Common misconceptions, and the truth about CAI's
 

The following are some common misconceptions that we get here on a regular basis when speaking with customers about purchasing a Cold Air Intake for their vehicle. I try not to speak on behalf of other companies products, so I will do my best to address a few common beliefs/concerns that we get and how they pertain to our products. I hope that some of you find them helpful.

Misconception #1: I heard or read somewhere that oiled air filters are bad for my engine and will cause MAF (Mass Air Flow) problems.

TRUTH: The fact is this, if the oil from an air filter gets onto your MAF sensor it can cause some inaccurate readings that will negatively affect drivability and how your engine runs. THAT BEING SAID, this is only an issueif you A: purchase an air filter that has not properly been oiled from the manufacturer <OR> B: You oil your filter yourself and over oil it and/or do not let the oil dry properly into the air filter.

If you do a quick internet search, there are numerous companies out there that have known issues with his happening, we are not one of those companies. We do all of our own Engineering, R&D, Testing, and manufacturing of our filters as opposed to buying them from one of the "big box" brand names, this allows us a much higher level of quality control to ensure each filter is perfect.

Cold Air Inductions Inc. has very high quality standards in place to prevent this type of occurrence from happening. In the 9 years we have been producing and selling Cold Air Intake systems, we have never to my knowledge had a customer get a filter that was improperly oiled to the point where the filter oil got onto the vehicles MAF. Many people are not aware of this, but we actually have a quality manager whose sole responsibility is to monitor our quality on all different levels from raw materials to finished product. Since we are in the process of getting ISO certified, quality control is especially important to us. So rest assured that when you buy a CAI Inc. system you will have no issues with our oiled air filter.

Misconception #2: I am going to lose the functionality of my windshield wiper reservoir or have to move it so I can fill it after installing a CAI.

TRUTH: The Cold Air Intake we have developed for this vehicle requires no further modifications or changes to your vehicle. You don't have to touch your washer bottle, and you still have complete access to it because the lid on our CAI is removable via 3 spring loaded quarter turn fasteners.

Misconception #3: A CAI will void my vehicles factory warranty; even my dealer told me that.

TRUTH: A CAI cannot and will not void your vehicles warranty. Under the Federal Law known as the "Magnuson-Moss Act" your vehicles warranty is protectedafter installing a product such as a CAI. That being said, a dealer does not have to warranty an aftermarket product (such as a CAI) or any damage caused by that product, but the vehicles warranty remains intact and unchanged.

Here is a good example of how it works: You buy a new Camaro with a warranty. You then install a set of aftermarket headers, which rub against some wires and melt them. Your dealer will not and does not have to warranty those wires that melted because it was caused by an aftermarket part, however the rest of your vehicles warranty remains the same, and any damage covered b that warranty is still fixed as long as it was not caused by the headers you installed. Hopefully that makes sense.

On a side note, many dealers will tell you that they will not do warranty work on your vehicle if you installed aftermarket parts. By law they can not do this, however very few consumers are going to take the time, money, and energy to bring this battle all the way to court and fight it, even though legally the dealer has no grounds. When something like this happens, many will just go to another dealer, one that is "mod friendly" and will not give you a hard time. Another option if you know your dealer is difficult to work with regarding mods, and you don't have other options, is to remove your mod or CAI before taking it in for warranty work.

Misconception #4: I need to get a "tune" or adjust my computers settings to use a Cold Air Intake.

TRUTH: A CAI from Cold Air Inductions Inc. does not require a tune, simply install it and you are done. Some CAI's require a tune to avoid a CEL (Check Engine Light) and to run properly for their design, OUR CAI DOES NOT.

I hope that clears up a few things for consumers searching for a CAI and doing the research. If you have any questions, I would be happy to help answer them to the best of my ability. Thanks and take care!

:thumbup:

What about real power and torque gains. I see some numbers I feel are unbelievable. Are these numbers just the CAI added or with exahust, tune, etc etc...

You are absolutely correct, some manufacturers advertise what we even call absolutely ridiculous gains, and it's strictly a sales gimmick. Gains advertised should be tested as an A. vs B. comparison of stock compared to stock with the addition of a CAI, no other changes. The simple fact is that different Dyno's, different testing methods, and different variables can all add up to different results. Also, different manufacturers test different ways (hood closed vs. open) and publish different gains (crank hp vs. wheel hp) etc.

Like the old saying says, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is! Companies that advertise huge HP gains with just a CAI is very questionable in my mind. Our CAI is developed extremely well, gets consistent results, and keeps IAT fairly low compared to others and even we usually see a 15-16 RWHP gain on this vehicle. Now obviously those #'s can jump up quite a bit with a tune and other mods, but that's a whole different story.

Our company tries to advertise real #'s that you can expect to get on a consistent basis. And we typically have 3rd party companies do the testing, along with our own testing, to see if we are on the same page and getting similar results. We advertise wheel hp gains, and we test with the hood closed, basically trying to get you data that will be most relevant to "real world driving conditions".

I understand that everyone may not be familiar with "crank" vs. "wheel" HP gains so I am going to elaborate on that just a bit. When your car makes HP and TQ, power is lost through the drivetrain. So lets say you put a power adder that makes 20HP to the crank, so you have added 20HP to your engine. By the time that power travels through your drivetrain, some of it is lost, so what you actually get to the wheels will be slightly less, for this example we'll say that 20HP only made 17HP to the wheels. The reason that is important is that some companies advertise their products gains to the crank, when really what matters to you is what it gets to the wheels.

Here is how this comes to be a factor in the CAI world of advertising. If company A makes a CAI that produces 20HP and they publish their crank HP gain of 20HP, and company B makes a CAI that also produces 20HP but they advertise the wheel HP gain of 17HP, to the consumer who may not know better, company A appears to be the clear winner and have the better product. When in fact both products made the same power, they just published different ways of measuring it (Crank HP vs. Wheel HP)

This is why reading the fine print on manufacturers websites and advertisements where power gains are listed is very important. You will actually read on some manufacturers websites where the HP gains and data were derived from a "vehicle of similar make and model" meaning that the data and gains they are advertising may not even be specific to your vehicle that you are shopping for!

Jannetty Racing did some CAI tests about a year or so ago that is well accepted and respected among this community for gathering very accurate data, in a controlled environment where the testing was available to be watched as a live feed online, nothing to hide. You can search the forum and find the results.

I hope that answers your question, feel free to let me know if you have any others! :D

BTW, I have a Cold Air Inductions intake LOL.

good info.
so ur CAI filter comes wich type ( oil or dry ) ?
and what's the different and the best for hot wither like my place ?

Thanks. Our filter is oiled. I just shipped one to a guy in the UAE a few weeks ago who specifically bought our CAI for that reason. We take more proactive steps to reduce heat soak and keep the IAT as low as possible, so for your climate we would have a very good CAI. The fact is, your air over there is hot, so heat soak from the engine bay is something you want to reduce as much as possible since you are already battling against the elements. Also, I am not sure which region of that country you are in, but because our airbox is sealed off and since we have a 7 layer filter pleating, our CAI will also be a good choice to deal with dust and sand should that be a concern.

Let me know if you have any questions, I would be happy to help! :D

I have a CAI, INC intake, and it is great quality. Their rep(s) on this forum have always been great, forthcoming, and tell it like it is.

Their intake is also near the top of every list (if not #1) when tested alongside other intakes.

Love mine.

Thank you, we appreciate that very much! :thumbup:

Oh, NOW you tell me ;)

Great info. CAI!!!

So on a Completely Stock L99, what kind of gains (RWHP) is average.... or can be expected.
Under "normal" driving how often does the filter need to be cleaned and "re-oiled"
How difficult is this re-oiling process?

Soon to be in the market for a system.

"we usually see a 15-16 RWHP gain on this vehicle"

15-16 RWHP can be expected, obviously the # can fluctuate a little depending on the day and the dyno, but we see gains in the 15-16 rwhp range very consistently.

You will know when the filter needs a "Recharge" by just doing a simple visual inspection on it. Once you can see a build-up of dust/dirt/debris starting to fill the groove in between all the individual filter pleats then it may be time for a recharge. There's no magic timeframe or mileage that says its time to clean your filter, its completely dependent on the driving environment. Because the filter has a lot of surface area and the box is sealed from the engine bay so well, it's not uncommon to get 15k or more miles out of the filter before needing to recharge it, quite honestly you could go a lot more, it just depends on how dirty the filter is.

The re-oiling process is extremely simple. Basically wash, rinse, dry, oil, dry again. Our recharge kit comes with instructions and includes easy to use spray bottles of cleaner and oiling solution. Typically a recharge kit will get you 2-3 recharges.

I hope that answers your questions, let me know if you have any others. Thank you for considering our CAI, I am extremely confident that if you decide to get it for your Camaro you will be 100% satisfied with it, just as thousands of other Camaro owners are each year! :D

Thanks for your response, I am getting close to pulling the trigger.