AEM Cold Air Intake Review

SS_Firehawk

Part were installed by Force Fed Racing. other mods installed at the same time were pulley's, oil cooler and M370 intake manifold (manifold was not on during dyno's due to unknown problem)

Package: This kit comes with more screws, clamps and zip ties than I needed. Box was in great condition, and components were well protected.
Installation: We had to remove the front bumper, unbolt the wheel well, remove the wheels, and a few other misc parts to get the intake tubes into their proper location. This took a bit of trial and error. Everything else bolted on fine. Pretty straight forward for the most part. The maf sensors are located at the bottom of the intake tube and up top near the throttle bodies. These are not as simple as shorties, but badassery dictates it was well worth the additional trouble.
Warning: If you are running an oil cooler that was as large as my AE performance oil cooler, the windshield washer reservoir will not fit in the relocated spot because it runs into the oil cooler. (in front of the radiator top driver side)
Appearance: I bought the dark grey colored tubes to match my pulleys and keep the bling out of the engine compartment. They look amazing! I open the hood and there are these ominous tubes that lead downward and out of sight. It compliments my header pipes well because now I can actually see them! It's understated awesomeness. These are obviously my own thoughts. If you are looking for more bling factor, get the chrome ones. The paint helps prevent the scratches that come with sliding metal across metal as well.
Performance: Looking at the dyno charts, there was a large performance gain across the board. It may be difficlut to discern the difference between the pulleys and CAI, but it is known that most of the gains from CAI's are at the top of the rpm range. Pulleys I believe on average are about 5whp throughout the rpm range. The results are untuned and AFR's were between 13.5 and 13.8 throughout most of the run, with the exception being 4100-5000 rpm where it peaked at about 14. It's easy to see because the curve is slightly different there. Look at the dyno sheets and interpret them as you see fit.
Conclusion: With most of us seeing diminishing returns on our mods after our first one, I was surprised to see 10WHP throughout the entire rpm range and up to 16 more above my last dyno. I do not really hear any sucking sound from the CAI, nor do I hear any exhaust pitch changes. There may be a slight difference, but I do not notice it. I highly recommend this over the Injens and Stillens based solely on value. Performance seems on par with it's competitors and I don't have to oil my filters.

Dyno 1, red line is with LTH, Y pipe +cat, and exhaust. Blue line is everything in my sig (no M370).

Dyno 2, Blue is baseline, red is LTH, y pipe + cat and exhaust, green is everything in my sig (no M370).

Attached Images

	dyno1.jpg (577.3 KB, 174 views)
	dyno2.jpg (394.8 KB, 157 views)

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TerribleONE

nice write up

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osbornsm

But how about a sound difference between CAI and not??

TerribleONE

if they bump up the sound anything like the G3s I am sure they sound nice in the higher RPM range

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SS_Firehawk

I didn't hear much of a sound change. When I get home, I'll do a couple video's with my camera and post. Let me know how you would like it done. Open hood, in cabin, etc...

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Ages

Do you have SAE corrected numbers. If not can you get them? Curious to see how it compairs to my setup.Mine is SAE smoothing factor of 5

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F.I.CBE|F.I.HFC|20/25mm Z1 Spacers|CS TypeN Wing(cf)|CS Diffuser (cf)|EvoR Fangs(cf)|EvoR Type2 Front Lip|Evor Side Blades|Stillen Gen3|JDM Fog|

TerribleONE

just saw you had exhaust and headers, that will definitely drown the sound out.. not in a bad way though!

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SS_Firehawk

I have the DRF files at home. I kept them DIN because thats what the shop used and that's what I was posting in everything else. When I get home, I'll post the SAE numbers. They are within a few hp if I remember and they are lower.

This dyno is stingy lol, but it has been incredibly consistent run after run. The delta numbers are the most important to look at anyways. I saw a full bolt on LS2 GTO only put down 331whp. He has full length headers, CBE, no cats, CAI, 160 thermostat, and canned tune. That was using the same correction factoras I did.

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SS_Firehawk

This is SAE with a CF of 5 of my latest run.

Made a video of the CAI sound. It does make a sucking sound when I press down on the pedal. It is definitely much more pronounced when I press the accelerator down hard. An example of this is towards the end of the vid

Attached Images

Dyno SAE.jpg (75.1 KB, 75 views)

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Ages

Thanks for posting that. i made 297 whp 240 wtq but that was about 15 pulls later so the car was pretty hot by then. i am happy with my number was just curious about similar mods but with LTH instead am also debating getting a m370.

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F.I.CBE|F.I.HFC|20/25mm Z1 Spacers|CS TypeN Wing(cf)|CS Diffuser (cf)|EvoR Fangs(cf)|EvoR Type2 Front Lip|Evor Side Blades|Stillen Gen3|JDM Fog|

SS_Firehawk

The headers and pulleys can definitely account for the difference. Once I get the M370 properly installed, I'll post in the M370 thread. I also run only one large cat at the Y pipe as opposed to two. Idk if that would be any better or worse. I'm sure the cat is costing me 5hp or so but how many can say they are doing that :P

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Yutnaka

This thread is making me want the AEM CAI to replace my K&N drop ins...

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Z1 Test Pipes, AAM S-Line Midpipe, Nismo Axleback, Takeda CAI, JDM fog light, Avant Garde M310 matte black, Tein springs, uprev 310whp-SOLD!

SS_Firehawk

Quick video i took yesterday. I hung the camera up on my hood lol. Sorry for the wind... I used the shakey camera fix thing on youtube to keep from getting sick watching it, but it did a decent job capturing the sound.

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madeinjapan

does this really not fit years 13+ ?

SS_Firehawk

No they don't. I tried. I have a 13' Nismo and tried AEM's for Nismo. It didn't work.

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