SRI vs CAI on the DYNO!

[PeterC]

I also have a question about SRIs in general, do they make a ton of noise when you are just driving normally, not pushing it? I want an SRI, but I also don't want all this crazy noise when I am just cruising around listening to the stereo.

 

[Sierra117]

Colder air and no hydrolock worries.

Where the hell do you all live? Indonesia?

I've had CAIs on all of my cars, been in plenty of serious flash floods, and never had hydrolock.

 

[robin2660]

Just to chime in on top of that, heat soak will be 100x more of a factor concerning the TMIC than any CAI vs. SRI difference will be. Essentially making the whole issue mute.

MOOT.

 

[robin2660]

I find two things interesting here.
One is that people keep saying that the engine compartment is constantly blasted by cold air. I disagree. We have that under panel blocking airflow from beneath the front bumper. The air coming under the front of the hood is caught and ducted to the intercooler and battery box. Most of the rest of the air is coming through the radiator and various coolers, where it is picking up heat. In theory an SRI should be sitting in a cloud of hot air. Dyno runs are done in a stationary car with the hood usually open. This means that all that heat from the radiator and coolers (including the intercooler itself) is not trapped under the hood, getting sucked into the SRI. Sounds like it is impossible to do a real comparison of the two on a dyno. The only way to determine which is better is to get someone who doesn't give a rat's ass which is better and has proven racing skills to do some timed performance tests, both 1/4 mile and road track.
The other thing I find interesting here is that the SRI that was tested was not designed to be an SRI but still produced a smoother power curve than the CAI did. Perhaps the SRI has a drivability advantage.

I reckon a simple temperature sensor like one of those "inside/outside" thermometers would do the job. Record outside temp, engine bay temp, and maybe intake temp.

 

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

I reckon a simple temperature sensor like one of those "inside/outside" thermometers would do the job. Record outside temp, engine bay temp, and maybe intake temp.

The perfect place to install such a gauge would be in the tube that feeds the turbo, like that new piece that was just posted. It would be interesting to know if it makes any difference.
Although, now that I think about it, the bottom line is what temp the air is that is getting pumped into the engine, so putting a temp sensor at the outlet of the intercooler would be the best place.

 

[Haltech]

I thought we already has a two sensors, one IAT before the intercooler and one after? Anyone with a Dashhawk should be able to confirm this.

 

[Sacrilicious]

I find two things interesting here.
One is that people keep saying that the engine compartment is constantly blasted by cold air. I disagree. We have that under panel blocking airflow from beneath the front bumper. The air coming under the front of the hood is caught and ducted to the intercooler and battery box. Most of the rest of the air is coming through the radiator and various coolers, where it is picking up heat. In theory an SRI should be sitting in a cloud of hot air. Dyno runs are done in a stationary car with the hood usually open. This means that all that heat from the radiator and coolers (including the intercooler itself) is not trapped under the hood, getting sucked into the SRI. Sounds like it is impossible to do a real comparison of the two on a dyno. The only way to determine which is better is to get someone who doesn't give a rat's ass which is better and has proven racing skills to do some timed performance tests, both 1/4 mile and road track.
The other thing I find interesting here is that the SRI that was tested was not designed to be an SRI but still produced a smoother power curve than the CAI did. Perhaps the SRI has a drivability advantage.

the easiest way to see the difference is to do what driver311 already suggested: drive around for a while and then stop and pop open your hood...feel the intake hose and see that it's actually pretty cool to the touch. now, close the hood and idle the engine for about 5 min...pop the hood again and see the difference. the point of the exercise is simply that once you get moving, the air in the engine compartment DOES cycle pretty readily. if it didn't, there's no way in hell you would be able to get enough air out of it to feed the intake of an engine...

 

[Aaron2112]

Im glad to see this as i have always wondered what the difference really is SRI is safer and the loss of 3 hp to the CAI is no big deal but the gain of any torque is always a good thing i will go with SRI when i get my MS3 thanks for the info

Also easy heat fixes if thats bugging you....heat wrap or ceramic coating on the headers will greatly reduce engine bay heat im not even kidding ive put my hand on a header with heat wrap on it after taking a ride in my friends S/Ced Scion tc it was hot but i DID put my hand on the header and didnt get burnt.

 

[Jays07MS3]

I thought we already has a two sensors, one IAT before the intercooler and one after? Anyone with a Dashhawk should be able to confirm this.

Yeah we do have 2 IAT sensors, one at the MAF and one at the MAP but unfortunately the DH can only read the one at the MAF because the other one is a Mazda specific PID. But they are working on getting access to the Mazda specific parameters.

 

[Ryz]

Yep, more torque to spin tires at low speeds is what you need.

 

[driver311]

You guys are looking to close at the dyno. The difference between the two is to close to analyze. They make the same power. My point is cai is overrated and over priced. No need for it.

 

[mckraut]

Could anyone post or link a picture of the Cobb SRI installed in an MS3? I can't see to find one. Thanks.

Edit: Nevermind, found a couple of them.

 

[Ben Nast]

I run a sri because I believe there is no benefit to a cai on a turbo car. Go drive your car for 10-30 minutes. Then pull over and pop your hood. Feel your intake box and tell me what you feel. Im betting it will cold to the touch, just like my sri intake tube is everytime. We have ram ari on our car. Have your forgotten that? The so called cold air is blasting into the engine bay everytime you drive it. I believe and have dyno verification to back my thoughts up that the shorter path of travel is best on a turbo car. On srts and evos its a much bigger difference. On my old srt I picked up 5whp on the dyno taking off my cold air extenstion. so i kept it off after that. Na cars are a different story. Order what you think is best for you. But Im telling you from fact there is no benefit to a cai on this car. The proof is in the dyno numbers.


Just go drive it and feel for yourself.

I always thought the same about the cai. I have always heard on the Srt4 that the cai was a waste of money and didnt doing anything. But I thought was different for the Ms3 and supposed to be dyno proven 15-20fwh. So you are saying this is crap?

 

[driver311]

If you put a cold air intake on a stock car it will lean it out and and give good gains. Its because its so rich in the first place. Its the same with all the first mods. If you did a tmic first it would do the same. but if you stack them you only see a little more than just doing one of them. That make sense?

 

[mazdaspeedster3]

i wonder why Mazdaspeed, the creators of our cars made a CAI and not a short ram... END OF ARGUMENT!

 

[Sacrilicious]

i wonder why Mazdaspeed, the creators of our cars made a CAI and not a short ram... END OF ARGUMENT!

dude, "mazdaspeed" didn't make squat. they outsourced to AEM, who did a piss poor job of it because they didn't do their research and didn't bother with air straighteners. now, mazdaspeed CAIs are pulled from the market because they have been known to cause CELs and tuners like cobb are having a hell of a time tuning for them because they have turbulent airflow over the MAF and just end up being hard as hell to account for.

ya, mazda still honors warranty claims on the MS CAI, but only because they're stuck between a rock and a hard spot: they're the jackasses that let these out of the bag in the first place. if i were mazda, i would have fired the idiot who passed the MS CAI through inspection and put the mazdaspeed stamp of approval on it!

 

[Ghost Rider]

dude, "mazdaspeed" didn't make squat. they outsourced to AEM, who did a piss poor job of it because they didn't do their research and didn't bother with air straighteners. now, mazdaspeed CAIs are pulled from the market because they have been known to cause CELs and tuners like cobb are having a hell of a time tuning for them because they have turbulent airflow over the MAF and just end up being hard as hell to account for.

ya, mazda still honors warranty claims on the MS CAI, but only because they're stuck between a rock and a hard spot: they're the jackasses that let these out of the bag in the first place. if i were mazda, i would have fired the idiot who passed the MS CAI through inspection and put the mazdaspeed stamp of approval on it!

(werd)

 

[Sacrilicious]

on a sidenote, it's really nice to have this thread bumped to the top again, because it's always a really useful reference for when the SRI vs CAI question comes up...

 

[LENNY127]

I think the test shows what 311 stated, not much of a difference either way. Now between Cobb SRI and MS CAI....... one has an air straightener the other one doesnt...... lets see those 2 in a sided to side comparo. Also 311....for the next test stick a "tornado" on the sri and post some dyno numbers and lets show all these guys what "real" power is all about.

 

[whitey4311]

Dyno for this proves nothing when the hood is open and a fan blows over the top of the SRI. Shut the hood and let it take in that hot engine bay air.

Dumb!