I'm looking into putting in a CAI system into my Jeep, probably an Airaid. How much does it improve the performance of the engine? Did you feel it was worth getting or did you feel it was a waste of money?

 

Back when I had my '10 JK I installed a CAI and the only thing that I noticed was a throatier sound when I got into skinny pedal really hard. Really didn't feel a power increase. Not sure if it had to do with mine being the Mopar one or not.

rock

 

I didn't notice any difference when I installed the airaid on mine. It was louder that's about it.

 

You will get a whistle from under the hood but that's about it. Not worth the investment as far as performance gains go. Be better off with a snorkel.

 

I just installed that intake on my 13 jku and I barely notice anything other than throaty sound from the good. Mpg went up a bit, but weather warned up too.

The thing I really like about this intake is the bottom is sealed better than the factory box. And it appears as though a snorkel will work in conjunction with it without too much modification

Do be prepared, you are cutting up factory parts for it to work. I used some heavy windshield sealer on cracks to seal it up better too.

Overall, happy with it for the deal I got.

 

AirRaid CAI - Throatier sound....but basically a hot air intake to be honest. Ran an Air-raid for about a year found on hot summer wheeling trips the motor would get extremely boggy sucking in warm engine heat and the risk of hydrolocking was increased when I crossed creeks/mud holes even with a pre-filter.


I swapped out for AEV snorkel and Air-raid drop-in filter and it runs much better in warmer weather and a little more protected from hydrolocking if I do mud/water crossings.

 

Actually these so called CAI's that get the air from within the engine compartment are not cold air intakes at all but rather a short ram intake, and do virtually nothing for performance. Many ricer forums where they are very popular have given information that low end power actually goes down due to the fact that the metal pipe used gets heatsoaked and actully can become 10-20* hotter than the ambient temperature of the engine compartment. There is also some info put out on the ricer forums that at high RPM's (almost redline at about 7000), some ricers feel a little power increase generated.
Considering that the JK uses a naturally aspirated engine, how could they work. The engine is designed to only allow the amount of air into the combustion chamber that is pulled by the vacuum the piston creates. There is no way possible for a small tube sitting in the engine compartment to somehow add a ram air effect to the intake rails. And if it could the air again would be limited to the volume of air the rail could take. Now some will chime in with the story that the stock airbox starves the engine of air, but that is not the case, and provides as much air as the engine requires.
The only way one of thses gadgets could work were if was attached to a superchrger that would provide a boost of air. I know there are many who will defend the working of these things to get more power and better gas miliage, however if you read and understand how the naturally aspirated engine really works, you would see it is physically impossible for it alone to add any power to the engine. It will of course change the sound of the stock intake, and thereby create the illusion of "seat of the pants" power gains.
I will agree, back in the day of high performance carburators sitting atop highrise manifolds with velocity stacks and short tuned headers did in fact add power to the vehicle. These vehicles did not have all the sensors and smog equiptment where the engine was controlled by a computer. Those day are long gone

 

Waste of money.

 

x2

Spend the money somewhere else.

 

Thanks for all the answers, guys.