CAI - big differences in $$$... Which one ?

I am in the market for a CAI.
I SEE THE PRICES RANGE FROM MID $300's to over $1400.

Is there a difference beyond CF/plastic.
Performance claims range too....
What are your real world results beyond sound?
Pics and comments welcomed....
Dynos and graphs would be nice too...

 

I don't have graphs, charts, dyno's for you, but i'll say, don't spend $1k when the $400 one will work just as good. Adding carbon fiber and the other bells and whistles will not add HP. I have the AFE cai and its great. Someone is selling it in the C7 parts for sale section, new in box for $425 shipped. Good deal

 

$85...stock air box

 

Jake to the rescue adding reality to the thread.

 

I'm not entirely convinced any of them really do anything to warrant the price. It looks to me like the stock intake is already drawing air from the passenger side front wheel well with that area being fed by the duct work from the grille for brake cooling. How much more "cold air" are you going to get?

 

You also need to insure that whatever product you pick is properly engineered to insure hydro lock can't be a issue. Many a engine has been killed by water getting into the induction system. It was a huge issue on the S2000. Once you change that intake your warranty is dead if it's a water issue.

 

First, an aftermarket C7 intake is not going to hydrolock any easier than the stock one. S2000 ricer market intake stick the filter so low it might as well drag on the ground so naturally they suck water on the cars with geniuses behind the wheel that forgot they didn't buy a boat.

Second, the filter assembly is like 100x bigger than stock (at least double size) and can certainly flow more air through it. The Air Raid replacement filter is the same as stock, might flow a bit more like a K&N but not the same as replacing the box like an AFE or Halltech.

Third, on an otherwise bone stock car I would find large gains suspect. On a modified car the CAI will be of much more use.

 

With most C7 CAI or filters being relatively new, there doesn't seem to be any independent, lab tests or side by sides by a non-related testing lab or tuner with no agenda to push. I'd guess some are waiting to see this type of testing results.

 

Most filters that increase air flow (those that are washable/reusable), also allow more impurities to pass. The OEM filter does a superb job of filtering while allowing an adequate amount of air to flow so as not to affect the HP output adversely.

Can you gain a tich more HP by replacing the filter? Yep!
Can you get some more by increasing the size of the airbox? Yep!
Can you get some more with a huge air box and NO filter? You betcha!

Kinda depends what you're trying to achieve and at what cost/risk you're willing to take.

 

There were also issues with OTR (Over the Radiator) issues in numerous vehicles including G8's... due to water being sucked into the engine.

I currently have a K & N filter in my stock intake. Probably the best bang for your buck.

Have a Halltech $600. non Carbon Fiber CAI on order. WHY? I guess because I can and am inquisitive...

Personally, the Faster Proms (Jeremy Formato) ported intake is the best $300. I spent, as my Vette is much more responsive and runs smoother. I have no idea if it added much HP, but the daily driveability is GREAT!

Modding is like pieces of a puzzle. Some are easier to fit and use, but in the end, you need all of them to finish the big picture... whatever your picture wants to look like.

The new LT1 is scary fast. Yes it can be faster, and even faster than a Z06. Just spend$$$$$$ and it will happen!

 

Not worth the few hp it may give you, especially if your stock. Less restrictive means more air but also means less filtration.

 

I humbly submit my personal testing... I got about half the advertised aFe gains, but aligned well with Halltech (which is likely 'true' gains). If all the items I tested, the aFe CAI was the biggest single item.

For the aFe CAI vs. stock CAI, see the "Run 1 vs. Run14" plot. This is also with the DRY filter. My testing showed showed zero difference at stock levels between the oiled and dry aFe filters.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...eaponx-tb.html

 

My testing showed ZERO difference between the aFe oiled and dry filters at 'stock' power levels. The dry filter has same filtration as OEM, and the gains above were with dry filter.

 

I'm aware of the graph which I've seen before altho I haven't looked at it in awhile (dated '14). Since there are also claims of no tune needed, no other changes, my thought is the best way to test is to have the same CAI on the same car, the same day, the same machine. Otherwise, a lot of (or more) variables. There have been other testing done on other components such as Cajun at BER, and Jason at Katech. Those would probably be at least one form of more objective testing, not that yours doesn't help fill in the information gap.

 

True these were not the same day. It was however the same dyno same car, using SAE correction to account for the air differences. The ONLY difference from stock was the CAI in the graph above. No tuning.

Every curve was a single variable change, most changes had 2 pulls each with ~1 minute between pulls, and I did as many single changes as I could within 1 hour dyno sessions @$100 a pop. I did a total of 4 sessions on my dime. Across all sessions there were no 'dyno' surprises between sessions other than all items tested had much lower gains on my car than advertised. BUT...I do think some of the item I tested may respond well to tuning when compared to OEM (ported components). That I didn't test obviously.

My post covered 3 dyno sessions. I did a 4th session that I didn't post to avoid confusion because it essentially de-constructed everything to stock and there were no surprises. The fundamental outcome was that the 'loss' in removing the aFe corresponded to the 'gain' previously. So the delta that 4th session of removing the aFe CAI and going back to stock was fundamentally the same as the delta gain shown in Run14.

After the final session I put the aFe back on as I liked the increased induction noise, MUCH cleaner engine bay, and the SOTP feeling (real or imaginary). Other than the aFe, no other bolt-ons remained.

FWIW, I have sold the car above and bought a nearly identical 2015 C7 Z51 A8 in early March. Maybe I'll re-do some of this...

 

Excellent, sir! You are a true experimenter.

 

And what testing did you do? Did you put the dry filter on a flow bench and compare it with the stock filter? Or did you read this on the aftermarket filter's web site? I've seen flow tests that show the aftermarket filters do flow better but also don't filter as well.

Sorry, The less restrictive an air filter is, the more fine particales of dirt it will allow through. At the end of the day it may not cause any damage but the gains are not worth the risk IMHO. Also, if they protect as well and raise HP, why wouldn't car manufacturers use them?

 

I'm assuming you thoroughly read my dyno testing post referenced in post #12 above before asking this question? My testing was RWHP on a chassis dyno that I rented time on. Not flow bench. And no web site Kool Aid. Did you read post #15 where I said "all items tested had much lower gains on my car than advertised." That's an anti-Kool Aid statement.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...eaponx-tb.html

I tested the aFe dry and oiled filters on the aFe CAI on my car on the same day, back-to-back. Two runs each time, but only posted one curve each since they were all the same. On my car, in back to back runs, there was essentially zero difference at my 'stock' power levels. At higher power levels, maybe the filters differentiate themselves, but for a stock configuration I found no difference in my on-car testing. The graph below (copied from my dyno testing thread) is the aFe oiled vs. dry comparison, swapped on the dyno within minutes:




I actually TOTALLY agree. You misunderstood my post. I was describing the differences between the aFe oiled and dry filters made for the aFe CAI on the aFe CAI.

The aFe filter element is MUCH larger than OEM, and thus has much larger filter area. This equates to more flow at a given vacuum level if filter media is kept constant since the filter area is increased. The aFe oiled media I'm sure is similar to K&N with lower filtration efficiency (minimum particle size is larger) and resulting higher flow characteristics. The same thing you are saying above! The aFe dry/synthetic filter has OEM quality media, so it's filtration efficiency is similar to OEM, but is obviously more restrictive. However, the significantly larger filter area simply negates this defecit to allow comparable flow at stock power levels. Caveat again is as power levels and required flow increase, the dry media would eventually fall behind the oiled at some point but would maintain OEM filtration.

I made no statement about the flow or filtration efficiency of an oiled OEM drop-in (Airaid) vs. OEM dry filter. My statements clearly referenced my personal aFe CAI dyno testing results.

This gets back to what I said in far simpler terms in post #13 on the question asked for the specific performance of the aFe oiled vs. dry CAI filters (not OEM drop-ins): "My testing showed ZERO difference between the aFe oiled and dry filters at 'stock' power levels. The dry filter has same filtration as OEM..."

The dry aFe filter remained on my 2014 Z51 until I sold it. And before I could do a UOA to validate filtration efficiency. I will get to that on my 2015 Z51 and share the results of my time and $$.