aem cai vs ebay cai
Registered!!
iTrader: (7)
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 2,848
Likes: 0
From: Bossier City, Louisiana, US
Rep Power: 0 
just keep in mind that you pay for what you get. the aem cai is ceramic coated and its tuned for the car. ebay intake are just knock offs made of some crap material that heats up fast as hell and probably reduces HP.
Registered!!
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 53
Likes: 0
Rep Power: 0 Screw paying $100 for one, I'm going to make my own. I figure I can make it for under $10 using this stuff :
Si(R) killer # 1
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,013
Likes: 0
From: London, Ontario, Canada
Rep Power: 0 Originally posted by Blue_Honda_Civ
yes i agree with samarai you get what you paid for and my intake doesnt ever get warm so it is all good and i like it a lot
yes i agree with samarai you get what you paid for and my intake doesnt ever get warm so it is all good and i like it a lot
Registered!!
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 635
Likes: 0
From: Milford, CT
Rep Power: 0 I have an AEM cai and love it. Before that I had an Injen warm air. Both are really good and offer good gains. I like the AEM for the fact that the it is honed tuned for the car. If it was as good as something you could make at Home Depot for $20 they wouldnt be in business.
Registered!!
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 320
Likes: 0
From: Houston
Rep Power: 0 Originally posted by CoupeStylz
Yeah what the f*** ever. AEM and injen get just as hot as an ebay intake. That .5mm thick ceramic layer does f*** all. You just wasted $300.
Yeah what the f*** ever. AEM and injen get just as hot as an ebay intake. That .5mm thick ceramic layer does f*** all. You just wasted $300.
Last edited by JDMTUNED01; Dec 1, 2003 at 11:05 PM.
AEM - more expensive
Generic - cheaper
That's the different between these two. I have the Generic SRI, after I drove half an hr, I popped up the hood, touched the intake...still cold. Don't fool by some people who thought that "omg my intake is ****ing hot that I can't even touch it..", it's nonsense, never happen thou.
Generic - cheaper
That's the different between these two. I have the Generic SRI, after I drove half an hr, I popped up the hood, touched the intake...still cold. Don't fool by some people who thought that "omg my intake is ****ing hot that I can't even touch it..", it's nonsense, never happen thou.
Originally posted by Whelan
I have an AEM cai and love it. Before that I had an Injen warm air. Both are really good and offer good gains. I like the AEM for the fact that the it is honed tuned for the car. If it was as good as something you could make at Home Depot for $20 they wouldnt be in business.
I have an AEM cai and love it. Before that I had an Injen warm air. Both are really good and offer good gains. I like the AEM for the fact that the it is honed tuned for the car. If it was as good as something you could make at Home Depot for $20 they wouldnt be in business.
I'd analyze it like this, a target hane's t-shirt and a banana republic t-shirt...target's tshirt is 5 bucks, banana republic's is 20 bucks...what's the difference? after 100 loads, they're both still the same size, both feel like new and both are made of 100% cotton. So to answer ur question, it's the brand that increases the price, not always what it's made from. However, I'm not saying all intakes are the same as generic ebays, b/c brand name intakes do fit better without modification than some ebay ones and some do perform better.
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 4,248
Likes: 2
From: Rockville, Maryland
Rep Power: 332 
here you go...just buy ebay intake and then buy a AEM decal from ebay, and stick it on the ebay intake...instant AEM intake.
Originally posted by CoupeStylz
Yeah what the f*** ever. AEM and injen get just as hot as an ebay intake. That .5mm thick ceramic layer does f*** all. You just wasted $300.
Yeah what the f*** ever. AEM and injen get just as hot as an ebay intake. That .5mm thick ceramic layer does f*** all. You just wasted $300.
you're the idiot if you would pay $300 for an AEM intake.
What is really important with a CAI is the bypass valve, and I swear by AEM because my bypass valve has saved me on many occasions, and I know pople with e-bay intakes that get hydrolocked and lose their car because their intake just sucked up water.
Keep that in mind, because you really need to have a bypass valve
Registered!!
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 427
Likes: 0
From: Tennessee
Rep Power: 0
wait, what??
what about ebay intake and water? and "lose their car"
what does that mean?
what about ebay intake and water? and "lose their car"
what does that mean?
me personally i would spend the extra money on the AEM, it is well worth it for the quality and the name...you get what you pay for imo.
Registered!!
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 589
Likes: 0
From: I405 Stuck in traffic.
Rep Power: 0 Your car is fine since it draws air from up top. What they mean by destroying engines is when a car sucks up water from a cold air intake. The real cold air intakes are mounted somewhere like around under your headlights behind the bumper. They offer cool air at the risk of hydrolock from complete submersion. There are no ebay (generic) intakes that are cold air btw.
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 4,248
Likes: 2
From: Rockville, Maryland
Rep Power: 332 well...in order for your engine to hydrolock because of a cai...it has to be sucking in pretty hard. meaning...to hydrolock, you have to be at almost open throttle and go through a long puddle to make it happen.
*HINT* don't accelerate through puddles with a CAI, just coast...that has 'saved me' a whole bunch of times. none of this fruity bypass BS.
*HINT* don't accelerate through puddles with a CAI, just coast...that has 'saved me' a whole bunch of times. none of this fruity bypass BS.
Registered!!
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 635
Likes: 0
From: Milford, CT
Rep Power: 0 Def. a plus with the carb tag, especially since CT just reinstated the testing. Injen has basically the same thing. My question for those with a supposed EBay cold air, how did you mount that pipe. Cause on my AEM it came with a new cable mount piece of metal in order fort he pipe to clear and make it down near the bottom of the tranny. I had to pull off a tranny bolt to put it on and remount the clutch cable I think it was. But I would be more apt to trust a piece like that from AEM than from some EBay thing, if they even come with that piece.
Registered!!
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Cal
Rep Power: 0 The Aem bypass valve is a marketing gimic. I know people who swear by this, and they are all wrong.
You don't need a bypass valve on a civic intake unless you are driving through enough water to submerge your filter. If you are driving through water that deep, you need a Jeep, not a Civic.
I'm running an Iceman cai.
More hp than an aem, and it comes in a 2 piece design.
If you live in an area with 2' deep water, and don't drive a Jeep, you can take off the cold air tube and reattach the filter high and dry.
The aem intakes are a joke, they are made overseas just like the crap on ebay is. The metal in any intake tube conducts heat, if it's made out of metal. My Iceman is made out of plastic (looks like the same plastic as the other underhood parts are). No heating up my air.
You can be a sheep and get what everyone else says to get, or you can think for yourself.
You don't need a bypass valve on a civic intake unless you are driving through enough water to submerge your filter. If you are driving through water that deep, you need a Jeep, not a Civic.
I'm running an Iceman cai.
More hp than an aem, and it comes in a 2 piece design.
If you live in an area with 2' deep water, and don't drive a Jeep, you can take off the cold air tube and reattach the filter high and dry.
The aem intakes are a joke, they are made overseas just like the crap on ebay is. The metal in any intake tube conducts heat, if it's made out of metal. My Iceman is made out of plastic (looks like the same plastic as the other underhood parts are). No heating up my air.
You can be a sheep and get what everyone else says to get, or you can think for yourself.
Originally posted by Niter1dah
Your car is fine since it draws air from up top. What they mean by destroying engines is when a car sucks up water from a cold air intake. The real cold air intakes are mounted somewhere like around under your headlights behind the bumper. They offer cool air at the risk of hydrolock from complete submersion. There are no ebay (generic) intakes that are cold air btw.
Your car is fine since it draws air from up top. What they mean by destroying engines is when a car sucks up water from a cold air intake. The real cold air intakes are mounted somewhere like around under your headlights behind the bumper. They offer cool air at the risk of hydrolock from complete submersion. There are no ebay (generic) intakes that are cold air btw.
CARB certification is nice if you live in a state that has strict emissions (like CA) not all states require it though.
knock-offs are cheaper because they did not do any R+D. They simply bought a CAI and reverse engineered. So the whole "AEM did research" argument is right out the window. The real advantage to buying name brand is you are funding more research for better parts.
The bypass valve only works if your filter is submerged in water or if you are at high RPM while going through a deep puddle. As stated by SkipBarber...just coast through a puddle. If you’re driving your car into water higher than your bumper that I think you deserve to have your engine killed. Also the bypass valve allows air in at high RPMs. It's located in the engine bay so you’re not getting cold air. I have not seen one in person so I don't know if there is a filter element in the bypass...if not than it could do more harm than good.
Had you searched I wouldn't have had to type all that
Thank you and please drive through.
EDIT: Ahhhhh I must have been typing when RedzNet submitted that post. Good post. I agree 100%
Last edited by Drnknmnky13; Dec 2, 2003 at 05:21 PM.
