Hey guys,

Im planning on buying a CAI intake for my baby for Christmas. Im torn between the Racing Beat RevI or AEM CAI. I did a bit of research on the Rb and everything i read was good reviews. However, for the AEm i read in countries like canada with cold climates that it can suck up water and freeze which can cause damage to your engine. I know Footman had a mazdaspeed which is simlar to AEM and he sold his cause of that problem.

Personally, i would very much rather the AEM cause it looks better and apparently is a bit louder. Also cause the RB makes your engine bay look stock.


My question is for those of you with the AEm. Have you had any major problems ?? Also im trying to figure out something that will prevent it sucking water (maybe a grill behind the oem grill or something).


Any help on this would be greatly appreciated

Happy Holidays everyone !

 

RB RevI w/ duct is best option from all the research i have done. Worst comes to worst if you experience water issues with teh duct you can always remove it and get good performance. Btw out of curiosity, why choosing intake over something else like exhaust? Our intakes are pretty damn good .

 

^ So is our exhaust.
Both mods have minimal gains for the cost.

Seriously don't want to rain on your parade but I would just save your money.
Unless you are going for looks or sound because that's all you're going to get.

 

People who know buy RB.

As for the looks of the MS/AEM... all it is is a chrome tube that leaves a gapping hole in the engine bay. If that floats your boat and you don't mind the PITA winter care / vowing never to go through an automatic car wash... then by all means.

Also, there's a dude around the GTA that makes pretty decent intakes.. they're sort of a short ram (think K&N), but the intake cone is positioned directly behind the VFAD so that shouldn't be a problem. Also, they're louder then either the RB or the AEM.. talk to Thumper about them... I just can't remember the name of the brand at the moment (think it's PRM or something like that)

 

Very true, but at least the exhaust adds some more aesthetics and sound which seems like is what he is looking for

 

^+1 @ Rev-Illusions
I own the RB Intake and Ram Air and have never had a problem. That being said if I was to do it all over again I would not buy them ... I would have gotten the K&N drop in panel filter.

However like you've mentioned ... with AEM and MS intakes are a PITA!!!!
And I might add its a HUGE PITA just to clean the air filter as you need to remove the front fascia of the car.

 

Agreed .... a sweet exhaust note is also nice.

 

I say screw both and just get a BHR midpipe with davesport best of both worlds, sound and performance lol.

 

OH and I might add ....

If the OP can wait, I just happen to know someone who will be removing their RB Intake and Ram Air to install their turbo kit......

I'm sure he will be selling it at a very reasonable price ... especially if its to a local member....

I think he will also have an extra cat delete mid pipe and exotic speed exhaust

 

this is all subjective talk. gains are super minimal sometimes even negative with intake.

So if you have something you like then go with it, both aem/ms and rb arent going to be bad options

 

No problems with my AEM

 

Wow you guys are quick are responding. To be honest I'm basically interested for its looks and sounds, cause like everyone else, I know these things won't give much hp if any at all.

As for getting an exhaust first, I would but I always like to install intakes then exhausts lol. That's the way I've always been doing it and that's what I've heard is better to do in terms of which one to add first.

So aem is no good at all in Canada ? I was hoping to create some kind of grill to protect it from water. I really like the looks of the AEM over racing beat lol.

 

The AEM intake works fine or as well as any of the other popular intakes.

The problems are:
1) Some people find the empty space it creates is ugly
2) There have been cases where the filter gets soaked with water from large puddles or car washes. This could be a double whammy in cold climates as the water could freeze
3) Because the location of the filter is behind the grill you need to remove the front of the car to check/clean it (I believe this to be true but I could be wrong) and that to me is a lot of work for a filter.

jmtc

 

I really don't mind the empty space. Personally I think it makes the bay look nicer.

Is there a grill I can put behind the oem grill to protect the filter ?

Also if I do this will it reduce the performance by limiting the air flow to the filter ?

I need opinions from those who have had the AEM in Canada

 

A comment regarding AEM's "polished" version (#21-485P); although AEM used to build the polished unit using nice aluminum tubing that was polished, somewhere along the way AEM changed to thinner aluminum and chrome powder-paint (or something similar) and the polished unit is nowhere near as nice as it used to be. In all other aspects, the kit is as nice as it ever was.

 

Thanks for the heads up

 

You can remove the filter by removing the undertray without removing the bumper. However this only works if you DO NOT HAVE the front aero-lip spoiler. Also, to make this work, you need to install the filter clamp such that the screw is facing the bottom of the car hence when you remove the undertray, you can get at it to loosen the filter clamp. (Fine detail to pay attention to).

If you are going with the AEM CAI, like I said a million times, as long as you don't go auto-car wash in sub-zero temperatures, and do not drive when it's freezing rain outside, then you are good to go.

Building a custom fabricated "water blocker" in the front can shield a lot of the moisture from the road , but it will not 100% prevent any water from getting onto the filter. Air turbulence passing underneath will swirl back up as soon as it hits the A/C condenser and get your filter wet from behind.

No one has ever built one though.

If you must absolutely drive with the AEM/MS CAI in freezing rain conditions, keep your revs below 4500 rpm, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT REDLINE the car. It creates way too much suction to pull water into the intake. Then you'll get sputtering because your MAF sensor is wet and it's incorrectly reading values. Then your CAT gets fucked because your engine starts dumping fuel and doing all sorts of incorrect spark plug firing timings because everything downstream from the MAF is wrong.

 

I have the MS CAI and I never have these issues because 1) I hand wash the car 2) I don't drive it in the winter. :D

I'm gonna have to clean it next year though, so i'll have to go through the pain of taking off the bumper.

 

As I said, I've got the AEM and have had no issues so far. The filter on the end of the intake is fairly robust (though not indestructible) in combination with the water sock. Even through the record snow fall in Edmonton in the last few weeks, it's been fine. I take care not to rev high unless conditions are dry though.

Washing the car is a bit delicate, but just make sure the front grill doesn't get water blasted into it and that you don't shut off the engine immediately. Give it time to boil/fall off any stray moisture lingering in and around the engine.

 

^ how do you wash your car in winter then ? That's my only concern then.

Thanks a lot guys and thanks for being patient for my repetitive questions LOL

 

i have AEM CAI and to me as you said it does make bay look better and the sound you get from it is just amazing. It is loud when you want it to be laud and quite at normal city driving. I never had a problem even in an automatic car wash! if you think about it, the water is coming from the sides not from the front so it doesnt get to your intake and it is locates high enough so water would not be a problem at least your trying to cross a river lol and i dont know much about the Racing Beat RevI but if someone said it is located higher than the AEM CAI you might even be losing power when comparing it from the stock

 

I've owned both (among others).

RB sounds stock, looks stock, and has nothing over stock. If you want something close to stock but with a little more air flow, toss a green / k&n air filter into the stock box and be done with it for hundreds of dollars less.

The AEM CAI doesn't leave a gaping hole. You can always leave the OEM intake undertray in place. Or better yet, fashion a metal undertray for bling.

 

I don't know about Calgary, but in Toronto (GTA) area, we have car washes in which the car stays stationary and a robotic arm moves around the car, so water does spray in the front.

Also, certain automatic washes, when you select the "undercarriage spray option", the water jets are located on the floor. However, the sensor detects the car from a distance before the car is directly underneath the jets, the jets are already powered on, and is aimed 45 degrees in front (which is directly in the blast path of the AEM CAI). So as your car moves forward it just gets hosed to clean your front end and soak your filter.

The CAI filter has a rain sock around it. The rain sock is a very fine mesh screen in itself. It's purpose is to keep the water on the surface of it, while allowing air to pass through the rest of the mesh that is not covered in water. It is not 100% effective, so some water does get through. A partially damp CAI filter is not a problem.

The greatest danger is after it gets wet, it freeze from being exposed to windchill temps below 0. This is the problem with the AEM CAI.

 

Those automatic car washes would definetley be a problem! I wouldnt even risk my baby to that! I usually take mine to the petro canada one about twice a week and it just sprays from the sides (my gf cas a seasonal pass so its free for me) and once to the hand wash to do all the tricky spots!

"""I've owned both (among others).
"RB sounds stock, looks stock, and has nothing over stock. If you want something close to stock but with a little more air flow, toss a green / k&n air filter into the stock box and be done with it for hundreds of dollars less.
The AEM CAI doesn't leave a gaping hole. You can always leave the OEM intake undertray in place. Or better yet, fashion a metal undertray for bling. 12-20-2010 07:05 PM"""

^^^ I think thats the best advice you can get Hope i helped

 

OP Do the AEM . You'll be fine.




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