Incase you don't know what C.A.I. stands for, it is Cold Air Intake. You may ask the question of why would your car need a cold air intake? The answer is that the stock setup on our vehicles are designed to look good, be cost effective, and to be quiet. What they don't offer however is performance and efficiency. These two things go hand in hand. The downside to the stock intake is that first, the air has to be slightly blocked by the vehicles PCM because the air filter shares a box with the PCM. The air then is directed into a snorkle tube which delivers the air to the air filter section of the air box. From there, the air flows upward and to a 90 degree angle. The air then passes through the MAF sensor, then makes a sharp 40* turn downward, then straight again finally arriving to the throttle body. The air direction must change several times on its way to the engine. With the CAI the air flow is laminar and smooth. It only takes one gradual, smooth turn towards the engine and it is it.

Airflow using the stock airbox:


Stock accordian tube that goes from MAF sensor to throttle body. the inside of this tube resembles the outside. It is not flat inside meaning the air will become turbulant after the MAF.


I bought the intake tube from autozone. It is an intake made for the Honda Accord and Acura Integra I believe it was? It'* an all aluminum polished design. It has a hole pre-drilled for the IAT sensor even. It'* a tight perfect fit as well!




The intake tubing is 3" which is perfect for the shortstar engine. The intake pipe comes with one black coupler and two metal rings to tigthen the rubber around the pipe. As you can see in the next picture, the pipe is slightly too long. It will require cutting!


The MAF sensor will work perfectly at the end of the pipe after it has been shortened nearly 6" or so. (I haven't made final measurements as of yet.)



The air filter will go directly onto the end of the MAF sensor. Originally I had planned to have the MAF mounted directly after the TB, but, with this design, the pipe lines up PERFECTLY with the hole in the fender where air entered the stock airbox. It will be a perfect setup.

I don't have it installed yet because I'm waiting for a PCM try to hold my PCM. The PCM will lay flat against the bottom of the engine compartment (bottom of where the stock airbox would be.) The stock PCM is water tight so it will not be harmed here. The air filter will be directly above where the PCM will be. I plan to later build a box to serve as a heat sheild for the air filter, and I'll probably wrap the intake pipe with reflectix to block heat. This should be a very noticable peformance enhancer, and even fuel economy! THis should flow much better than stock for sure.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

looks good.. i like it.

alright boys and girls, I got the intake stage 1 complete.. It took me about 3 hours to get completely done with everything. (fabricating and cutting all the peices.) In all the mod seems to have livened the car up a bit. My 0-60 speed is now 7.99 seconds with this intake and exhaust. I had nearly a full tank of gas and the outside temperature was 55 degrees outside. The engine was fully warmed up as well. The biggest improvement is SOUND. The engine sounds incredible! It doesn't just have intake sound, it roars. I like it. I in all this project was: $115.

Air Filter: $40
Air intake pipe $40
3 Couplers $15
PCM Tray: $20

http://media.putfile.com/Auroraintake
0-60 video. I'm not sure what the sliding sound is. I do know that my sunroof visor slid back into the roof, but I'm not sure if that'* what it is or not. ??? (because my connection downright sucks I'm sure the video got cut off again before it was totally uploaded : )

PCM tray mounted with PCM in it:



K&N Air filter:

Intake mounted:





I need to figure out how to keep the air filter from rubbing on the PCM. I don't want ahole rubbed in it. Secondly, I need to make a heatsheild/box setup to keep cold air surrounding the air filter. THis isn't a big deal seeming how it'* cold out now, but come spring/summer it will be a concern. I'm not sure what I'll do about the box just yet because of how much room the PCM takes directly below it. I'm thinking of possibly mounting the filter in a metal cylinder that connects directly behind the headlight. It'd protect it from heat and it'd be easier to find somethign to use. I'll have to keep you guys updated though.

This is what I'm planning for the heatsheild/box. It'll be made of plexiglass. the sides will be refletix wrapped and the top will be cleared with an Aurora Logo sticker centered.