driving conditions you will have slight power losses when compared with AEM as the polished aluminum does not have the same heat repelling properties. It is still a very good intake, a copy of AEM's design which is very good and you can usually find this for a much lower price. If you are on a budget then the Injen CAI would be your next best choice.

Aerospeed FMIS (Front Mount Intake System) - This interesting design places a large flat air filter in front of your radiator. Aerospeed claims tha air will be forced into the intake when you are traveling at speed, creating more power. I claim they are full of crap, and that's not the only problem I have with this intake. Here's my list of 5 things gone terribly wrong with this intake.

1. The intake pipe is too long. Shorter pipes are more efficient, the engine does not like to have to work to get its air.

2. The "ram air" that they claim the FMIS gives you is impossible given the design of the pipe mounted sideways to the direction of airflow.

3. This thing is just plain dangerous. All the airborne crap like bugs, rocks, goo, and whatever that you see murder your front bumper is now in direct position to murder your engine. Traveling at speed, there's definitely a possibility of some of that crap busting through the air filter.

4. To counteract reason #3, there is a safety device they offer for the FMIS called the Lexan Window. This blocks all that flying crap however it then takes away the entire advantage that they advertised you would have by having the air filter mounted in the front of your car.

5. With the intake now in front (especially using the Lexan Window), airflow to your radiator is now blocked and coolant ventilation is kept at a minimum. I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone that this is a bad thing.

Well there you have it. Thanks B18C_DOHC. Feel free to air your comments in our discussion board guys.