Cold Air Intake

[James]

If i put in a Cold Air intake in my 2003 civic dx, will i notice any difference in pickup or gas milage?

 

[rastapasta]

If i put in a Cold Air intake in my 2003 civic dx, will i notice any difference in pickup or gas milage?

I don't know about CAI's affecting gas mileage, but I would say the car breathes better with a CAI, & I would say you would pick-up a few extra horses. Cold air is getter than hot air. Get a bypass valve installed on your CAI, though.

 

[James]

Hey, what exactly is a bypass valve? and why do you recommend it over a cold air intake?
thanks

 

[rastapasta]

Be careful when you install it. I saw a recent post from someone that installed it incorrectly. When it rained, it would suck water from the road into the system. There is a method of installing it that will keep this from happening.

Yup---he didn't put on a bypass valve with the CAI.

 

[Cosmin N.]

The CAI input is inside the wheel well, so when you drive through big puddles, it will suck water into your engine. As you can imagine, that is not the best thing to happen, because at the least your engine will stall. A bypass valve will help prevent the water from entering the engine.

Cosmin

 

[rastapasta]

Hey, what exactly is a bypass valve? and why do you recommend it over a cold air intake?
thanks

I don't recommend it over a CAI, it's an addition that fits ON a cold air intake. I've seen them cheapest on Ebay for ~$15, but if you go someplace else, you'll pay ~$40-$50. Ebay has a CAI (or used to) by BOMZ Racing that works fine, WITH the bypass valve for ~$60 total. I bought the BOMZ short-ram off Ebay, & the CAI (for my '92 Teg) wasn't offered, or I just didn't notice it. I would've bought it, though, & I've heard it works great. You can go higher quality, though, & get AEM, K&N, etc., & pay well over $100 just for the intake.

Do a Google search on "cold air intake bypass valve" & see what comes up. You'll prolly find lots of info on bypass valves. I'd give you some links about them, but my pc is b.s.'ing me right now, so I gotta reboot..... ;{

Basically, from what I understand, the bypass valve stops water from entering the intake, that would then go into the throttle body, which is not good. You have to cut the CAI's pipe to install the bypass (if it's not cut already).The reason you don't need a bypass valve on a sort-ram intake (like I have) is because the short-ram is shorter than a CAI, & does not exit the engine area (bay/compartment), unlike the CAI, which comes out of the engine area & sucks in cooler air that's further away from the engine, hence the name "cold-air intake". I'm prolly wrong on some things there, but I took a stab at answering that the best I could.

 

[Jason]

If i put in a Cold Air intake in my 2003 civic dx, will i notice any difference in pickup or gas milage?

According to a book that I own
"The result [of a cold air intake intake system] is a 7 to 8 percent increase in real horsepower"

The book did not mention any figures related to gas milage. It's my guess that the miles per gallon would not be effected in any significant way. For example, if your miles per gallon were 29 without the cold air intake, it would be about 28 miles per gallon after the cold air intake was installed.

Be careful when you install it. I saw a recent post from someone that installed it incorrectly. When it rained, it would suck water from the road into the system. There is a method of installing it that will keep this from happening.

 

[Jim Yanik]

The CAI input is inside the wheel well, so when you drive through big puddles, it will suck water into your engine. As you can imagine, that is not the best thing to happen, because at the least your engine will stall. A bypass valve will help prevent the water from entering the engine.

Cosmin

Well,actually,the intake end of the cold air intake is generally LOW to the ground,(much lower than the stock air intake)that's why it can suck up water when driving thru deep puddles.

 

[Richard Rimmer]

What's cold air?

I don't know about CAI's affecting gas mileage, but I would say the car breathes better with a CAI, & I would say you would pick-up a few extra horses. Cold air is getter than hot air. Get a bypass valve installed on your CAI, though.

 

[rastapasta]

What's cold air?

If this is a serious question, all I know about "cold air", when referring to a cold-air intake on a car, is air that the CAI brings in that's cooler than the air immediately around the engine bay/area. People install intercoolers on their cars when turbo kit is being used to cool the intake/turbo air even further. HTH.

 

[Jim Yanik]

If this is a serious question, all I know about "cold air", when referring to a cold-air intake on a car, is air that the CAI brings in that's cooler than the air immediately around the engine bay/area.

colder air= denser air,more O2;more fuel can be added for more power.

People install intercoolers on their cars when turbo kit is being used to cool the intake/turbo air even further. HTH.

Because in compressing or forcing air into the cylinder,the turbo or supercharger greatly heats it up. A hot air/fuel charge ignites sooner,perhaps TOO soon(preignition,very damaging to a motor)

 

[Jehu]

air from up here in the great north

What's cold air?