noob

[slowti]

can someone explain to me the difference between a cai and a short ram intake? I know that short ram is supposed to give better low-end torque and cai gives better peak hp, but can someone explain how they actually work?

[Duckydos]

CAI, or cold-air-intake uses a longer tube that usually extends into the wheel-well or behind the front bumper. This ambient air is usually cooler (hence more condensed) then the air in the engine bay. With a short-ram, the intake is in the engine bay and usually draws in warmer air then a CAI. Both systems use the same type air filter.

-Ducky

[Iketani]

ram air intake comes on a Camaro SS, personally i prefer cold air intake. and, if u do it right, u can make the tube shorter, IF u do it right.

[DINANFIVE]

i think the short ram intake gives faster response than a long cai. but a short cai would give better response than a long one.

[slowti]

ooooh, so I think I understand now. So basically they work the same way, it's just that the shor ram has a shorter pipe and because it has a shorter pipe, the air is going to get there faster and will have a better response, but because it's in the engine bay, it's going to suck up the warm air, which will make it perform not as good as if it was to take air from the outside.

Just one question. If short ram takes air from in the engine bay, How does it make your car perform better? Because I can understand how a cai would do it by taking air from the outside and the wind resistance would actually force more air in, but wouldn't short ram just take the static warm air from inside? Maybe it takes it from a place on the side of the engine bay that has air that is less warm?

[DINANFIVE]

it is a shorter tube and has a less restrictive filter. also the design can be better than the stock one

[bignate]

any style of "ram air" intake is essentially a performance illusion, as unless you are traveling at well over 100 mph it won't provide any performace gains whatsoever from the actual "ramming" of air into your intake, according to the laws of physics. the only thing it does do is provide your engine with a large amount of cool air to suck up, so it's essentially just a glorified cold air intake. you aren't going to get any kind of "boost" from it or anything like that, it's just not feasible.

bearing that in mind, there are basically 2 types of cold air intake kits, shielded and remote. a shielded kit uses a free-flow filter, such as k&n cone, that bolts directly on to the end of the intake pipe, and is surrounded by some type of heat shield. the active autowerke and conforti kits are "shielded" style kits. it consists of an insulated "box" that surrounds the filter, and when the hood is down, it "compartmentalizes" a corner of the engine bay. this forces the intake pipe to suck cool air from the outside via the factory cold air intake duct, and prevents it from pulling in hot air from the engine bay. it also keeps heat from the engine away from the intake assembly. air can also be ducted into the "box" by other means, as from a brake duct or alternate intake source, such as a scoop.

a remote system uses a k&n style cone mounted on an extended intake pipe to completely remove the filter assembly from the engine compartment and put it somewhere where it can suck cool air from outside. the dinan kit is a "remote" style kit. depending on application, it may require much more piping to get the filter down and out of the engine bay, so you effectively increase the distance the air has to travel to get to the manifold, which, along with twists and bends in the pipe, can restrict the air and cancel out most of the gains you just achieved by installing the cold air system. also, depending on exactly where the filter is relocated to, putting the filter element completely out of the engine bay can subject it to road debris or water that could be damaging to the filter or engine.


nate

[GSX-STi-spec-f]

The cold air intakes use much longer tubes to reach the fenderwells to scoop the cooler air. The ram air intakes have much shorter pipes, this is the reason for the better low end torque gains from the raim air. They need to move a smaller amount of air in the tube to suck into the engine. The longer tubes require more energy to move the larger amount of air to the engine. The larger amount of inertia of more condensed cooler air, from the cold air intake "ram" some of the air into the engine at higher rpms which accounts for the higher hp gains at the top end. It's all about the inertia.