Ram air CAI install

Ari nismo87@houston.rr.com
Sun, 30 Mar 2003 01:00:03 -0600


I've been lately playing with the idea of making a track only type ram air
intake after seeing how good a friend has ran with it.  So today I went out
and removed my driver headlight and put the cone filter in it's place.  I
already have a ghetto CAI so only takes around 10-15min to switch between
both setups.  Since I have my trust techtom I can see if I get more maf
voltage either way. Here are pics of my ram air setup
http://www.geocities.com/nismo87se/ramair.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/nismo87se/ramair2.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/nismo87se/ramair3.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/nismo87se/ramair4.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/nismo87se/ramair5.jpg

Well I did about 5-7 2nd-3rd gear runs, I peaked at 4.62-4.63v right around
7200-7400rpm.  Also I noticed that I went over 4.60v right at 7000rpm.
According to the butt dyno the car felt faster and pulled alittle harder.
The engine tone changed over 7000rpm as well, I didn't notice it until after
I put my CAI back to the way it was.  Another thing is that I felt more of a
surge of torque around 4800-5300rpm on the tach than before.

After I did my runs with the ram air setup and converted back to a normal
CAI, I noticed my "lowend" torque seemed more responsive.  I forgot to test
my MAF volt at part throttle too :(.  However I did the same 2-3rd gear runs
and this time I peaked at 4.61v.  Also I believe I was 0.03-0.06v less
overall from 6800-7500rpm with my CAI in the old style.  Not to menion this
is where I noticed the change in engine tone.  I wouldn't say it was
straining at high rpm but it sounded like it wasn't moving air as well.
However the ram air setup the engine had the same sound from 6500-7500rpm.
Here are my orginal CAI pics
http://www.geocities.com/nismo87se/dynos/sercai.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/nismo87se/dynos/sercai2.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/nismo87se/dynos/sercai3.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/nismo87se/dynos/sercai4.jpg

Hopefully my ghetto ram air intake + slicks will put my se-r into the 14s.
I'm also going to try hotter plugs with 100 octane to see if can make more
power, provided the engine doesn't detonate.  My power mods are CAI, JWT ECU
+ S3s, UR UDP, 2.25in B pipe (2k max muffler probably has no power gain).
Once I get the PS header installed the car should be able to run 14s all day
long hopefully.