Which type of intake is better, a rice pipe w/ a heat sheild or a fender well intake.

I know GonneVille just went from a rice pipe to a FWI using the flexable tubing and he said there was a noticable increase in power, but keep in mind he didn't have a heat sheild. So since his filter is down in the fender now it kind of acts as a heat sheid.

I'm aslo trying to figure out which would be cheaper,

Its about $60 for a rice pipe and about $40 for a filter, then whatever it costs for the materials to make a heat sheild.

How much is it for that flexable tubing and where do you get it? I'm guessing its less than $60 so I'm thinking the FWI would be cheaper.

Also consdering I live in Michigan would I have any problems with snow, or water getting to the filter? Do you guys have pictures of your FWIs and how you sheilded them on the bottom?

Any info would be appreciated.

-Brad

My local supplier sells me that same tubing at 10 cents a foot for 2.5", 15 cents a foot for 3". And it'* available in 3.5, 4, 4.5, and 5".

Will a FWI pull colder air? Depends on your setup. If you can prevent the CAI from pulling hot air, it can be equally as good in my opinion. My CAI (really just a heat shield) cost me less than 10 bucks. My ram air cost me less than 20 bucks. Between the two, my IAT reads 5° warmer than ambient air at all times. Gaining that 5° by going with a FWI would gain me nothing.

I think the pipe will be less turbulent, and having the filter far away from the filter can cause issues. One thing to consider is where exhaust gasses from other cars are going when you're among them at slower speeds. My exhaust shoots right under cars about 5-10 feet behind me. That'* a lot of burnt air that wouldn't do so hot in the combustion cycle.

I also don't know if i would want to put a $60 filter under my bumper where it could fall off, get nasty etc.

if you have ducting feeding your rice pipe, your basically running the same system, the filter is just in the middle, and not at the end.

you will generally get colder air from a FWI, but it will have more restriction. Its the opposite for a CAI. Either would be alot better than stock.

My opinion is the FWI is better. When I changed from the intake in the engine bay to the fender/bumper I felt a slight gain. I think it'* would be cheaper to do the FWI over a rice pipe, tubing/filter and pipe/filter will cost the same, but you have to spend more to get a box around your filter in the engine bay to reduce heat soak.

Thanks for the input guys, the more I thought about it the better a CAI sounded to me, the main reason is I don't want to expose my expensive filter to anything unnecessary i.e. rain, snow, plus I think a ricepipe w/ filter and box looks way cooler when you pop the hood. Although it may cost more, I think it will be worth it.

thanks again

-Brad

I didn't do a FWI because I was afraid of sucking water, but according to everyone who has one, it is a serious gain over any other intakes.

But I like my CAI.

That'* alot more effort to pull from the longer tube. Probably more practical for the SC cars than the NA'*.

Zooomer at ZZP ran a FWI for years and always said it was the best. Then he did some testing and found out that a Wizair CAI (available for GP'* only I think) outflowed a FWI, and had colder air then a FWI. Now he is running a Wizair box and recommends it to everyone. Supposedly he saw significant gains at the track (over a tenth IIRC) by switching to the CAI.

Shawn

One thing I like about my CAI, is the way the airbox and filter are directed to right behind the driver side headlight. I've heard of people removing the headlight, and getting an excellent ram air effect, often gaining a tenth or two at the track.