SmokaOne

Hey guys, I would like to know what you guys think about a short air ram vs. a Cold air intake. I am looking to get alot of performance out of the car, but I dont want to harm the car. I heard that CAI have been know to take in water when it is wet. Water in the intake is BAD! thanks

phuck-yoo

i have an AEM CAI and i had no problems. plus the horsepower gains are better that a ram. i see no reason to get the short ram, when you can get a CAI, but thats just my opinion.

BigBastardMazda

Here's my opinion, take it as you will... as I"m sure others may disagree with me...

I have a friend who owns a Honda Civic SI with an AEM cold air intake. He installed a bypass valve (a precaution when using a CAI to prevent waterlocking your vehicle) and had always enjoyed the CAI, but constantly wondered how much power loss he was incurring from using the bypass.

So, out of curiosity, he removed the bypass, and ran the car at our local drag strip. Using the time slips from his last trip, he realized he was running quite a bit faster w/out the bypass valve. (I don't remember exact time improvements)

Since then, he's run the vehicle with no issues. However, he's lowered it since, and has always had to keep an eye out for water collection on the road that could cause issues (he has a heavy foot too... which is also a bad thing for waterlocking).

I've done some research between the power enhancements of a CAI and a Short Ram, and here's my theory...

CAI's run between $200 to $250 US depending on where you live and how resourcefull you are. (Vehicle type is a big one too) Short rams are $100 to $150. That's $100 US less than the CAI.

The average CAI offers between a 6 to 10 hp increase. (for the sake of leaving this post shorter, lets not worry about tq at this point) A short ram air intake offers between 4 to 8 hp increase. That two hp gain is not going to give you a kick in the butt, "I feel good for spending $100 more on a CAI" feeling when driving down the road. In fact, I bet if you drove the same car with a CAI and then a Short Ram, you couldn't tell the difference unless you compared time slips on a quarter mile run (even then, I would imagine that it couldn't be more than a tenth of a second better, if that).

So, I bought a short ram for my car, should be getting it tomorrow. Why? Because it was $130 US and I know I'm going to get better gas mileage, the extra little punch in the throttle, and that extra growl I've been wanting out of my 3. I don't have to worry about waterlocking, and I'm getting a nice performance increase out of my car.

Also, I'm planning on shoving a turbo on the car when the kits and engine mods are available on the 3. When that happens, I won't need the short ram, and I'll feel better knowing I'm tossing $130 to the side rather than $250... but this reasoning may not apply to everyone.

Just my two VERY LONG quarter dollars...

SmokaOne

Hey bigbastard, thanks for you input, it all makes since to me. I personally love driving through puddles and also have a very heavy foot. the 2 horsies will not mean much to me.

I want to know where you got a short air ram for $130. that seems like a good price. Do you have a pic to post so I can see the look under the hood? and what brand is it?

thanks again for the input

BigBastardMazda

Hey,

Here's a direct link, in fact...

http://www.eautoworks.com/html/ORD-1-1-1-24755.cfm

It's the Weapon-R Dragon Short Ram intake.

I have not installed it yet. I didn't get a chance to last night, but as soon as I get it installed, I can give you some pictures and let you know if I ran into any weird things while installing.

http://www.weapon-r.com

That's their website. I did some research, and it seems that their ram intakes are actually really nice. AEM discontinued their short ram for the mazda 3's, and I can't seem to find any other short rams other than that.

Also, depending on your budget, weapon-r has developed a new short ram called "Secret Weapon". I looked a little into it, and it seems pretty nice. However, their cost on the site for one of those is 250... which is a bit pricey for a short ram.

I hope this all helps! I'll post pics of the car after installation.

Anarchistchiken

Bigbastard, there is now way, ever, anytime, at any point, ever, EVER that you will gain an appreciable difference at the strip from swithing intakes or removing a bypass. It just doesn't happen. For the weight of our cars, to actualy shave 1/10 off, you would need more than a 2 hp difference. Your buddy with the Honda most likely experienced a thing called "getting better," meaning that he drove his car better than he did the time before when he had the bypass installed.

If you want a cheap intake, go to ebay and do a search. There are many, many people (including me) who are very happy with their $60 ebay CAI. It's the exact same design as Injen and all the rest, and it costs a fraction of what the name brands cost.

And if you're worried about having a recognizable name brand, most people respect ebay intakes more than weapon R.

As far as hydrolocking goes, the only way an engine will hydrolock is if you drive through a very deep puddle. By very deep I mean deep enough to at least partially submerge the intake filter for a couple seconds. But driving through small puddles (on the opposite side from the intake) and heavy rain will not cause an problems.

BigBastardMazda

Anarch, I appreciate your input but don't blatently call me a liar.

It's your decision to make to buy an e-bay CAI, Short Ram or other intakes. I was posting my opinion. It's fine if you want to post your opinion, but don't think for a second I'm pulling something like that out of my ***.

I've had several people agree with me about the bypass valve theory. You are right, there are a lot of factors that go into drag racing. He could have handled the clutch better, shifted quicker, launched the car better to get that .1 second off, but what I AM saying is that he noticed a big difference in the driveability of the car as far as throttle response with his bypass valve out.

I'm not going to sit here and defend myself. Your opinion is your opinion... just know that everything i say here is out of personal experience and I tell it how it is. I don't sugar coat it. I'm here to help others with my experience, and I hope that when the day comes that I need other people's opinions, advice can be offered to me as well.

Orange 3

Finally somebody who knows what he is talking about! Right on! I am tired of hearing people installing CAI with exhaust and gaining enormous power in their pants! It minimal at most...20 hp tops. A rule of thumb is that you need roughly 100hp to drop a second in the 1/4 miles.

The actually way to compare the difference between CAI is to keep the variable the same i.e. an automatic transmission vehicle would be preferable. I used a g-meter in my vehicle the other day and the first couple of runs I was averaging 16.2 to 16.7s...getting use to launching and shifting. My best run was 15.78 s but the rest I was avg around the 16s mark not very consistant because of the shifting. I went to the track with my brother 2000 S-10 sport (automatic) and all my runs where 16.00 to 16.02 flat always the same.

Here the funny part, a guy with a similar truck, who install the CAI, performance chip and exhaust system was bragging he ran 16.5s and my brother over heard and told him that he ran 16 flat and showed him the slip (he had the slip in wallet because we used his truck to pull his trans am to the track that day and for "kicks" I raced his truck against his TA so he keep the slip). Of course the guy was back pedaling showing his boom box and tonneau made the difference when in all honesty it was the rear end (my brother had the3.42 for towing and he must of had the 3.08 stock). So instead of spending money trying to boost the engine people should inform themself and find out what really work.

We all know that the bypass valve is a safety against hydrolock, but I think alot of people misunderstand it. Using your car with the CAI in the rain will never hydrolock your engine unless it was super torrent rain the like of what Moise seen. But what the bypass valve is for if you slided off the road and into a ditch with enough water to submerge the filter than it protect your engine.

BigBastardMazda by no way I am attacking you, I think it great that you help you the guy out and post was very good. I was looking to purchase CAI myself and when I heard it only gave 6 - 10 hp and the cost was around 300$ I said forget.

That weapon R look impresses but in only a pictures where they added a blue flame in the inside view....are we suppose to believe that there is a turbine jet that accelarate the air?

BigBastardMazda

The picture you see on the Weapon-R website is for their "Secret Weapon"... I haven't read up on that one in particular simply because the cost is way too high and I'm not that impressed with it.

The on I purchased was just a basic short ram.. nothing special. (Dragon series, I believe)

I'm not going to sit here and bicker about who's right and wrong about CAI's/Bypass vs Ram Air. The fact remains that CAI produce more hp... I would say 20 hp is a little high, but at least 10hp and a better throttle response/engine sound. Maybe they've made some adjustments to the bypass valves, maybe the one my friend was using was defective. Maybe he just simply didn't know how to drive the car and he was a dumbass, I never specifically drove it before and after.

I guess the bottom line for me was the $$ on the CAI vs the Ram Air. I'd prefer to spend $110 less on a Ram air and only lose out on maybe a couple horse power.

Either option is better than running off of the stock air box... they're a joke!

AT least we're in an agreement there Anarch.

Anarchistchiken

I'll drink to that


As far as I'm concerned, the Ebay intake still offers the best possible course of action; functionality of a CAI with the price of half an SRI. Cant beat it.

Orange 3

Another thing about the CAI which I find weird, why is made from metal? (I know I have already written this elsewhere) It should be made plastic with insulation to keep that cold air....cold. Because we all know that metal is good source to conduct heat, so even though you are pulling fresh cold air from another place it being heated in the pipe before it gets to the engine. So the ideal CAI would be plastic PVC pipe or HSH, I know appearence of these underneath the hood would be an "eye sore" but it would be pratical.

Also the engine will only take the amount air it can take which will be limited to the throttle body, so having a filter the size of a barn door won't make a difference if it channel through a 2" opening.

Also has anybody tested these intake? I am not talking the number from the company but a "3rd" party? Do they have a baseline to compare too? Those are the number I would like to see instead of the people "butt-o-meter" numbers. lol Today engines are so efficient that gaining 6 - 10 hp from a filter seem like alot.

BigBastardMazda

The most I've ever seen from a CAI on a dyno was 4 hp at the wheel. I assumed that the numbers that manufacturers give you are hp flywheel numbers, just like the dealership doesn't advertise whp on their vehicles when selling them.

I don't buy a CAI or Short Ram for that "pin you to the seat" change in the car after install. I buy it for the extra kick from the throttle, and how much more the car feels "alive" after the install...

The stock airbox usually sucks air out of a 1 iinch or 1 1/2 inch hole on the side of the box. The car itself in higher RPM's has to literally SUCK air through this hole to get the air it needs. When installing a CAI or Ram Air, the car doesn' thave to work as hard to suck the air in, which allows the air to move more freely...

I really enjoy the change in the car's performance and feel in higher rpms. Out of the factory nearing redline (within 1k rpm) the car is just whining, almost as if you're pushing it to it's limits. With a CAI or Ram Air, you're at redline and the engine is just begging to go further up that rpm range.

It's a great feeling... but I do agree with you about the metal pip for CAI and Ram Air... I've never quite understood why it's metal, but, if it doesn't physically touch any engine components, and you're cruising down the street at 40mph, the tube has to keep cool to a certain extent... who knows...

broten

Hi Guys. I have to say that my Mazda 2 GT Sport....is too damned heavy! Good God....it's almost 3,000 lbs...with a four-cylinder? Yikes!!! lol Corvettes are only 400 pounds heavier, and have 200-250 more HP, so what the hell was Mazda thinking ??? The new Vette gets more than 30 mpg. The Mazda 3 GT Sport has NO GUTS below 3 thou RPM. It's quite pitiful. The Suzuki Swift GTi I got rid of, after buying the Mazda 3 was scary-fast compared to the Mazda 3 (smartest thing I ever did was buy the Swift GTi, and the stupidest thing was selling it). The Swift GTi was scary fast without comparing it to the Mazda 3! lol Still...the 3 is a good car, it's fairly quiet, comfy, handles ok, useless stereo (there's a nasty spike in the upper midrange that is a real headache-maker). The sound engineers are obviously "suits', and know little about sound). The mileage...don't get me started! lol I was told it gets 42 MPG. lol Maybe in some parallel universe! Know what I'm waiting for? The Mazda 3 "SPEED" parts, that will hopefully be showing up within the next few years. THEN, I might be able to get some decent acceleration out of this dog! lol This car has excelent potential, but as it stands now, it's a dog. The "potential factor" is the only thing keeping me from tossing it. Anyone out there have any info on mod parts for this car? Thanks!

SmokaOne

Broten,

Your post is way off topic, what the hell are you even talking about that under this thread for. I am looking for opinions about CAI vs. short ram air. your post is about pizza when I am talking about martial arts. It's like wiping before you poop. It dont make since.

GOSH........ Freaking Idoits.

BigBastardMazda

Hey Guys,

Just went through the pain in the *** of trying to install the Dragon-R Ram Air. I'm not sure if it's for the 2004 mazda 3, but the entire ram air inlet pipe was built incorrectly. I'm not going to be able to post pictures until next week, because my computer at home is ******* up on me.

If you guys are thinking about buying the dragon air intake I sopke about above, don't. I'm going to wait until AEM or another big brand come out with a short ram for the '05 Mazda 3.

Basically, the MAF sensor wiring harness could not reach the maf sensor itself due to the fact that the dumbasses soddered the mounting point on the pipe in the wrong spot. (looking at the picture that they have on the instructions, even the pipe on the short ram on there had the MAF mounting bracket in the correct spot).

Not to mention that the directions covered no spots on how to mount the bracket that came with the unit itself. I was developing a plan on how to mount the short ram to the body of the car when I realized that I couldn't install it due to the wiring harness not reaching the MAF.

So I spent 2 hours taking out my stock air box, just to put it back in, which was a HUGE pain in the ***. I actually almost destroyed my stock air pipe in order to get out a fitting, but managed to get it out with some tools... I'm glad I didn't cut into it like I originally was planning on doing!

Anyway, that's what happened... I don't know if they sent me the wrong part, or if they're just inept enough to mount the bracket for the MAF sensor on the wrong side fo the pipe...

I'll post pictures as soon as I get it up on my ftp server.