Ancient Machine

Hey everyone, I'm working on a performance mod wishlist and had a couple questions about intakes. I currently live in AK but will be moving to SoCal (high desert area) soon, just curious if you'd recommend a snork or CAI. I'm looking for performance increases, the "growl" (I realize with the snorkel I'd probably have to upgrade the stock air filter to receive the growl and performance gains of a CAI - right??), looks (yeah I know the CAI is hidden), the small chance that I'd have to traverse much water in SoCal (could be wrong here too...). Being in the desert I may also want my intake far away from the oven of my engine compartment, and a BA heat reduction hood! haha Anyway, what do you guys think?

Also gonna get a Flashpaq and potentially a cat back... but the cat back will be after the move.

Ancient Machine

Hate to bump my own thread, but this made it a few pages back... Any advice/opinions?

nthinuf

If you want performance, get a Flashpaq. If you want looks, get a snorkel. If you want a noise, pull off the muffler...

Ancient Machine

I'm getting a Flashpaq regardless. That's first, combined with a CAI or snorkel depending on what folks think. But if the performance of a CAI is markedly superior to a snorkel I'll totally get that instead. However I've heard that a snorkel with a new drop-in filter can be as good a performance increaser as just a CAI.

Mark Doiron

My feelings on this (and not being the owner of either) are: CAI only if you KNOW you'll never be in water. Living in Oklahoma (me), I don't know how anyone can ever KNOW this. We just had a record rainfall and I was really worried about my Jeep driving it to a Cub Scout Day Camp (where I served on staff). If I'd had a CAI, I think I would have had to stay home, or it would have hydro-locked. That's not off-roading--that's everyday life. So, the question you need to honestly ask yourself: Will you EVER get caught in heavy rains? If you're thinking, "Well, it never rains in southern California" (where I grew up, BTW), forget that. That's not the question. Will you EVER drive in heavy rain with your Jeep? Are you saying you'll never leave California? You'll never drive to Texas or Florida or Utah, all of which I've seen extremely heavy downpours? Or, you'll never decide to take your trip to visit relatives back wherever back is and maybe go out for a little play time in a river? If you genuinely think that you'll never put your Jeep into any situation where deep water could be an issue, then I guess a CAI is the right answer for you. Otherwise, for 99% of us, the correct answer is to leave the stock exhaust alone, or to install a snorkel. The sound the Jeep makes does not override the need to protect the engine. Personally, my opinion of CAIs: Mall Crawler.

JPop

I bounce back and forth from an Airaid intake to the stock air box on a regular semi-regular basis. It takes less than 15 minutes, so not a big deal. The efficiency and performance are worth it for my uses as a daily driver. I'm not worried about on road water and I live in a place where we get more than our share of rainfall. Because of the path that the water would need to take to enter the intake, I would need to do something stupid to take water on.

That said, I do revert back to the stock air box for off roading trips when there is the possibility of running into some water. It offers greater protection and how I may hit the water off road is quite different than what I will encounter on road.

JDScott10

I'll add my .02...I've got an Airraid, which I LOVE the sound, but I also lived in Montana, and rain wasn't an issue. Much like JPop, if I'm going river crossing, I'm going to exchange the intake. Having said that, and what sounds like you are coming into a relatively large sum of money to make a purchase, I would buy the AEV Heat Reduction Hood and its Snorkel. They work hand in hand, and you're going to get the best of both worlds.

By the way, for the dude calling a CAI a mall crawler, don't hate the dudes who need to use their JKs as daily drivers, it's not feasible for a guy on a military salary with two kids to think he can own more than just his JK for driving...and some of us dig being a little loud in a vehicle that's as close to a legit mil spec HMMMWV that I'm ever going to own.

By the way, if I did it all over again, I'd have saved the $248 on the CAI to add to my gears I just bought. ha.

thom1879

Hmm???? I don't get this one

08YELLO-RUBI

I agree with Jpop! I have a k/n CAI and one of my concerns is getting water into the engine, so I take it slow. Most water crossing I've been in are no more than 3 feet. Plus I bought a Drycharger filter wrap, which prevents splashes of water and mud from saturating the filter. Its not waterproof but repells water.

Mark Doiron

First, I'm retired military. And my Jeep is my DD. And being loud in the wilderness is downright rude. You may not agree with that last remark, but that just makes you wrong. On top of that, unless you live and never leave Death Valley or some other place that has only a few inches of rain a year, you run the risk of running into severe flooding when off-roading. Therefore, CAI=Mall Crawler. QED.