Anyone seen this video about CAIs?
 

As the title said. This seems to be Australian Myth Busters for automobiles.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCi2yo4UqPI"]Cold Air Intakes Mythbusted - YouTube[/ame]

I've seen it, I was unimpressed. LOL The guys are funny, but there are so many variables they don't account for... and behind the headlight is NOT a CAI.

The simple fact is any intake only makes more power over stock if it actually increases air flow over stock. This can happen if the stock system is too restrictive OR you decrease intake air temps over stock.

If the stock intake is not restrictive and you don't lower the intake temps, you wont see **** for gains.

I agree those guys are funny, but they are not the most thorough bunch when it comes to actually proving a theory.

I've been watching these guys for a while...
I like to think of them as a youtube version of topgear with an even funnier accent, and I am almost sure this is what they are aiming for with their editing and style.

I don't agree with some of their methods and taste in cars/modifcations, but they are fun to watch and sometimes you actually learn something.
Sort of like topgear.

It was kinda funny. I know on my Saabs intakes and drop ins caused them to loose torque.

Noooo! "Because racecar".
Seriously, every aftermarket intake I've seen for these cars don't produce any more power than could be explained by standard deviation. I put an AFE dry flow filter in mine, and maybe my butt dyno isn't calibrated correctly 'cause I didn't notice a difference, my car is still slow...LOL

They don't make a difference until you get above 190whp. The AFE does breathe better, but the motor can't take advantage of it until higher power levels :). At least, that's what my dyno testing said about my car.

I love Mighty Car Mods! Those guys are awesome!!!

However, I will say that they didn't do the best job on this episode (in my opinion).. at least not to make it relavant to our cars.

They used a R34 skyline with an RB25DET motor.. That is turbo-charged. The air intake is much less important on a turbo motor for two reasons. #1 is that airflow is forced into the motor by the turbo rather than sucked. The suction of the turbo makes the intake design much less important and really makes the only design feature of any importance the simple size of the pipe to make sure it can suck in enough volume. #2 is that the air is heated in the turbo and cooled in the intercooler.. so the effect of the "cold air" sucked in is mitigated significantly. Ultimately a turbo car with an effective intercooler could suck in 150* air or 50* air and both would be heated in the turbo and then cooled in the intercooler and wind up fairly close to the same temperature by the time it gets into the intake manifold.


TL DR... CAI testing on a turbo motor will yield much less significant results than it should on a NA motor

That's pretty much what I suspected about CAI in general, although their usefulness probably varies a lot between car makes. That video only proves it doesn't work on a skyline.
I'm still contemplating an injen intake for the FR-S, but would like to see some objective numbers first.

Mighty Car Mods is one of the best shows on youtube, I watch that the second a new episode comes out. Like others have said, I don't think they did an awesome job on that episode and they are using a turbo car. While I realize an intake certainly helps out a turbo car, there are simply too many variables. Stick with a drop in filter for the FR-S/BRZ, that is just the best way to go. Most intakes seem to lose hp, as with the Honda S2000, and really need a tune to make full use of any intake changes. If you want some power, it looks like a header or exhaust is really where it's at.

I got the FA20Club CAI and am waiting
On the stg2 tune instructions. Hoping to see some good gains with those and my header back exhaust!

If you think this episode was funny, you should watch the one about the eBay, electric "superchargers"! Hilarious!

Scott