I was browsing ebay and found a pretty cheap CAI. I found reviews on other websites and said they were great, but would put a different filter then the one that came with it on. I can't find any other one that will work for my wimmpy 3.1 '98 and this looks like a steal. what do you guys think?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Car-...1%7C240%3A1318

 

i'm just simply going to state one thing.

you get what you pay for. rules of life.

not going to put reasoning behind this, just trust me :P

 

I really want to put something in this car to give it some more power. If you could find one that I could buy from a more quality brand I would.

 

Well first off, its going to be a great upgrade if you dont want to spend alot of money atm. Its what Im running, and it sounds great and helps when the engine is still cool. But once it warms up your engine can run just a tad bit warmer. Ill eventually upgrade to an intake with a heat shield, but for now its fine, especially if you dont race it alot or take it on super large trips, which its still ok for.

 

that's garbage dude. do like my setup. go to zzp or intene and buy about 3 feet of intake tubing and a open cone filter. believe it or not i think open cone run better or equal to any after market intake. i used to have thrasher air box and saw 2 degrees of kr when scanning. now with open cone my kr is 0. i'm using 9" S & B filter.

 

I didnt even click on the link and know what your talking about. The big thing about those kinds of CAI are this...



As pointed out, when its cool around the engine, they work. The engine warms up, the air around the engine gets hot, and the Cold air intake is now taking in hot air... that will hurt your cars performance. Blacksheep was onto something when he told you, you will get what you pay for in a kit like that. You can make your own kit very easy for about the same price as that cheapo one, and have the car actually perform better with the upgrade. use the search function and find the threads we have about them, then ask questions after ya do some reading. Were more than happy to help!

 

So would this be considered a Hot air intake, or short ram intake rather than a Cold Air? My dad is the only thing between me and making my own, because he doesn't want a car with only liabilty insurance screwed up. I won't race this thing, and am not trying to turn it into a drag car, just for school, and maybe showing a honda whos boss. I am going to put a new exhaust system and thought this would work well with it.

 

are you talking about flea bay intake? it would be short ram intake.

 

that thing isn't going to give you anything, but a hissing sound and hot air. It has no heat shield, or PCM tray, which means you will need to relocate your PCM tray yourself, or leave the stock one in. Leaving the stock one in, will still restrict your cold air flow because it's going to block the area where cold air actually comes in, and just leave the back side where all the hot engine air open.

When it comes to upgrading your car, never take a cheap route just to get it done. In the long run that won't help. Take the time to learn how to build your own, or save up for a pre-built one that will have everything you need, proper intake tube, heat shield, PCM tray, large cone filter, quality parts. etc.

I know the market for a 3.1 is crappy, but that doesn't mean you should settle. After installing my K&N intake, I see how they operate and I now know how easy it would have been to just build one myself, but I wasn't confident at first and made my decision.

 

This intake definitely won't do it- and you're not going to get much if any from exhaust either. Not trying to disappoint you- just don't want you expecting any noticeable power gain. I did the same two mods on my 3100, and for the $500 or so I had between exhaust work and the intake- it ran exactly the same at the strip, it was just more noisey. IMO the most noticeable power mods for a 3100 are doing 3400 uppers swap. Not trying to say I/E will hurt- just won't gain any measureable amount of power.

If you're dead set on doing the cheapest intake possible- just buy a filter and some flexible tube, and put the filter in the fender well (FWI). You'll get the coldest air possible, with a better flowing filter- with only a little more intake restriction. Only downside on your car is you'll have to turn the battery 90* or relocate. If you want a real CAI box, you can build a sheet metal or abs plastic box around a short ram setup like that, and insulate it. But that would take some decent fab skills.

He has a 5th gen monte- pcm is on the passenger side