# brute force CAI



## REDGTO89 (Jul 19, 2008)

Many people have told me that this CAI is the worst you can get because it attracts heat unlike plastic ones like k&n intakes, is this true it is really bugging me???:confused


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## Aramz06 (Mar 2, 2008)

Don't have one, but I hear only good things about it.


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

REDGTO89 said:


> Many people have told me that this CAI is the worst you can get because it attracts heat unlike plastic ones like k&n intakes, is this true it is really bugging me???:confused


I have one and it works fine. The Metal tubing dissipates the heat and allows it to escape rather than build up in the plastic. The heat radiates off of the metal rather than trap it inside which causes reduced engine performance.


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## PDQ GTO (Jun 21, 2007)

Run a search on this forum under intake and exhaust and you will see opinions all over the map. No one CAI is head-over-heals better than another. Buy the one you like best.

I am running the polished AEM with a Spectre stainless steel filter and am very happy with it. I went with AEM because it offers are larger intake tube at 4” rather than 3” and it utilizes dry filter technology which means no oiling of the filter and potential seepage into your throttle body and intake manifold. Oh ya, they look bad As* too...:cool

YouTube - AEM CAI


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## REDGTO89 (Jul 19, 2008)

PDQ GTO said:


> Run a search on this forum under intake and exhaust and you will see opinions all over the map. No one CAI is head-over-heals better than another. Buy the one you like best.
> 
> I am running the polished AEM with a Spectre stainless steel filter and am very happy with it. I went with AEM because it offers are larger intake tube at 4” rather than 3” and it utilizes dry filter technology which means no oiling of the filter and potential seepage into your throttle body and intake manifold. Oh ya, they look bad As* too...:cool
> 
> YouTube - AEM CAI


thank you pdq for advice and yours looks bad a**:cool


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## silgoat05 (Jul 1, 2006)

i have an aem i love it!!


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## NJG8GT (Nov 14, 2007)

great intake


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

GTO JUDGE said:


> I have one and it works fine. The Metal tubing dissipates the heat and allows it to escape rather than build up in the plastic. The heat radiates off of the metal rather than trap it inside which causes reduced engine performance.


that makes no sense at all. the heat isn't "in the metal" but in the engine bay and the metal allows it to efficiently transfer that heat into the air path. if the tube feels cool it's because it's transferring that heat well. they make heat exchanges out of metal and they make insulators out of things that transfer heat slowly. the only way you can even have an idea of how a "C"AI works is to monitor Intake Air Temperatures and Manifold Absolute Pressures under operating conditions. i've data logged most of them. they all work fairly much the same and none of the popular ones work that well. save your money or make your own


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## REDGTO89 (Jul 19, 2008)

Im dumb ,so much of that didnt make sense to me so your saying most popular CAI dont work?


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

REDGTO89 said:


> Im dumb ,so much of that didnt make sense to me so your saying most popular CAI dont work?


"work" as in Cold AIr Intake?...no. work as in bling? then it depends on if you just want a "look" under the hood.
it's pretty simple what i said. IAT (intake air temp) is the temp of the air going into the engine. that's the thing a "Cold" Air Intake is supposed to do. because they're not pulling much air from outside the engine bay they run warmer air in than ambient air temps. the cooler the air the denser it is. the denser it is the more oxygen per unit and the more power. in addition the warmer the air the more prone to engine knock so the computer with stock tables starts pulling timing when it senses temps going in above 86*. you can massage the table a little bit but you still can't get dense air or the best timing that way. 
when you measure MAP (manifold absolute pressure) you measure what the air pressure is in the manifold compared to what the air pressure is all around you outside. when you open the throttle blade you'd like to be at or very near full pressure in the manifold. the other thing an intake system does (besides filtering) is to provide that air without any restrictions. a MAP lower with one than another means you have restrictions. the filter size, type, tube diameter, length, bends, smoothness ect. affect that. some like the Volant with that closed box have dynoed higher with the lid off meaning that it is restrictive.


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## REDGTO89 (Jul 19, 2008)

Thanks for making it easier now i get it :cheers


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

According to the literature I read on metal tubing versus plastic is the metal does not hold the heat in like the plastic does and plastic doesn't release the built up heat as well as metal. I didn't make it up I read it. Is it true? I noticed the metal tubing gets really hot to the touch when the car is run for a period of time, that hot you cannot rest your hand on it. The plastic doesn't get as hot. Being the metal tubing is a lot hotter, to me it suggests the heat is escaping faster than would the plastic. 

The following is an excerpt from AEM...

"We limit our use of plastic because this material absorbs some of the sound energy we work to create in the inlet duct. Although we use the best plastic material for our plenums, it is still not as resilient and does not retain the visual appeal of aluminum over long-term use. Because we have to use plastic on throttle body applications, we take extra precautions to ensure that the aluminum retaining ring that attaches to the throttle body is anchored securely into the plastic plenum; this is done by making an interlocking mechanical link between the plastic and aluminum.

*Whether or not an inlet system is made from aluminum, steel, or plastic, the thermal conductivity of the duct material has little effect on engine power. *We have found that the tuning of the pipe, in addition to providing the coolest inlet air source, are the keys to making useable power. We perform engine inlet-air-temp studies when developing each application to determine the coolest location for sourcing inlet air. In addition to this, we determine the safest location for the inlet source to protect it from highly dusty conditions and water. To this end, we provide a stainless-steel heat shield to help minimize heat soak into the inlet area, as well as to provide protection from dust, dirt and mud."

As far as what I noticed on my CAI, the plastic never got as hot as the metal. True metal heats up but I would think by doing so the heat is moving out faster than it would be in plastic.

Reduced engine power as stated above is contrary to what I had read.


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## REDGTO89 (Jul 19, 2008)

Now i dont know what to believe i didnt have the stock box in the car when i got it so i can really tell the difference between stock and my AEM! but judge for some reason yours made alot more sense but hey what do i know


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

REDGTO89 said:


> Now i dont know what to believe i didnt have the stock box in the car when i got it so i can really tell the difference between stock and my AEM! but judge for some reason yours made alot more sense but hey what do i know


I'm no authority on CAI's. 

If you want a better understanding on them read up on them at the following link. 

AEM - Cold Air Intakes

I only got mine because a fellow forum member sold me his new one for a very good price. It's an AEM Brute Force with a gray powder coated finish. Did I notice night and day difference in performance? No. Improved Mpg? Not much if any. 

My son has a K&N and he periodically washes it and applies oil. He uses the K&N cleaning kit. Personally I think its a pain in the @ss. The AEM is oil less. When dirty carefully blow out the filter. Mine has a sock over the filter to prolong the cleaning cycle.


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## REDGTO89 (Jul 19, 2008)

Thanks for the info judge!:cheers


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

GTO JUDGE said:


> According to the literature I read on metal tubing versus plastic is the metal does not hold the heat in like the plastic does and plastic doesn't release the built up heat as well as metal. I didn't make it up I read it. Is it true? I noticed the metal tubing gets really hot to the touch when the car is run for a period of time, that hot you cannot rest your hand on it. The plastic doesn't get as hot. Being the metal tubing is a lot hotter, to me it suggests the heat is escaping faster than would the plastic.
> 
> The following is an excerpt from AEM...
> 
> ...


two things. you're right the cooler metal tube means the heat is moving out faster....but where is the heat coming from and where is it going to? a hot tube isn't being heated by incoming air, it's being heated by the heat in the engine bay. the heat moves from the hot place (engine bay) to the cool place (intake tube air). energy (heat in this case) flows from where it is high to where it is lower. that a tube stays hot means it isn't passing that energy to the air stream. if it was 500* and stayed there despite having cool air pass on the inside of it it wouldn't matter. the inside air wouldn't be affected. 
the other thing is that your source is trying to sell you something, i'm not. not only what i've stated makes sense as physics, it's also what i've actually measured with various intakes. take it for what you will.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

svede1212 said:


> two things. you're right the cooler metal tube means the heat is moving out faster....but where is the heat coming from and where is it going to? a hot tube isn't being heated by incoming air, it's being heated by the heat in the engine bay. the heat moves from the hot place (engine bay) to the cool place (intake tube air). energy (heat in this case) flows from where it is high to where it is lower. that a tube stays hot means it isn't passing that energy to the air stream. if it was 500* and stayed there despite having cool air pass on the inside of it it wouldn't matter. the inside air wouldn't be affected.
> the other thing is that your source is trying to sell you something, i'm not. not only what i've stated makes sense as physics, it's also what i've actually measured with various intakes. take it for what you will.


I agree with you except for the part the incoming air isn't being heated by the hot tube. If the tube is hot, it has to transfer some of that heat to the inside air. Granted, because the run is so short and the air is moving so fast it might not be that much, but I would think the incoming air would be heated by the hot pipe. Because of that, I would think a cool to the touch plastic tube would transfer less heat to the incoming air and make more power.


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

Rukee said:


> I agree with you except for the part the incoming air isn't being heated by the hot tube. If the tube is hot, it has to transfer some of that heat to the inside air. Granted, because the run is so short and the air is moving so fast it might not be that much, but I would think the incoming air would be heated by the hot pipe. Because of that, I would think a cool to the touch plastic tube would transfer less heat to the incoming air and make more power.


lol. i'm agreeing that the plastic tube is better. my point was if after a run the tube is cool like the metal one would be it's because it passed it's heat to the air stream. a tube that holds it's heat isn't passing it on. have you ever seen a ceramic foam cube demonstrated. you can heat it up until it's glowing read and then pick it up by the corners without burning yourself. it's hot but it doesn't pass that heat on.


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## john.perez (Oct 31, 2008)

In reference to your CAI, I have a K&N typhoon with the metal tubing and it works great for me. It also adds a little dress up to the engine. Functional and dressy.


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