Injen CAI comments and review

mtbiker278 · 09-02-2006, 02:29 PM

I bought an Injen CAI for my EX Coupe AT about three days ago. It was an impulse buy really cause I wasn't ever really planning on modding my car all that much, but whatever:rolleyes: . I figure I'd post up my finding on the install, possible problems, and the overall difference.

For the most part the install was straight forward. I was a little working about being rough with taking out the stock intake but it's a necessary evil. The difficult parts were removing the rear bolt on the lower filter housing, positioning the band clamps so my socket wrench could get to them, and stuffing the lower portion of the Injen CAI up through the fender. The intake sits a little close to the radiator hose like some other poeple have found but it can be adjusted. The only major problem I found was the fender well pushing up on the intake. In the directions they say to cut out a 4" 'C'- section out of the plastic. I decided to do about half of that and take out a small portion of the corner. Reason being is that the intake would be pushed up against part of the frame and cause the wear that other people are starting to notice. For good measure I split a 4" piece of vacuum hose and stuck it on the frame where the intake would rub

. The fender well does rest on the intake a little still, but I think it's not going to make that big of a difference.

I drove the car around for the past couple days and there's some deffinite gains in torque on the low end. Driving slow around the city the car doesn't bog down as much as it did before. Below 2800rmp it sounds pretty docile. up top (above 3500rpm) it has this growl that reminds me of an old porsche, although don't take my word for this. The only bad this about the sound is right around 3200rpm there's a resonace that make it kinda boomy under some load.

Overall, I'm pleased with my mod. I would recommend it if you're looking for a little bit better driveability and some cool tunes. One side note though. This thing will not save you gas at all for the most part. The reason being is Injen's design of the MAP sensor mount. The tube is the same diameter as stock. Flowing more air through the stock diameter and same MAP sensor will have the ECU inject mroe fuel. It's one of the reason's why Injen makes a little more power than other intakes overall. Other Intakes are designed with a constant diameter tubing, or larger than stock diameter, for the MAP sensor mount. The air in the larger diamter tubing won't move as fast and the smaller diameter, and the ECU will register this and inject less fuel. This is why some intakes will save you gas, but you also run the risk of running lean under high loads and high rpms. I'm not sure if this is 100% accurate, but it makes sense to me. Even if it's not true, you could still blame burying your foot in the floor board more often for the loss of MPG

**Silver8th** · 09-02-2006, 02:42 PM

Nice write up! I will be installing mine in a week or so. Did you take the wheel and bumper off? How long did it take you? Did you use jack stands or just a jack?

mtbiker278 · 09-02-2006, 03:29 PM

Originally I had the car on some ramps and removed the bumper. It's not hard at all, just a bunch of clips and four screws. The whole thing just pops off with a little persuasion. When it came time to cut part of the fender well I had to take the wheel off. I just rolled the car off the ramps and used the jack in the trunk. I didn't feel like getting out my jack stands. I can see it being possible to get to the corner of the fender well just by turning the wheel all the way to the left, but you get more space to work with if you just take the whole wheel off. Total install time took about an hour and a half. Most of it is just getting rid of the stock intake. I never knew how many damn pieces the stock intake had. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. Just for kicks I put it together just to see how messed up the whole flow path was.

Just as an update too, I've been driving around in the rain a bunch lately. Took the bumper off again to check the fitting, rubbing, etc. Rain and such can get up behind the bumper, but I doubt it'll have any effect. Unless you plow the front end into a foot deep puddle you should worry about hydrolock. Let the swamp bogging go to the 4x4ers.

**Cookstar** · 09-02-2006, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtbiker278

Overall, I'm pleased with my mod. I would recommend it if you're looking for a little bit better driveability and some cool tunes. One side note though. This thing will not save you gas at all for the most part. The reason being is Injen's design of the MAP sensor mount. The tube is the same diameter as stock. Flowing more air through the stock diameter and same MAP sensor will have the ECU inject mroe fuel. It's one of the reason's why Injen makes a little more power than other intakes overall. Other Intakes are designed with a constant diameter tubing, or larger than stock diameter, for the MAP sensor mount. The air in the larger diamter tubing won't move as fast and the smaller diameter, and the ECU will register this and inject less fuel. This is why some intakes will save you gas, but you also run the risk of running lean under high loads and high rpms. I'm not sure if this is 100% accurate, but it makes sense to me. Even if it's not true, you could still blame burying your foot in the floor board more often for the loss of MPG

I took a trip at the end of July with a mix of mostly interstate and spirited mountain driving. I got 32-33 mpg for the trip with the Injen CAI.

mtbiker278 · 09-02-2006, 08:25 PM

That's pretty damn good for an SI. Although it's really hard to judge MPG without good instrumentation, and consistent testing. My point was just that the design of the Injen Intake does not lend itself to better fuel economy. I personally still have yet to find gains, mostly cause I love that sound. Once I go on a road trip as you did I'll post up my findings. So far I was able to get 42mpg on a 250 mile road trip doing 55mph the most of the way while being completely stock. Although this is just a very very rough estimation, and there are too many variables to make a definitive measurement.

**Cookstar** · 09-02-2006, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtbiker278

That's pretty damn good for an SI. Although it's really hard to judge MPG without good instrumentation, and consistent testing. My point was just that the design of the Injen Intake does not lend itself to better fuel economy. I personally still have yet to find gains, mostly cause I love that sound. Once I go on a road trip as you did I'll post up my findings. So far I was able to get 42mpg on a 250 mile road trip doing 55mph the most of the way while being completely stock. Although this is just a very very rough estimation, and there are too many variables to make it definitive measurement.

I never really measured it beforehand, but I'm satisfied with the mpg I'm getting now.

09-02-2006, 02:29 PM	#1 (permalink)
mtbiker278 Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 49 iTrader: 0 / 0%	Injen CAI comments and review I bought an Injen CAI for my EX Coupe AT about three days ago. It was an impulse buy really cause I wasn't ever really planning on modding my car all that much, but whatever:rolleyes: . I figure I'd post up my finding on the install, possible problems, and the overall difference. For the most part the install was straight forward. I was a little working about being rough with taking out the stock intake but it's a necessary evil. The difficult parts were removing the rear bolt on the lower filter housing, positioning the band clamps so my socket wrench could get to them, and stuffing the lower portion of the Injen CAI up through the fender. The intake sits a little close to the radiator hose like some other poeple have found but it can be adjusted. The only major problem I found was the fender well pushing up on the intake. In the directions they say to cut out a 4" 'C'- section out of the plastic. I decided to do about half of that and take out a small portion of the corner. Reason being is that the intake would be pushed up against part of the frame and cause the wear that other people are starting to notice. For good measure I split a 4" piece of vacuum hose and stuck it on the frame where the intake would rub . The fender well does rest on the intake a little still, but I think it's not going to make that big of a difference. I drove the car around for the past couple days and there's some deffinite gains in torque on the low end. Driving slow around the city the car doesn't bog down as much as it did before. Below 2800rmp it sounds pretty docile. up top (above 3500rpm) it has this growl that reminds me of an old porsche, although don't take my word for this. The only bad this about the sound is right around 3200rpm there's a resonace that make it kinda boomy under some load. Overall, I'm pleased with my mod. I would recommend it if you're looking for a little bit better driveability and some cool tunes. One side note though. This thing will not save you gas at all for the most part. The reason being is Injen's design of the MAP sensor mount. The tube is the same diameter as stock. Flowing more air through the stock diameter and same MAP sensor will have the ECU inject mroe fuel. It's one of the reason's why Injen makes a little more power than other intakes overall. Other Intakes are designed with a constant diameter tubing, or larger than stock diameter, for the MAP sensor mount. The air in the larger diamter tubing won't move as fast and the smaller diameter, and the ECU will register this and inject less fuel. This is why some intakes will save you gas, but you also run the risk of running lean under high loads and high rpms. I'm not sure if this is 100% accurate, but it makes sense to me. Even if it's not true, you could still blame burying your foot in the floor board more often for the loss of MPG

09-02-2006, 02:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
Silver8th Dragon Slayer Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 6,705 iTrader: 4 / 100%	Nice write up! I will be installing mine in a week or so. Did you take the wheel and bumper off? How long did it take you? Did you use jack stands or just a jack? __________________ 8thCivic.com Conquers the Dragon III Deal's Gap, NC September 4-7, 2008 Official Event Forum

09-02-2006, 08:25 PM	#5 (permalink)
mtbiker278 Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 49 iTrader: 0 / 0%	That's pretty damn good for an SI. Although it's really hard to judge MPG without good instrumentation, and consistent testing. My point was just that the design of the Injen Intake does not lend itself to better fuel economy. I personally still have yet to find gains, mostly cause I love that sound. Once I go on a road trip as you did I'll post up my findings. So far I was able to get 42mpg on a 250 mile road trip doing 55mph the most of the way while being completely stock. Although this is just a very very rough estimation, and there are too many variables to make a definitive measurement. Last edited by mtbiker278; 09-03-2006 at 03:44 AM.

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09-02-2006, 03:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
mtbiker278 Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 49 iTrader: 0 / 0%	Originally I had the car on some ramps and removed the bumper. It's not hard at all, just a bunch of clips and four screws. The whole thing just pops off with a little persuasion. When it came time to cut part of the fender well I had to take the wheel off. I just rolled the car off the ramps and used the jack in the trunk. I didn't feel like getting out my jack stands. I can see it being possible to get to the corner of the fender well just by turning the wheel all the way to the left, but you get more space to work with if you just take the whole wheel off. Total install time took about an hour and a half. Most of it is just getting rid of the stock intake. I never knew how many damn pieces the stock intake had. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. Just for kicks I put it together just to see how messed up the whole flow path was. Just as an update too, I've been driving around in the rain a bunch lately. Took the bumper off again to check the fitting, rubbing, etc. Rain and such can get up behind the bumper, but I doubt it'll have any effect. Unless you plow the front end into a foot deep puddle you should worry about hydrolock. Let the swamp bogging go to the 4x4ers.