Rep Power: 0

I just go my AEM V2 in the mail today, and I was not happy at all. I was
under the impression that it was a 2nd generation CAI. When I pulled it
out of the box I thought it was missing a piece, but when I called AEM
they told me that it was because there wasnt room enough to make it a
CAI, so they just made it a SRI. When I asked him if I should go with the
CAI he said that the V2 made the most hp, period. So off I went to the
AEM website and found out that the CAI makes 8.9 hp, the SRI makes
6.6 hp, but the best of the best V2 only makes 5.5 (and theres no real hp
in the lower revs). So I called Tornactive, whom I got it from, and they
said that I could return it and trade it for the CAI.

Well at least one thing good thing came out of this, I know where I'm
getting all of my parts from now on.

 
Rep Power: 0

tornactive is awesome... good prices and great service

 
Rep Power: 367

bwhaha.

thanks for confirming for me though, I saw a pic of the v2 for ex.. and I was like where's the 2nd tube?

yeah aem doesn't know how to market.

8.9 hp on their v1, 6 hp on their SRI, and 5.5 on their v2.

which means.. none of the numbers are accurate.

check out the DX/LX model though.. it says 12 whooping hp! lol.

I wonder should a dx/lx owner go and try that.

the design is different, but who knows, since they're not too keen about their numbers, maybe that 12 hp is a load of crap too.

 
Rep Power: 331

i'll try it if you want to donate it to me..i have a dx.

 
Rep Power: 0

lol!

 
Rep Power: 0

sorry you had to find it out the hard way. you're lucky that rob @ tornactive is a cool guy hehe. make sure you research the product you want to buy thoroughly to avoid messes like this one.

 
Rep Power: 348

well i guess youre the uhh...geaney (i have no idea how to spell it) pig. i guess ill stick w/ my regular aem cai. at least we all know now. and like i said from gottis post about his K&N sri and the people that were sayign that it was better than the aem cai? theres no way in hell. take advice from this post.

 
Rep Power: 367

how's the K&N FIPK not better than the AEM CAI?

 
Rep Power: 383

do you have pics of the v2?

 
Rep Power: 367

scroll down.

http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...threadid=99005

 
Rep Power: 811

AEM SRI takes away power, so just stay stock and get an OEM k&n filter. It's not worth the money.

 
Rep Power: 383

so just stick with the orignial CAi right?

 
Rep Power: 0

I don't think there's a nickle's worth of difference with any of the intakes. Some fit better than others. Some sound different. I never could tell any power differences.

 
Rep Power: 367

yeah in our application, there's not much difference to speak of.

btw so u didn't even put the V2 on to try it out?

cuz this one gay totally rave about it. like he could FEEL the difference.

maybe that 5 hp is 5 real hp... while the others are actually 1 hp. heh

 
Rep Power: 0

not really, with the SRI you lose torque at lower rpms, but you gain at higher rpms. with the CAI, you gain power throughout the whole thing

 
Rep Power: 319

I keep telling people it that the V2 wasn't all the great but I guess I'm just nobody here. I also remmember this guy that you are talking about I was just like .

 
Rep Power: 383

where is the filter placed then if it isnt totally a CAI but it should be longer then then a SRI for they say that it still takes in cold air

 
Rep Power: 0

The V2 is a joke what a waste of money why spend 250 or close to that when you could get a v1 cai for under 200 and get a better gain
the only thing i didnt like about the cai is it threw my a/f ratio way off
i finally got a k&N fipkII and it perfomes better because i get a more even burn not all air and no gas . Well atleast thats what my a/f ratio gauge told me

 
Rep Power: 315

I had a AEM CAI.... I got rid of it and got the K&N FIPK II.

Since I am an avid racer at the local track, the K & N FIPK II
proved to be the better of the two intakes. I got better
low end torque and my 1/4 mile time improved.

AEM sucks!

 
Rep Power: 0

ok i needa say this INJEN... i've never liked AEM mainly bc to many ricers go out and buy it. I heard that the AEM v2 was just a marketing gimik.. at the last show i was at i was talking to the dyno guy said that the v2 actually made your car loose hp (it was only like .5, but still)

 
Rep Power: 383

isnt the K&N FIPK II just a SRI or is it a CAI?

 
Rep Power: 367

SRI.

all intakes are marketing gimmick.

even injen.

mmkay? injen came from an ex-AEM employee... so its not any better if you dont like AEM. heh

 
Rep Power: 0

This is total and absolute bullsh*t. Don't listen to anyone like this. I have seen dyno graph upon dyno graph from multiple sources and EVERYTIME it has been the Injen CAI on top. I'm not talking about just dyno graphs from Injen. I'm usually not a mag racer, I'm just trying to prove a point. A while back Honda Tunning did a test on all the top brand intakes SRI and CAI. In ALL tests, Injen came out on top. So don't sit there and say that all intakes are marketing gimmicks and that Injen is no better then AEM. Do some research before you make yourself look stupid.

 
Rep Power: 0

you better do some research, cuz weapon R seemed to have the best over all intake, and they tested them all, aem, aem v2, injen, etc

 
Rep Power: 0

I just installed a AEM CAI v1, and there's some performance improvement, but it can't be more than a few hp. The new intake sound is pleasing though, and it looks good when the hoods open. I guess it all comes down to how you personally feel about your purchase.

 
Rep Power: 367

heh.

research.

quoting a magazine is some research.

now why is my words absolute bullshit?

okay maybe its not totally gimmick, but there's a reason why only in NORTH AMERICA, is there such a thing as "COLD AIR INTAKE"

we started the whole polished/chrome aluminum pipe deal... cuz we like flashy stuff...

do you honestly, believe that cold air, is more important than specific tube length, bend, diameter, pressure, volume, velocity?

you can see in the American aftermarket industry... that they throw around lots of specific words over and over again. cold air is one of them

there's a reason why Japanese tuners dont throw on a flashy aluminum pipe with a filter on the end... they dont even bother with the cold air concept.. the most they do is slap on a cone filter at the end of their stock pippings and call it a day.

and as for all the intake being the same really,

like I said, Injen came about from an ex-AEM employee... hence the rivarly deal going on... all their previous intakes are EXACT duplicates of AEMs. they produce similiar hp/torque and even had the same infamous "hump" in the torque curve.

you're telling me they're not all the same? Injen has come up on top all the time? By what? 1 hp? 2 hp?

okay. factual scenario one.

Injen posted a comparison of their CAI vs stock vs AEM for our 2001 Civic EX 5spd. It was on their website. Did you know about this? (they've removed it since, for a good reason)

so AEM had like 1-2 hp increase.. as far as I can tell... and Injen had 2-3 hp increase. Wow they beat AEM by 1 hp! Awesome!

Now. I think some of us that have been here long enough, may have remember those dynos injen posted up. It was definitely more realistic than AEM's wild +8 hp claim, but you're paying $200 dollars for 2-3 hp?

I think they realized thats a bit silly, so they took down those dynos comparison. I should have saved it.

so they're not a little gimmicky at all? Dont you think they're trying to sell more than whats really there?

alright. factual scenario two.

another example of how great InJen is.... their short ram intake for our 01 civic. it works great right?

they didn't even R&D it! its the same damn intake used on previous gen DX/LX models, since they had the same vertical throttle body setup. All they did was had some CNC bracket made so that it'll mount on our car! Even that didn't fit too well!

if you want to trash my words, you'll need more than a Honda Tunning Magazine to do it.

look at what the recent post from that guy about weapon R did. weapon R is totally having a field day over it. They redesign their site, focus their entire product line base on that sole magazine article.... even though the differences were like 1-2 hp between their intake and the other ones...

and now quite a few people on this site believes weapon R is the best intake.

so time and time again you see InJen come out on top? what about that article that says weapon R came out on top?

so fine, I went a little far in saying so firmly that they're all gimmick. I mean its pretty lame to say that especially when I have like 4 different intakes before. But I know what I'm buying. (most of the time anyway)

but you gotta admit there's some gimmick involved here.

how else are they going to sell these intakes?

Would anyone buy these if they're plastic black tubings and not Red, Polish, Blue, etc. etc. tubings? Or mandrel bent tubbing? Or Coldest Air? Or highest flowing filter? Velocity stack? hmm what are some other terms they throw around a lot... CNC machined, yada yada.

dont get all pissy just cuz I said "even injen" and you happen to bought an InJen CAI.

I wasnt trashing your buying decision, I was just saying.. there's some amounts of gimmick involved here. And if you dont see it and dont believe it, fine.

But there's a reason why InJen or AEM and, urgh, Weapon R.. isn't a known name outside of United States.... there's a reason why other aftermarket companies in Japan dont bother with the shiny tubes and "mandrel bent" tubbings... (although they got their own gimmick going on too, but lets not go there)

how many horsepower did you think your InJen CAI made? Cuz even InJen themselves say its 1-3 hp.

hey $200 bucks for 1-3 hp, thats gimmicky enough for me.

 
Rep Power: 0

yes for our cars, intakes are a pure gimmick product. Think about it all tehy do for us is produce a sound that import owners love, that is all a intake for our cars do. Because the 1-2 hp, like yoda says, isn't going to give you diddly-**** for performance wise. Just stick to stock and you will be all better, unless you are going for show purposes than get the most shiniest thing you can buy all for the bling-bling factor.

Stay stock, it doesn't attract any attention from cops and you will be staying legal. Considering most of Injen's first intakes weren't CARB legal yet.

 
Rep Power: 367

and yeah, I'm focusing on our application.

dont throw me dyno numbers for a RSX or something.

 
Rep Power: 383

then if intake isnt the first thing to buy performance wise then what it is, i dont have 5 grand to fully go N/A, but I truly dispise how slow our cars are so what can i do reasonably to actually feel difference?

 
Rep Power: 367

$500-700 bucks for a nitrous setup.

you'll feel 50 shot.

no need for I/H/E that cost a grand and give u 5 poonies... (while taking away 10 from low end. heh)

a bit exaggerated numbers there but yeah...

yeah we dont have a lot of options to go fast cheap.

in either case, for any car really... its never cheap to go fast.

2-3 grand for a turbo setup for a 5-7 psi boost is okay too... although that cost a bit more....

there's a reason plenty of us are focusing on exterior and suspension... although the suspension department isnt even that great to work with too...

lol we're so screwed.