Im not arguing that, I bought the NM just for the smooth piping. Like you said its an arguement that goes back and forth... but the second the air gets compressed its gonna be hot as the devils D!@% and gains temp diffs will be seen in the efficiency of the intercooler.

Now you could make the arguement that the are going in is cooler with a cai than without and its will be a little bit colder but not enough to make a difference.


On an N/A car evey degree less is more important since your trying to get as much VE (volumetric efficiency) as possible but with a turbo the second you go into boost your exceeding 100% ve so its gonna take an in depth investigation to see whther it makes a difference or not.


Or a back to back dyno run simulating the same engine temps etc to create constants which is very difficult.

They sound nice though and look nice. Id like to believe they help spool but shortening the path to the turbo is the best way to do. We have maf's which are so damn touchy though!

 

Ya know I never see anyone mention the Forge CAI. Thats what I have and its a sealed system that uses a large cone filter and the existing tubing to bring cool air in from the stock intake port. I'm sure the DDM is much better as its a straighter pass through type system instead of having to weave the air through the tubing but for the price I found it to be much more useful than the open system from Alta. I of course have no way to test any of this but in my reasoning it seems like a good compromise with no noticeable loss of power or bottom end performance. I did however add it with a full turbo back exhaust and some other goodies so I can't say if it helped all that much, but after I just installed the CAI it did "feel" a bit peppier. I also believe they are a good starting point to open your system up from intake to exhaust and are an important component.