Cold Air Intake quest

[Urquidi]

So i just got a 2010 tc and i want to drop in a CAI but i live in cali and want to know of carb legal ones. The only one i so far have seen is the TRD CAI are there any others or is that my only shot? also how much horsepower can i expect to gain??

ALL INFO IS MUCH APPRECIATED!

[navylife59]

TRD Sparks website states the TRD intake as for "off-highway use only". AEM's new intake states "Street Legal In All States: No" Injen states "No CARB" on their website. There are no CARB approved intakes out there that I can find. You will need to check on the websites of the other brands but I believe that you will find the same. non compliance. Only expect maybe a 1 to 1.5WHP gain.

[mark_hou]

aem k&n injen, i say go with k&n or injen. if getting a cold air intake, it can possibly suck up water and damage your engine.

[navylife59]

Well, much to my dismay, but not to my surprise, I discovered contamination in my Injen SRI. My RS3.0 has had an Injen SRI on it since early 2008. It has been driven mostly in the DFW Metroplex when my Son had it. It then sat for over 6 months at my Brother's home. 13 months ago, I brought it back here to NOLA and have been driving it sporadically.

I decided it was high time to clean the filter so I went to work. That is when I discovered the grit that you see in the picts. You make have to enlarge the picts to see it better. While cleaning the Injen filter and inspecting with a bright LED flashlight, I discovered the filter to be extremely porous, so much so, that I could actually see the LED light directly through pinholes. These pinholes would have been large enough to easily pass those grit particles. Of course, with most cotton filters a filter oil has to be applied properly to the filter media to trap the finer particles. These grit particles were not stopped by a lack of filter oil but by the porosity of the media itself.

I am planning on throwing that junk Injen filter away and replacing with an AEM Dryflow like on my '05. One would expect a quality filter for the price of the Injen SRI/CAI. The intake itself has alot to be desired. Before it was installed, an inspection revealed metal shavings in the tube, along with, burrs in the breather tube and MAF plate junctions. I had to file them down. The fitment of the filter next to the fender caused interference that I had to alter it for. From the picts you will also notice the ID of the tubing is rough.

[Mengsta]

There is ONE intake that is CARB APPROVED for street use =].




Meng Motorsports K&N Intake Box link.

I personally run this intake on my daily driven TC and love it. Best intake I've tried in my opinion. Fitment was near %100 spot-on, which is rare because as we all know, aftermarket intakes usually always require some type of "jimmying" haha. Pretty much OEM fitment, but with less lag due to the baffle and resonator deletion. Sounds and performs a lot better. I admit the price isn't as competitive, BUT at Meng Motorsports we have this listed at the lowest price advertised online! "You get what you pay for" comes to mind as this intake is CARBed.

[Flint Mica tC]

aem k&n injen, i say go with k&n or injen. if getting a cold air intake, it can possibly suck up water and damage your engine.

That's what made me go with a Short Ram Intake.

[navylife59]

I do know of a guy's tC that broke a rod due to hydro lock with his CAI. He drove it thru deep water. Water does not compress much at all which causes the cylinder pressures to skyrocket. Something has to give and it is usually the rods. Driving around in the rain and going thru regular puddles is not going to cause you any problems, as long as, all of the splash guards are in place. You can actually shorten the CAI extension to bring the filter up higher so this is a non issue. If you drive thru deep water like that, you just end up with more than a dead motor so stay out of deep or running water.

[mtnbk]

Gentlemen, visit my thread entitled CAI systems. You'll read how to install a truely effective system for a miniscule cost.