what's the difference, besides price, of the HAI and CAI? I understand cold air is more compressed and therefore more power, but how are the components different?

Thanks

 

HAI mounts directly onto the throttle body. It sucks in the "hot" air in the engine compartment as it is not shielded but still yields good gains because there is no piping loss as involved w/ CAIs.

CAIs are shielded from heat of the engine compartment, also the filter has more surface area able to suck in more air.

 

is the best bang for your buck...period... Other than the asthetics and lack of namebrand its a pretty good piece of kit. IMHO i wouldnt spend much more on an intake, as your funds can be better spent other places that would make a larger impression on power. As our cars have intercoolers, the influence of colder air isnt as important as with N/A cars.

 

Any dyno tests or rough estimates of what kind of HP gain one would expect with a HAI as opposed to a CAI or panel filter?
I have read some stories about the check engine light coming on with the HAI, is there any possible damage to the engine?
Finally, how about noise, is it comparable to the CAI?

 

I had a BMP CAI on my car for about a year. I swapped it out for the HAI and the butt-dyno says it's about the same. Sounds MUCH better though, you can hear the supercharger whine better, and you can hear the throttle body open and sucking in the air.
I paid $100 plus shipping for a used BMP, which I later sold for $100 locally.
I paid $35 with free shipping for the HAI.

From memory, in a controlled environment, the best HP increase from any intake is around 8hp. How much you want to spend to get those 8 horses is up to you.

I'm one of those who had a SES light caused by the HAI. It was my own fault. The last time I cleaned the filter, I didn't seat it back on the throttle body properly, and it was allowing air PAST the filter. Twice, at WOT, the engine sensed it was getting too much air and went into limp-home mode. Shutting off the engine and re-starting fixed it on the spot, putting the filter on correctly fixed it for good.

 

Which sounds better, the HAI or the CAI?

 

Hai

 

And what's better?

This one is a pretty subjective call. Get the HAI, and if you don't like it, get one of the CAIs.... You'lll only be out a bit less than $40, and you can probably get most back on the marketplace!

Matt

 

Dr Matt,
In your intercooler testing, did you ever measure a car with a "HAI" and then again with stock or a "CAI". I'm curious what the temperature differences are between "cold" and "hot". I think both are gross exagerations.

 

Hai

 

I'm running an ALTA CAI that I love sound, power, economy and butt dyno all improved dramatically over stock. I have seen race cars with both. HAI is cheaper, but models like the ALTA have been proven trouble free well over 100k miles. My next step is to improve airflow into the cowl area by making my own grill that is more free flowing but just as protective. The purpose of the SC is to increase the air density Col air is more dense that hot so its just that much closer and that much less work for the IC to have the air as cold and dense as possible before being ignited. More colder air is always best, so an HAI is really only going to provide more power if you can get it more air than a CAI and then have the IC and pulley give it more compression to get the max. use of fuel in the chamber and consequently the most power and efficiency.

 

but haven't gotten to it yet. Someday I will, and I'll post it as well.

But all the IC testing I did was with my HAI installed.

But I also think the way to test them is to measure pre SC pressure and temps with the different intakes, and that's what I'll be doing.

Matt

 

Slacker.

 

hey matt, when you do the tests, how come ur doing HAI compared to stock? Surely it'd be better to compare to something like the ALTA? The HAI will be much better than the stock

 

Definitely the HAI.

 

Because Matt runs an HAI. He uses the HAI and changes ICs. That said, yes it would be nice to have stock vs. HAI vs. CAI for each IC tested.

 

oh so he's only changing them to test ICs.....my bad

 

But I HAVE the stock set up, and the HAI. I don't have any of the others.

There you go!

Matt

 

hey matt, wasn't having a go at you or anything did i say something?

 

But nothing that bothered me. Just explaining why I'm planning on doing what I'll be doing! I thought of doing other intakes, but I can't afford to buy them now. So I'll just go with what I got.

Also, there's been a lot of stuff done with other intakes, but the HAI seems to be the step-child left out of all the parties. So WTF, I'll invite him in and have a go! But really, everyone is right, I really should include one of the other more common CAIs so the relative benefit can be determined.

Maybe sometime....

Matt

 

i just removed my HAI , i loved it was a great intake for someone on a budget.i live in a place where they use alot of salt on the roads in the winters. i removed the filter to clean it and i found salt stains on the TB. So i think if you must drive your mini in the winter go with a CAI. i now have a pilo and am very happy with the sound , i'm also getting 2 more pds of boost with the pilo cai.
good luck
mikie

 

2lbs of extra boost from a CAI vs. the HAI?

 

Any chance that could be 2lbs. of torque? Or 2hp. 2lbs. of boost would be a HUGE and unbelievable improvement.

 

I recently switched from a HAI to an ALTA, and it felt as if the car is breathing a bit easier. The notice from stock to HAI was noticeable, and the switch from the HAI to the Alta was noticeable as well. For $40 the HAI is still my pick for gain/$$ though

 

oh, i thought i offended you cos you said "so there." don't worry, (god i hate typing, you can't understand the tone of how ppl say things )

I'd imagine that the HAI would be very good for throttle response