Engine AEM Short Ram or Cold Air

AEM Short Ram or Cold Air

what is recomended for the 03 corolla in terms of intake?

This topic has been posted many times. As far as intake goes, it seems like there are different taste by a lot of people here. Some prefer CAI as some like short ram.

If you want the dealer recommended intake, they would always say the TRD CAI for the 03 Corolla. A lot of people have that, while others regard the Injen intake highly.

I am going with the AEM short-ram for these reasons:

- I'm deathly afraid of hydrolock, so the higher placement of the SRI filter as opposed to the CAI filter gives me peace of mind.
- Even with the bypass valve, the CAI is considerably more expensive than the SRI.
- I have an S, so a CAI filter will have to be squished to fit behind the fog light.
- The SRI, I've read, provides more low-end power.
- The AEM intakes come in blue, which is good, since my engine cover will be painted blue and I'm adding blue hose covers.
- The SRI just looks cooler in the engine bay, with the filter visible rather than it benig buried underneath.

Yeah, Im more of a short ram kinda guy. Our engines are more powerful in the higher RPMs and the CAI has a slight lag at the lower end. The short ram compensates for that slight delay, giving me HP earlier on.

U can keep the supposid 2 HP more and I'll keep my engine free of water.

Being in the northwest, I’m subject to wet weather conditions on a continual basis. Would it be wise to change my intake, or just leave it be and change out the filter to a better performing one like K&N or Fram AirHog? :shock:

I like my free ebay intake with a hks filter, compared to my previous intake which was a AEM CAI.

get all/most of the benefits of cold air and short arm by adding a directional air flow, like the stock one, to the short arm. plus you have the option to add or remove it whenever you want

ive had it both ways.. injen CAI and cut to be a short ram... i definately like the short rams sound better but the cold air intake puts the filter behind the fog light and if you take that light out the factor bumper makes a nice scoop to the air filter

i had my aem short ram installed for almost 8 months
so far i like it alot, just love the sound of it man
and i dont have to worry about rain/ water gettin into the engine as well
performance wise, i can definitely feel it
it might be better for manual's to go with CAI though, since CAI benefits more from high rpm
for auto, it usually revs @ 4xxx rpm, so its not too benefitical i think?
i duno, IMO i would go for short ram =)

My personal preference is short ram too. I would go with an AEM short ram because they are 50 state legal and CARB approved for the 03/04 Corolla. They come in more colors and proven stability. There are no worries when it comes to the rainy season or snow. Your filter will be much cleaner than CAI. K&N short ram is very nice as well. They have awesome filters, but, they are not CARB legal yet.

CAI are nice too because of what "schoat333" said. If you remove the fog lights on the driver's side, it becomes like a scoop, in affect, creates a ram air type deal. I still prefer the short ram regardless of that because our cars run better with that.

and with CAI, i haven't heard anyone hydrolocking yet. they said its hard to hydrolock unless u drive ure car in a huge puddle of water...like a flood. tehy did a test with an NSX. the link is somewhere in this forum

yah i saw the NSX post b4 too
but still, i dont know psycologically i think short ram is safer?
and short ram provides similar performance gain as the cold air as well
SR and CAI are all good, just varies on everyone's personal preferences 8)

I personally prefer a CAI..i mean its pretty rare for a cai to hydrolock especially people in s. california...the filter literally have to be submerged in water in order it to hydrolock....and i personally don't like the hot air also...even after a long drive i can touch the pipe and its still cool(temperature wise) =) those are juss my opinion

The intake gets hot no matter what. The only time when it is actually cool is if it is really, really cold outside. CAI may have an advantage at the time (intake pipe is a little cool to the touch after driving), but summer driving, no difference in temp. Pipe still gets pretty hot because of the hot air it picks up from the road.

And what is the deal with the AEM V2 induction, or whatever it's called? How can creating sound or resonance make better airflow? Weird stuff. I think it's just a gimmick.

as long as these air intake system provides gain for the car
its all good hahaa

yes the air that goes in is still warm but taking warm air outside is still cooler than the air inside the engine bay

great thread! now i want to buy a short ram!

question for those who have tried both.... how's the pshhhh sound on the CAI verus the SRI?

I've only heard it on an CAi so i'm afriad that i'll be disappointed when I hear it on the SRI.

my sri doesnt really make a psshh sound...I does sound awesome though when accelerating.

I actually had a ? too. Mine makes a rather lound hissing noise on and after start up but goes a way after I drive it for a few seconds or minute...anyone know whats going on and how I could fix it?

Doesn't make the same psshhhh sound that CAI's do? =\
But that hissing sound is the psshhh i'm refferring too i think..

I listened more carefully today..I actually do have a short pssshh sound when I go from no foot on the pedal to stomping on it...the hiss sound is different, it doesnt sound good. I am curious if the psshh sound is louder from outside the car though so I want to check that out.