I'm thinking about gettina a cold air intake soon.

first of all, how much power should i expect it to add? the car is completely stock with 45K miles on it, auto transmission.

secondly, i've read that injen intakes add the most power, but AEM's seem to be the most common. what brand give sthe most power?

also, are these hard to install? do i have to cut holes or anything into the metal? otehrwise i'll just get a short ram.

is there a big difference between teh horsepower added by a short ram intake compared to a cold air intake on these tiburons?

are bypass valves worth it for CAI's?


Thanks :)

Okay, first of all, there probably wouldn't be any noticeable difference between the brands, probably about a 10-15HP gain on average, plus or minus a few.

You have a 2003, so to install a full cold air system you will need to remove the "resonator box" behind the front bumper (up inside the driver's wheel well). I think you can get to it if you remove the inner wheel lining, but I'm not 100% sure. You also need to enlarge the hole behind the headlight that goes down into the wheel well area to get the piping to fit.

If you don't want to do that, I'd go with the Injen SRI. Horsepower gains will be almost identical to a cold air system since the filter is placed right behind the headlight (next to the battery) and sits right on top of that hole down into the wheel well. I love mine. AEM's "SRI" is just a bracket and a filter to attach to the end of the MAF--stay away. Fujita makes one, but it is pretty much the same thing, with the filter sitting behind the battery. Only Injen's puts it up farther. You also avoid the worries of hydrolocking, which some will say never happens, but those who have had it happen will never try a CAI again. Bypass valves don't seem to make any difference, and you have to cut the pipe in half to attach it.

Hope that helps.

This post has been edited by peachferrari: Jul 21 2008, 11:05 AM

wow 10-15 horsepower?! amazing :D


yeah me and my friend were looking at instructions for putting a K&N cold air intake in, it told us to take the front drivers side wheel off along with the wheels lining which was held on by some rivets and a bolt.

not sure where the resonator box is though. can anyone provide pictures?

is it difficult to enlarge the hole? i really don't want to do that. instructions for the K&N showed nothing about enlarging the hole for the piping.


how similar are the gains for an injen short ram intake compared to the CAI?

I don't know where exactly the resonator is, but if you get in there I'm sure you'll find it. To enlarge the hole most have use a dremel or similar tool, or some have said they've been able to just bend it with pliers enough to work. Either way you'd also need to either put some tubing or something around the hole or something around the intake piping to keep it from rubbing on the hole edge. Some have even rubbed a hole in the intake piping.

From everything I've read/heard the Injen SRI is within 1-2 hp of the full cold-air systems. On a side note, it also gives the engine a nice growl--here's mine before & after
http://media.putfile.com/Tib-Exhaust-Stock
http://media.putfile.com/Tib-Exhaust-with-SRI

i have an 03 tib gt and i got a fujita cold air intake. i had to take the resonator box out and yes you can just slip it out when u remove the lineing around the wheel well. i didnt have to cut the hole it fit like a charm in it. it sounds NICE and its very easy to install. the only thing you have to worry about is the winter months. you might have to install the AEM bypass valve on the strait pipe depending on the weather in your city cause you can be in risk of hydro lock (where you suck in water from the filter) but the bypass valve fixes the problem easy.

but over all its a beauty i cant say anything about other brands but mine works just fine and it did not require any cutting.

also the resinator box is the giant plastic black box in your bumper. its impossible to miss. just loosen the bolts and slide it out.