hey guys so i finally got my fit now its time to start doin some little things to it. first things first is exhaust and intake. i already know i either want the skunk 2 cat back or the hks hi power axle back. so thats no biggy. (if you guys have any experiance with either one gimme some feedback plz ) but the question is CAI or SRI. i was thinking brand wise aem. v2. fujita or Injen. after some research they all seem to be pretty comperable. altho i just read that the injen offers 7 hp in gains on a mt. wich is impressive and would deffinatly help out. But my real concern isnt nessessarilly gains but i have heard horror storys of CAI getting water in the filter from rain or puddles in the street or whatnot and then killing the egine. is this something i should really be worried about. what do dyou guys think? if this is something thats almost common then ill probably buy the sri.

 

Well CAI's usually gain the best gains as they take in Cold Air while the SRI takes in warmer air. As far as Hydrolock goes. Those stories are kind of ridiculous as the car would have to be completely submerged in like 3 feet of water to even get that much water in there. Being from SoCal im pretty sure you guys dont get to much rain. Or atleast not as much rain as us here in Seattle and a lot of us seattle people run CAI's and have never had Hydrolock problems

 

"Wave" is a cop in N.Y. state who lost his Fit engine to hydrolock. Believing that this is impossible is what is ridiculous. Believing that SoCal does not have floods is also ridiculous.

 

You are going to get more from a CAI overall but both have pros and cons.

CAI is gonna give you better top end power. Plenium usually is a smaller diameter which caters to top end power production. Pulls cold air so obviously helps make power. It is more exposed to the elements but with other developments this really isn't a problem anymore.

SRI is usually a larger diameter with smaller length plenium which caters to low end torque production. Great for the everyday street driven car that plays light to light. Not so great for tracked cars or ultimate power production. Usually sit within the engine bay and draw warm ambient air which can cause teh car to be down on power rather than make any. Can be combated by heatsheilding and insulation via custom lined air box.


Hydrolock only happens to inattentive drivers who think a large mini lake puddle is going to be shallow. LOL. If you avoid big puddles and just use common sense you will not hydrolock your car with a CAI. If you have one and you see a remotely questionable pool of water, simply avoid it.

 

its very very rare now. get a bypass valve from aem. they do work and well if there is that much concern. Simple rain water is not going to do it. That filter has to be sumberged and in that case Why are you driving in water to where the filter would be submerged? Flood or no Flood.

 

have you looked into the hfit supa sucka intake (seriously, that's its name).
they actually bothered to measure and publish the intake temps. theirs are lower than the OEM system.

 

the reasons for my fit needing performance parts i think is the low end power. once im goin 60 i feel confident in acceleration haha thats what down shifting is for and i dont track it or anything i just want to be able to get to 60 a bit quicker. and for it to sound nice of course so i may stick with the sri. i cant imagine that our little fit engines put out as much heat as some bigger engines. (dont get me wrong i know an engine gets hot as eff. but im just saying)

 

SRI would be fine for you than. I would still recommend fabbing up a nice aluminum heat shield/air box, duct it so it draws in cool air. Best of both worlds .

Thus why I want an ARC box for mine, to bad they dont make the old style box for the GD3 though.

 

haha ive hung out with the owners of hfit on more than one occasion. but it seems to me that their intake is more expensive for similar power gains. also i dont really like the way it looks to much i like function plus looks. and its kinda dull.

 

sox-
I'm not trying to push you into either intake type, but look where the filter is on all SRI's. The Fit runs about as hot as any engine can without destroying itself. The high temps. are in the design that gives you the low emissions and high fuel economy. SRI systems get their air from right behind the radiator.

 

hehe understood. there should be like a 3/4 set up lol not quite as low as cai and not right on the engine like sr. lol so where does the filter sit on the fit for the cai? is it by the wheel or grill or how far down does it go?

 

Behind the bumper, near the driver side fog light.

 

see my posts. i talk about remedy's to that issue.

 

heck yea man! i want the ARC air box too. pretty expensive though right?

 

Agreed. Hydrolock can happen easily. Just last week we had some heavy rains in the LA area. I was driving at night and I drove through some water that accumulated on the far right lane. So I pulled into a gas station to check the engine bay to see if water got in. And yes there was water everywhere. I'm glad this happened because I was considering an intake but now I'm more comfortable with the idea of getting a drop in filter.

 

Yeah but from the ARC website the box they have for the fit is different from the others for the DC5/EP3 and such. It's more or less a heat sheild box with a cone filter. So I'm not sure. I am gonna talk to my buddy and see if he can call and find out some more info.

I dont speak Japanese

 

What you saw under your hood was probably not just the result of standing water on a freeway. I still use the bad quality K&N SRI that I have written so much about, and will continue to kick their butts every chance I get, until I find something better. Part of their design change that I brought about with my thread here on the forums was to reduce the size of the "heat shield", but they reduced it to the point where it is nothing but a flat platform. The earlier shield had a vertical side on the front, which acted also as a water deflector for water that entered through the leading edge of the hood. Unfortunately, is was stupidly designed to be so high that it cut the insulator blanket on the underside of the hood. Did they get the next one right? Noooo, the new "shield" has NO front vertical side, and allows water to soak the exposed filter.

When you wash your car the next time, spray water right at the edge of the hood. Then open the hood and look/feel around the radiator support and the top of your stock intake box. It will be completely wet.

In the case of any SRI or chamber intake on the market, without a heat or water shield that covers the front side of the filter, your filter is getting wet in heavy rain when you drive at any speed. Check it out for yourself.
But to the point--- hydrolock will not occur from merely getting the front side of the filter wet. There is too much surface area of unsaturated filter on the top, bottom and back sides to admit enough water to stop the engine with severe damage.

With my present junk K&N SRI, I made a water shield out of a sheet of red silicone rubber that I bought from the hardware store and riveted it to the bottom and side of the intake's metal heat shield. Now the filter never gets wet from the front. I will use this plan on any other chamber or SRI that i might buy in the future.

Don't be scared away from chambers or SRI's-- they work better than any drop-in. There is a way to reverse-engineer a solution to all but the most stupid of design flaws of intake systems.

 

CAI are fine as long as youre careful. we had a storm here in maryland that lasted 3 days of straight rain non stop. as long as you drive carefully and pay attention to the puddles youre fine. theres been a few times ive had to stop, put on my hazzards and just go around a puddle...it annoys other drivers a little, but hey, if youre not sure just play it safe. ive never tried sri so cant really give an opinion on how they perform. but i really like my cai. and for the question of where it sits, mine rests right above the skid plate behind the drivers side fog light.

 

I understand what you're talking about and I forgot to mention that it wasn't raining at the time I drove through the puddle. The rain had stopped an hour before and I had just pulled out of my garage. So I can cross out the idea that much of the water came through via the grill and openings between the hood and the rest of the car. I can only speculate much of the water splashed up from underneath the car. That's the reason I wouldn't want to get a CAI. Granted I can easily avoid puddles but there are situation and unforeseen circumstance in which I wouldn't want to risk it. And that's just my opinion. AS for the SRI, I've always been a big fan but when I saw that much water in my engine bay, I decided I didn't want to put myself in a bad situation. The thing is, regardless of how little water might get it, it can still do a lot of damage. I totally understand what you mean in regards to the surface area and saturation and you make a good point and argument.

But....when I was in high school auto shop long ago, our teacher demonstrated the effects of water in a V8 of a Chevy Suburban. He dropped in a TEASPOON of water and then the motor seized. A teaspoon. But those motors are so though. All we needed to do was take the spark plugs out and wait for the water to evaporate and start her up the next day. Our cars can't do that.

So with that in mind, I prefer a drop-in filter for the Fit. I've had SRI for my civic and element, but not that much was water got into the engine bay. Anyhow, I've never stated that he should or shouldn't get a CAI, SRI, or Drop-in. I just gave my account and my preference that's all. Manxman, I like your style. you address you're points clearly.

 

Hey sOx, I live here in the OC and I've got the Aspec CAI, but I added an outerwear prefilter that they made to fit for me for about $12. It is a water repellant material that seems to keep the filter cleaner and protects it pretty well....I still avoid deep puddles, but so far so good!