Si PRL Short Ram Intake (SRI) Vs Cobra Cold Air Intake: Is the CAI worth the extra cost and why?

Myx

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Threads
79
Messages
2,166
Reaction score
2,042
Location
Delaware
Vehicle(s)
2018 Honda Civic EX (Hatchback/CVT)
Vehicle Showcase
1
Country flag
I’ve ran the stock intake, short ram, and cobra for thousands of miles each and monitored it with ktuner, temperature wise the short ram is the same as the stock and heatsoaks a bit faster, the cobra there’s a huge difference in the air it’s drawing in and that’s where the performance comes in. If you can get colder air your getting better performance. There’s mods you can do to the stock and short ram for cooler air that’ll help but just as it’s just for sound
Ok....thanks for the feedback.
Sponsored

 

varge

Senior Member
First Name
George
Joined
Oct 7, 2017
Threads
3
Messages
348
Reaction score
478
Location
Greece
Vehicle(s)
Civic 1.5T 4D Elegance EUDM
Country flag
I run a Mishimoto SRI and I can tell you it heat soaks as badly as the stock box at idle and low load.
But when boost kicks in and there's a good amount of flow, IAT drops within a second or too.
On top of that, please note that the intake may grant you like 5-10 degrees (Celcius in my logs) rising from outside 35 to IAT 45 but don't forget that under boost the air temperature at the turbo outlet will climb a little under 200C to be cooled back to 40'ish by your decent aftermarket FMIC (or 50-60 and so on on the tiny stock IC)

Given the temperature drop pre / post IC , how important do you all ultimately think that IAT is ?
Now, to be 100% fair, high IAT's will lead the ECU to pull back timing regardless of IAT2, so there is the SRI potential loss vs a true CAI ;-)
 

DHM85

Senior Member
First Name
Daniel
Joined
Apr 5, 2019
Threads
7
Messages
188
Reaction score
166
Location
Texas
Vehicle(s)
2018 Civic si
Country flag
Alright I'm researching air boxes/heat shields at the moment hoping that it might do the trick as I really want easy access to the filter with a SRI but I'm wondering if there's anybody with experience with this. Again, that additional $100 for PRL CAI and the fact that I have to lift the car and remove the underbody panel to access the filter is irritating.
 

fenix-silver

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2018
Threads
27
Messages
1,184
Reaction score
968
Location
Central PA
Vehicle(s)
2019 Si
Country flag
Alright I'm researching air boxes/heat shields at the moment hoping that it might do the trick as I really want easy access to the filter with a SRI but I'm wondering if there's anybody with experience with this. Again, that additional $100 for PRL CAI and the fact that I have to lift the car and remove the underbody panel to access the filter is irritating.
There's always the 27won intake that addresses the filter location issue.
 

17civivsi805

Senior Member
First Name
Francisco
Joined
Aug 14, 2019
Threads
34
Messages
176
Reaction score
15
Location
Oxnard
Vehicle(s)
2017 civic si sedan
Country flag
Alright I'm researching air boxes/heat shields at the moment hoping that it might do the trick as I really want easy access to the filter with a SRI but I'm wondering if there's anybody with experience with this. Again, that additional $100 for PRL CAI and the fact that I have to lift the car and remove the underbody panel to access the filter is irritating.
Installing the cobra is a bit time consuming but fairly easy, once it’s installed you can service the filter by just removing the fog light cover real easy. If you do want to go short ram the 27won seems to be the best option since it’s enclosed and it does have a funnel that pushes air to it
 


fenix-silver

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2018
Threads
27
Messages
1,184
Reaction score
968
Location
Central PA
Vehicle(s)
2019 Si
Country flag
Installing the cobra is a bit time consuming but fairly easy, once it’s installed you can service the filter by just removing the fog light cover real easy. If you do want to go short ram the 27won seems to be the best option since it’s enclosed and it does have a funnel that pushes air to it
The 27won is a CAI, not SRI.
 

DHM85

Senior Member
First Name
Daniel
Joined
Apr 5, 2019
Threads
7
Messages
188
Reaction score
166
Location
Texas
Vehicle(s)
2018 Civic si
Country flag
Installing the cobra is a bit time consuming but fairly easy, once it’s installed you can service the filter by just removing the fog light cover real easy. If you do want to go short ram the 27won seems to be the best option since it’s enclosed and it does have a funnel that pushes air to it
Didn't know that I could just remove the fog light cover for that. As far as the 27Won intake, It's the prettiest intake on the market but it doesn't make nearly as much HP as the PRL but costs the same. I do fear hydrolock at times but being in the wheel well with the fog light cover completely closed and the underbody panels I understand that the chances of that happening are greatly reduced. But again going to the original point of being deterred from buying the Cobra, it's four f****** hundred dollars for an intake!!!!
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Myx

ATM

Senior Member
First Name
ATM
Joined
Jul 1, 2020
Threads
87
Messages
702
Reaction score
227
Location
Florida
Vehicle(s)
FK8
Country flag
I purchased PRL's Cobra Cold Air Intake. PRL has a Short Ram Conversion Kit for $25 which is just a bracket and nuts.

Instead of purchasing the short ram conversion kit, does anyone have experience if the filter be able to fit on the MAF housing making it the short ram version? No risk of the filter falling off.

Thanks for the input.
 

Myx

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Threads
79
Messages
2,166
Reaction score
2,042
Location
Delaware
Vehicle(s)
2018 Honda Civic EX (Hatchback/CVT)
Vehicle Showcase
1
Country flag
I’ve ran the stock intake, short ram, and cobra for thousands of miles each and monitored it with ktuner, temperature wise the short ram is the same as the stock and heatsoaks a bit faster, the cobra there’s a huge difference in the air it’s drawing in and that’s where the performance comes in. If you can get colder air your getting better performance. There’s mods you can do to the stock and short ram for cooler air that’ll help but just as it’s just for sound
I've should've been a little clearer with my response. I should've said, 'Thanks for your feedback but my experience has shown that a short ram intake (with upgraded intercooler) makes more power than a PRL CAI'. I know because I've tested it over and over, documenting it here for everyone to see the differences. At the tracks, on the same days, changing the intakes in the staging lanes or the pits. My SRI was a tick faster (mph) most of the time than the PRL CAI.

I have a CVT. I don't run quicker than a Type R in the 1/4 mile because my intake is hurting my performance. That doesn't make any sense. I've also tested the stock intake against an SRI, at the track, changing the intakes at the track and resteting. And documented this here a the site. An SRI always ran faster than stock intake.
 

fenix-silver

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2018
Threads
27
Messages
1,184
Reaction score
968
Location
Central PA
Vehicle(s)
2019 Si
Country flag
I purchased PRL's Cobra Cold Air Intake. PRL has a Short Ram Conversion Kit for $25 which is just a bracket and nuts.

Instead of purchasing the short ram conversion kit, does anyone have experience if the filter be able to fit on the MAF housing making it the short ram version? No risk of the filter falling off.

Thanks for the input.
No first-hand experience, but the filter is made to fit on either the SRI or the CAI, so that's not the problem. The issue is without the mounting bracket, the intake and filter will be flopping all over the place. You need something to hold it in place.
 


Phy

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Threads
8
Messages
1,170
Reaction score
894
Location
TN
Vehicle(s)
'20 Civic HB ST, '18 Civic HB EX, '04 Ford Ranger
Country flag
On my CR-Z I noticed better gas mileage with a CAI over the SRI intake, so there's that.
 

fenix-silver

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2018
Threads
27
Messages
1,184
Reaction score
968
Location
Central PA
Vehicle(s)
2019 Si
Country flag
FWIW, I noticed w/ my 27won CAI intake that my LTFT is much better in this summer's heat than last summer when I had the stock intake. Last summer I'd routinely see LTFTs around -7/-8, but this summer I don't think I've seen it any lower than -3. I'd imagine that is primarily due to the cooler air.
 

Myx

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Threads
79
Messages
2,166
Reaction score
2,042
Location
Delaware
Vehicle(s)
2018 Honda Civic EX (Hatchback/CVT)
Vehicle Showcase
1
Country flag
On my CR-Z I noticed better gas mileage with a CAI over the SRI intake, so there's that.
Why do you think you got better gas mileage with a CAI than with an SRI?
It's a serious question.
I ask because of articles like these:
Wondering why your gas mileage improves in the Summer or
Fuel Economy in Hot Weather or
Getting better gas mileage in warm weather? Here's Why..

"Warm air

There's a scientific explanation for why you use less fuel in warmer weather, and it's to do with air temperature.

As you may know, your engine uses air, as well as gas, in order to generate energy. In fact, it uses huge amounts of the stuff, though only the oxygen is used in combustion. These oxygen molecules combine with carbon in the fuel during combustion, to form--you guessed it, carbon dioxide.

Anyway, one property of air, like many substances, is that it expands when it warms. This makes it less dense--molecules of the various gases are spread further apart. This means that every gulp of air your car is taking during combustion has less oxygen in it at warmer temperatures, and if there's less oxygen, the engine compensates by using less fuel.

This is bad from a power perspective, but good for economy. The engine is combusting less fuel due to the warm air, improving fuel economy. During winter, the reverse is true--denser air encourages the engine to chuck in more fuel, boosting performance and harming economy."
 
Last edited:

ivanCivix

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2019
Threads
10
Messages
142
Reaction score
58
Location
Italy
Vehicle(s)
Civic 10th gen 1.5 sport
Country flag
Is timing pulled based on iat or iat2? I mean before or after ic?
 

markie

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2019
Threads
20
Messages
138
Reaction score
78
Location
United States
Vehicle(s)
Honda Civic Si 2020
Country flag
Sorry to bring this thread back to life, but does anyone switch from their SRI to CAI between seasons? SRI in the winter and CAI in the summer? I’m in California, I know it doesn’t rain, but if I have the option, might as well take advantage. I’ll also be running the street maf.

(already tried searching for the answers on forum/Facebook)
Sponsored

 


 


Top