PRL SRI Conversion To Cobra CAI Performance/Review

[Blacklude4]

Just wanted to circle back to this. I installed my PRL Cobra CAI last night and noticed that while the fender well is indeed sealed up good, there appear to be two holes on the bottom of the fender liner under the car. I'm pretty sure that these holes are directly under the filter. Did you cover these with foam as well? I'm tempted to do so, but I'm wondering if it would cut off the source of air for the filter.

I did not cover those holes. I didn't want to start starving the intake of fresh air locations, as well as I figured not much can get up there to the filter with it being in front of the tire. Putting the foam up top around the strut cutout stopped the majority of the water seepage from what I can tell. Lots of rain here and no issues so far

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[davemarco]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm currently running mine with the hydroshield and the two opening in the bottom of the liner left intact. Honestly, I've been a bit disappointed by what feels like a sharp reduction in turbo responsiveness on the Cobra CAI. I find that I really have to step down now to get any spool. Did you notice a big hit in your low end when you installed?

 

[Blacklude4]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm currently running mine with the hydroshield and the two opening in the bottom of the liner left intact. Honestly, I've been a bit disappointed by what feels like a sharp reduction in turbo responsiveness on the Cobra CAI. I find that I really have to step down now to get any spool. Did you notice a big hit in your low end when you installed?

Fwiw I have a hydroshield as well. I don't recall any difference-but it has been awhile. Guaranteed if I would have felt a negative difference in performance it would have been uninstalled instantly

I finally purchased a Ktuner which should arrive end of next week. I am hoping to get the stock airbox back on this weekend to get some baseline numbers completely stock. I will post back and let you know if it feels any different.

 

[daijobu]

Fwiw I have a hydroshield as well. I don't recall any difference-but it has been awhile. Guaranteed if I would have felt a negative difference in performance it would have been uninstalled instantly

I finally purchased a Ktuner which should arrive end of next week. I am hoping to get the stock airbox back on this weekend to get some baseline numbers completely stock. I will post back and let you know if it feels any different.

Looking forward to this as well!

 

[MattyNice]

How’s the low end w the cai? Every Honda I’ve had in the past gained mid to top end power at the sacrifice of low end power. That’s exactly what I don’t want w this car.

 

[daijobu]

How’s the low end w the cai? Every Honda I’ve had in the past gained mid to top end power at the sacrifice of low end power. That’s exactly what I don’t want w this car.

I had some time with my Si for the past week with just the PRL cai installed (no tune yet; street maf), and fuel economy has been mostly the same, but there is a slight dip in the low end. It's not terrible, but if it's clear you don't want this, you might want to consider stock or maybe even PRL's stage 1 kit with the hose and filter.

 

[davemarco]

I had some time with my Si for the past week with just the PRL cai installed (no tune yet; street maf), and fuel economy has been mostly the same, but there is a slight dip in the low end. It's not terrible, but if it's clear you don't want this, you might want to consider stock or maybe even PRL's stage 1 kit with the hose and filter.

Did you notice a corresponding increase in the mid to high end? I think that I may feel a difference there, but I'm not 100% sure. I took off my Injen Hydroshield and I definitely feel more responsiveness; there's still a small dip in the low end below 3500K though. I would honestly describe the feeling as the creation of mild turbo lag, which makes sense given that the air now has an extra meter or so to travel relative to the position of the stock intake.

It is definitely doing its job relative to air temps though. I was driving in traffic yesterday with ambient temps approaching 100 degrees F. Where previously my IAT1's would exceed 150 F, now they floated at 10-20 above ambient. At highway speeds, they were practically equal to ambient.

The other surprising change was the creation of some NVH (noise vibration harshness) on the left half of my steering wheel, due to the intake vibrating the chassis where it's bolted in. Don't know if anyone else noticed this.

 

[daijobu]

Did you notice a corresponding increase in the mid to high end? I think that I may feel a difference there, but I'm not 100% sure. I took off my Injen Hydroshield and I definitely feel more responsiveness; there's still a small dip in the low end below 3500K though. I would honestly describe the feeling as the creation of mild turbo lag, which makes sense given that the air now has an extra meter or so to travel relative to the position of the stock intake.

It is definitely doing its job relative to air temps though. I was driving in traffic yesterday with ambient temps approaching 100 degrees F. Where previously my IAT1's would exceed 150 F, now they floated at 10-20 above ambient. At highway speeds, they were practically equal to ambient.

The other surprising change was the creation of some NVH (noise vibration harshness) on the left half of my steering wheel, due to the intake vibrating the chassis where it's bolted in. Don't know if anyone else noticed this.

I do feel a slight bump in that mid to high end range, but yes, the low end below 3.5k is as you have described--a mild turbo lag sort of feeling. I think with regards to IATs, this intake is a beast and is exactly as advertised, but i think some potential buyers should be aware that this only translates when you get out of the low to mid range. This really all depends on what power range you want to be driving your car. I sort of miss the low to mid range surge, but maybe all i'm missing is the tune to go with it?

I personally haven't noticed the NVH you described, but i'll look for it.

 

[ek5.56]

Awesome write-up man! I'm in the same boat as you - was planning on the SRI, but folks are slowly converting me. Just worried about the heavy puddles in NYS during summer rainfall. Would you be willing to check the filter after driving through a heavy Florida downpour and update back on whether the filter stayed dry? Don't know how easily it can be accessed to check, but I know that it would help put a lot of members minds at ease (myself included!).

I've done this. If you're driving in the rain (western MA down pour) the filter is perfectly fine. Go through some water in a flooded section of road though.... dont do it. See the thread I made a few days ago if you want to know why. Spoiler: I don't regret installing the CAI and it will be going right back on.

 

[MattyNice]

I had some time with my Si for the past week with just the PRL cai installed (no tune yet; street maf), and fuel economy has been mostly the same, but there is a slight dip in the low end. It's not terrible, but if it's clear you don't want this, you might want to consider stock or maybe even PRL's stage 1 kit with the hose and filter.

Well, that’s it for me. No cai. In the old Si you had to rev the snot out of it anyway so big deal about the low end. Love the low end on this one which is where most of my driving is at. You just saved me four bills!! And yeah, I’d like a little more intake noise so just may check out the stage 1 w a drop in or just let it be.

 

[daijobu]

Well, that’s it for me. No cai. In the old Si you had to rev the snot out of it anyway so big deal about the low end. Love the low end on this one which is where most of my driving is at. You just saved me four bills!! And yeah, I’d like a little more intake noise so just may check out the stage 1 w a drop in or just let it be.

In your case, stage 1 sounds like the way to go. have fun!

 

[fightingfish]

This has been a tremendously informative thread, thanks for posting your experiences!

 

[ChefBoyardeez10]

What parts did you have to purchase to actually do the conversion? Thanks in advance

What's up everyone, for some time now I had the PRL SRI, didn't want to go with the Cobra CAI version at first because I wasn't sure how it would hold up with South Florida rain/showers. After doing further research and seeing everyone elses input on the CAI I decided to pull the trigger and purchase the conversion to turn my SRI to the CAI, besides I figure it would pair up nicely with the PRL Intercooler I already have installed...

I couldn't believe how drastic of a change my IAT1 went down after installing and driving ! I drove for about 30 minutes with spirited driving in between with 3rd and 4th gear WOT pulls... My IAT1 actually stayed lower than my IAT2 the entire time driving by a good 10 degree margin. Something I never saw in my car before. On average I was getting 20-30 degrees lower in IAT1 compared to the SRI, that's huge. Not to mention, the difference of power I felt throughout the RPM band... This is the first time I actually feel a difference in power on the butt dyno from just an intake on any vehicle! However, I did feel low end torque took a slight drop which I expected from a CAI...but once I passed right around 3k in the RPMs, the car really woke up.

Overall, the PRL Cobra made a big change & compliments the PRL Intercooler so well, I actually have a bittersweet feeling from it because I feel the Cobra Intake actually has more of a positive effect in regards to what it did to the IAT1 compared to what the Intercooler did with IAT2... but I'm sure that's because of the burst of pulls and braking I did. I was limited with the space I was given because of the traffic and city driving .

Install was a breeze and everything lined up just perfectly. Some of the stuff you guys wrote about this Intake you weren't kidding... The Cobra Intake exceeded my expectations from just an intake. @PRL Motorsports , you guys did a stellar job with this project. Thank you !

Before/After Pics :

 

[WOPSiWOT]

What parts did you have to purchase to actually do the conversion? Thanks in advance

Here is what you need: https://prlmotorsports.com/civicxcoldairtoshortram-1-1-1-1.aspx#.XFda3KROnDs

 

[19civicSI]

Well, that’s it for me. No cai. In the old Si you had to rev the snot out of it anyway so big deal about the low end. Love the low end on this one which is where most of my driving is at. You just saved me four bills!! And yeah, I’d like a little more intake noise so just may check out the stage 1 w a drop in or just let it be.

Did you ever install the stage 1 and if so what do you think? I’m looking for the turbo/intake sound but am leaning towards the CAI especially now since it’s back in stock.

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