This is really more of a question for you Alta owners....it certainly seems that the Alta CAI is the most popular of the bunch, and it is what I had on my wish list for when the car arrives. But now Pilo has a 1-week sale of their CAI for $125 - HALF THE COST OF THE ALTA.

So I guess the question is, having owned the Alta for as long as you have (whatever that is), given the choice again would you pay $250 for it (with silicone hose) or $125 for the Pilo CAI?

I think the biggest obstacle I'm trying to overcome (personally) is the "you get what you pay for" and "there's no such thing as a free lunch" mentality. No offense to Dan Pilo, but part of me wonders if one costs half the price of the other - is it half as good? And if its better than half as good, why would anyone continue to buy the Alta, considering the regular price on the Pilo CAI is only 60% of the Alta CAI.

What am I missing here?

Doug

 

If you are pinching the penny optimising your MINI's perforamance, the Pilo CAI is the absolute best buy out there. The ALTA intake, however, with it's higher flow filter and bigger and better finished heat-sheild, is worth the money to those that can spring for it. The silicone tube, while only slightly helping with airflow, is more of an audible enhancement device. For the sound it adds to my CAI, the extra $60 on top of the base $200 ALTA CAI is worth it all the way.

Pilo's CAI is the best you're going to get anywhere near the price point, however the ALTA is still the best on the market.

I hope that helps!
Cheers,
Ryan

 

I am not so convinced that the Alta is necessarily the best on the market. The only two things you could purchase a CAI for, is for better airflow/temperatures which results in a hp improvement and sound. As far as hp, anyone has yet to prove that the Alta makes the most amount of hp. All of the good ones make in the 4-5hp range. The Pilo has made anywhere from 4-6hp on independent dyno machines, even Eric's conservative Mustang dyno. The hp is so close that you will not be able to tell a difference. As far as sound, I have heard both and they seem to make the same sound to me. I can't tell a difference. The Pilo brings out the supercharger sound just as much as the Alta. The Pilo uses the Green Filter http://www.greenfilterusa.com/ A highly acclaimed filter element that is available commercially as well. With the Alta you would have to go through Alta to get a replacement. Not to knock on the Alta, but I really don't think twice the amount of money is worth it for the Alta. I have used the Pilo and it is a really good quality item. It is solidly built and in no way looks or feels cheap. For the difference in price you could purchase the Pilo and a 19% pulley and have way more power than what you get with the Alta. I think the $125 would be better spent elsewhere. Of course this is my opinion, but I really don't think you can go wrong with the Pilo. Just because it is inexpensive doesn't mean it is cheap. Just that Dan really tries to keep the prices of his items low.

 

I have the Alta CAI and am very happy with the performance, sound, quality, etc. Tests have shown that the foam filter as used in the Alta does flow better than the cotton gause filters as used in the K&N, Pilo, etc. Further, I was told that the Pilo filter is made in France and I will not buy anything made in France. (No Flames Please, just my personal boycot)

I did not get the hose because Randy said it doesn't make anymore HP unless you have the big boor TB so, now cost is $199.00.

That being said, the Pilo is still a good bang for your buck... just not for me

 

Yeah I would be careful on the whole foam filter vs. cotton filter arguments as well. First, the Pilo is not a typical cotton filter, and second for every report from a foam manufacturer you can show a report from a cotton manufacturer that there is better. Same with filtration.


I am not just a spokesman, but a customer as well.

 

just to liven things up a bit, how does Maxvelocity's CAI @$140 for NAM members figure in to this discussion?

 

I looked into this also and decided on the K&N Typhoon for $200 dollars.

 

I only spent 1/5th the cost of the Alta on a my intake and can assure you it is not 1/5th as good. I am running the K&N RU-1520 for less than $50. (see Operation Hot Air Intake thread) Andy@Rosstech switched from the Alta to this intake and loves it. The Alta does look better than the HAI but it hasn't proven to outperform it. My MCS was bone stock when I installed mine and I could feel quite a difference.

If you like the looks of the Pilo I would go with it and also buy the pulley mentioned above. If looks are most important, the Alta is hard to beat.

 

Or for about $35 you can get a K&N RU-1550 (HAI a la Andy and Macncheese) from www.ajusa.com and have better flow than the ALTA. I do really like my Pilo intake, though. For the one or two hp difference vs the ALTA it's just silly not to go Pilo and put the rest of the moolah toward a swaybar or short shifter. Just my opinion, of course.

Marty

 

Not to cut in on Pilo's sales but I have 6 heat shields I will sell for $65 ea. and you can pick the filter style of your choice. The shield is .050" aluminum with a machined tube that uses a 2 3/4" ID filter. The outlet side of the tube is 2 5/8" dia which will fit the stock hose or the Alta. I am not in it to make a profit, I just wanted to make my own and had enough material to make extras. I am using a K&N filter but the S&B filters are just as nice and cost less. S&B has a 8" long filter that just fits or you can use a 7" filter for extra room. See the picture below.





PM me if interested.
Dan

 

I chose the Pilo not necessarily for the price point, but because I didn't
see how the Alta could be any better from a performance perspective on
my car... plus, the Pilo is very well made and I didn't want extra noise when
I know my car isn't that fast anyway off the line.

I might swap out the Green Filter cone with a K&N cone filter later on...

 

The green filter was the only reason I didn't buy a Pilo. Cosmetically, I just couldn't get over it. At least not on a black and white car. If your okay with it, then I think it's easily worth the money. On sale or not.

 

About CAIs.....



has anybody bought the DINAN CAI or are there any 3rd party testing results yet?

I like it the most of all CAIs just because it has more a stealth look to it with the open back. The gains posted at their site are promising....but I would like to see some 3rd party tests to believe it.

Thanks,

Alex

 

Hey Guy's I am slightly Biased on my opinion, but just want to give you some background on the Green Filter. I tested many filters when working on the intake. I ended up with green filter for a couple reasons. The first is there reputation within the Rally Racing Comunity. They are used by most of the europear Rally Teams. The reason that this is inportant is because rally's as you all know are not your average race. There are more things in the air, be it dust, mud, snow, water, bugs.... then your average road race. They have a proven record in this industry and I feel that they really have there filtration VS Air flow down very well.

Regarding the color... we are looking into it with Green filter getting a custom Color Filter Made. Not sure what color yet, but will let you know if that goes anywhere.

We have done the dyno testing on seperate cars with diffrent mods, and mods came back making HP that was very close to the Alta. (from what the testers told me)

Some other info is that we are working to design a diffrent style intake that will be very diffrent from anything else out yet, and will keep you all in on that info when available.

Thanks for listening, and hope you enjoy what ever intake that you get.

 

This is the one I am refferring to, but I thought the number was RU1520? It is on my car and I love it!

 

recent developments in the HAI thread - apparently the 1550 is a better fit. heresay...I'm sure they're both excellent!


Marty

 

The green looks fine to me... :smile: I never really cared about the
color of my cone, actually. Green or red or blue... same to me.

 

Yeah. I felt that way, too - I usually drive with the bonnet closed. Go figure !


Marty

 

I also did not much care about the looks of the HAI since I also drive with the bonnet closed

 

why doesn't anyone make a filter white, so when its dirty it turns darker, so we know when to clean it?

That would be trick and functional.

By the way I have the Alta and love it. Money wasn't an object for me though. If I was on a price point, i'd have the Pilo over nothing, its a good unit. The difference between the Pilo and the Alta (whatever it is) i am sure is so negligible that it isn't worth arguing about.

-ABT-

 

And they also change the filter numerous times during an event. Paper filters are known to "dirty" up faster than foam filters. Foam as a filter medium has always been the better for longer time beween changes or cleaning.

 

After reviewing the many threads on the CAI set-ups, I opted for the HAI mentioned above. Perhaps not as pretty, but functional, and low cost. Supercharger whine is pronounced at WOT, and I will happily take Andy's and Macncheese's word on the performance characteristics!

 

I ordered a Pilo CAI. If I don't like it and want to swap later, its only $140 (including shipping) and I can deal with that.

 

Bought my brand new Pilo off of eBay for $100 and did Randy's mod to open up the plenum panel in back. Sound is awesome at WOT and it runs great!

 

i have the MaxVelocity intake and i like it very much! i like the fact that it has a K&N (same one as Typhoon kit) and the plastic heatshield came pre-assembled, for a very easy install. plan on doing the cowl mod this week sometime. gonna do some testing (gonna try) with an ITG filter too.