Hey guys, just got ahold of a fresh '02 Accord ~94k miles,glad to join the club. Although I'm pretty tech savvy and what not, my skills/experience with cars is virtually non-existant. I've done my research on intakes (CAI vs. SRI) and I've decided to go CAI. I've also pretty much come to the conclusion that all CAIs are pretty much the same (unless it's an AEM v2)as long as I swap out for a better filter.

So basically what I'm asking is, first of all, are all my assumptions correct? And if they are, I'd like to know which CAI on eBay is the best sounding. I know it's a kind of relative question, but which intake would you guys recommend, based on sound, <$100?

Thanks.

 

your assumptions are generally correct, good reading.... As for e-bay CAI's most people here who get them from ebay just buy a Bomz brand one and get a K&N or AEM filter for sound/performance

 

be sure you buy a bypass valve as well....

 

By bypass valve you mean the thing that protects against water from getting up into the intake? I've read a little about that, how likely is it really that if I run a big puddle, I'll screw up my engine? I've heard mixed things about it, some say it's virtually impossible, and other people are a lot more paranoid about it.

With that said, does the bypass valve work on its own, or do I need to flick something under the hood to decide whether or I'm bypassing or taking in cold air?

 

If you drive through flood conditions where the standing water is up to your bumper, worry about hydrolock. If you get tons and tons of snow, like Sir_Nasty, worry about hydrolock. Otherwise, you do not need a bypass valve.

They work by themselves. When the pipe gets totally stuck with water, the bypass allows unfiltered air in to prevent hydrolock. If you do not have one of the environmental conditions mentioned above, the cons of the bypass outweigh the pros IMO.

Ebay pipes won't sound different .... not enough variation. CAI will sound different than SRI, but that's about it.

My favorite for the J30/32 engine is the Comptech Icebox, but that is very expensive. My brother has it on his 3.2CL. I had an Injen and it was nice, but much louder than the Icebox. Ebay won't be different than my Injen. If you look for my screenname on youtube, you can listen to my videos.

 

I think driving through flood conditions is a consciencious choice, I can just simply choose not to do it. As for snow, I do live in Indiana and snow is common, what exactly is a "whole lot of snow"? And what are the cons of a bypass valve?

 

Nate is in Montana. He had a Civic that lost the black plastic shield that goes under the CAI and hydrolocked his engine. I live in north Jersey and never had any problems, even driving in very heavy rain. There are many threads about this.

The cons are that it can get screwed up and let unfiltered air in your engine without you knowing there is a problem. I've also heard of them falling apart and getting foam stuck in the intake manifold.

 

Ok thanks for all the help so far. As far as filters, is this what I'm looking for:
http://www.jazzproparts.com/product_p/21-203dk.htm

If it helps, I'm grabbing one of the Bomz CAIs from eBay. I'm probably going to skip the bypass valve, sounds like too much of a hassle as I don't expect to be driving that much in crap weather.

Lastly, any installation pointers guys?

 

Good filter. As far as installation, take the bumper off. It's easier than trying to pull it out the bottom and also, you will have to undo half the bumper for that too, so just take it all off and give yourself a little room to work with.

 

Installation is super easy. Here's a DIY: http://filtsai.com/accord/AEM-CAI/index.php
I have that same filter on my BomZ SRI.