I have rarely, if ever told someone to search or do some research, I don't mean to be an a$$, but dude... Research LOL. There are a lot of threads like this.
Factory air boxes used TERRIBLE, but they have improved dramatically.The factory air box on this car is good, but it can DEFINITELY be improved. You will even notice some of the restrictions just by looking at it. You will probably gain a good 5-6 whp from a well designed system.
There may not be a "best." There are some that are better in the low end, there are some that are better in the high rpm range, and some are better in the mid range. It all depends on what you want from your system. Dsport had an intake and exhaust showcase. Go on their website, and find the article. They compared most of the air intake systems and exhaust available at the time on the same dyno and car.
A crappy CAI will not be nearly as good as a well-designed short ram. Also, cold air is denser, as you probably know, so you will likely get more power than a short ram, but there is the risk of hydro-lock. Hydro-lock is when water enters the engine, and believe me, that would be BAD. You can blow/ruin the engine like that so if you live in a place where it rains a lot, you are below sea-level, there is poor sewer system, your car is lowered, etc. a CAI is probably not the right system for you. If you live in the desert, you may have to take parts off such as the bumper just to clean the filter which is a pain in the a$$ every few thousand miles. You can still get awesome results from a short-ram or even a K&N drop-in.
There are pretty much four options:
1)K&N drop-in. This is the best bang for the buck. It's much better than stock for several reasons, but the gains were very close throughout the whole power band to a complete intake system. Peak horses is not what's important.
2)Takeda Intake. Dsport had an intake and exhaust showcase where they tested most of the intakes and exhausts that are available for this car. This one was one of the best ones throughout the whole power band.
3) Injen Intake. Again, this one was one of the best ones throughout the whole power band, and it was part of the showcase. Find the article of their website to determine which one is better for your application.
4) Grimspeed. They have put A LOT of R&D into this intake. They still haven't released it. There are four threads that they made on it. Find them.
Note: I actually wasn't biased when writing this. These were all tested on 91-octane one a dyno. I don't know what dyno they used, though. Sure it may not be possible for humans to be completely unbiased, but I probably wouldn't have even considered Injen, Takeda, or Grimspeed had I not read the article or the threads. I probably would've just told you, "Get HKS. HKS is the best for everything!" or something like that. This penned my eyes a little. Again, what i told you is just based on data. Also, the Takeda and Injen were tested on the same car and dyno, so those compare apples to apples. The K&N and Grimspeed PROTOTYPE were tested on the same car and dyno, so those also can be compared apples to apples.
Note 2: If you ask me, Grimspeed, which i hadn't even heard of until about three months ago or something, is probably the best intake for this car. I say this because I read all three threads, and I'm in shock that they have put so much work, answered every question, and posted so much data about their product. Manufacturers usually hide info like that especially when they use a competitor's product to compare.
Note 3: I don't know if any of those three intake systems are CAI's.
Note 4: You may want to check if certain intakes retain the sound tube. A lot of people like listening to their engine, so you may want to take that into account when choosing an intake. Some intakes do change the sound though, so you can still hear the engine without the sound tube. I know that the Injen can do that according to Dsport.
BEST OF LUCK! :p
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