Hey guys was just wondering if you could help me decide which CAI I should get. I know there are a ton of options, but I was wondering which are the best. I want something that looks aftermarket (so not dinan or jcw). Also which is better a closed CAI or open? I want something that sounds good and looks good as well. Preferably less than $325!

Thanks

 

You know, I have always loved Injen CAIs, mostly for their sounds, and K&N CAIs because of their consistent high numbers. But with short rams or short cold airs, I am always torn.

See, the whole point of an aftermarket cold air intake is to help the car get cooler air from the outside instead of the warmer air mostly found in the engine bay. CAIs are designed to do this while short rams and cold airs are simply there to increase the amount of flow and give you a nicer filter than what comes stock. But that means sucking in all the hot air from the engine bay and doesn't really help your car run better. The other problem with them is that most performance cars already have good enough flow that a short ram style won't really help you at all. Without actually mounting a plate and sucking the air in from a removed light or behind a grille, you're not going to see huge differences unless the car is designed with a restrictive system like a Honda Civic. Some cars, like Subaru Impreza's have a system that is very well engineered. If you remove the old system and put on a cold air intake, you will gain a couple horsepower (at most) and actually LOSE torque because of the removal of their torque box that houses the filter.

R53's already have a decent intake set-up so gains are really going to be minimal especially with how it is designed. Companies like Alta have created a box to help isolate the cold and warm airs so this might be a good option to look in to.

There's a few good videos that demonstrate what I have been saying pretty well. This one below is a few guys trying out different systems on an R34 Skyline. Because Nissan built it to be quick, they obviously gave it a good enough intake setup.

 

I would recommend aFe Power Intake Systems. The aFe system improves your vehicle's power, throttle response, and sound. aFe has advanced features like zero memory polyurethane filter flanges, multi-layer progressive filter media and specific heat shields. Unlike many competitors, aFe flow-bench tests and dyno tunes each intake system in-house with an emphasis on mid-range power, giving your MINI more usable power and torque response in daily and real-world driving situations.

-Luccia

 

There's about 50 threads on this, I'm sure a search will answer all your questions.