Okay so I went through a number of threads and pulled what I thought to be important information. I figured that almost everyone has questions/opinions about the intakes so this is a good starting reference. When someone asks a question from now on I figure if they read this first it should answer most of there questions quickly so they don't have to wait for a reply.

As always if I have missed anything or misquoted anything I apologize.

Sir_Nasty:

I have a V2 and hydro locked it.... my own fault kind of... I drove my car with the v2 and fender skirt in place through a SEVERE hurricane warning in Topeka Kansas, about 4 inches of running water on the road (more like 2 realistically *L*) and a downpour that was something I've never seen before in my life, I couldn't see more than like 15 feet because of the rain and I had no problems. Then a while later I lost my fender well skirt and drove down a slushy road, it packed slush in around the air filter and torched my rings... Bypass vavle for the V2 won't do squat because they don't make it! check out the AEM website:

"AEM V2 Intake Air Induction Systems utilize a dual chamber to create multiple frequency sound waves. The installation of the AEM Bypass Valve would disrupt the tuning of these systems. Therefore the bypass valve should not be used."

-AEM Website

Lightshow:

"cold air works on the sole principle of colder air and more flow, which is denser, so more oxygen is sucked in which the computer realizes......sending more fuel into the combustion chamber. a short ram works on the principle of more flow and sound, and when crusing....the temp under hood is not much more than ambient. either model....if they use a metal tube that is not wrapped, will get extremely hot after a while and neither will suck in cold air anymore because the tube will act like a heater. the aem v2 is a cold air intake that factors sound into the equation and the tube is insulated....its my favorite cold air, but i like short rams the best. if every mod you do to the car (intake header exhaust etc.) uses sound as the primary motive. your hp is going to be stirring
"


sound is what you want to use....and im not talking only about more sound or loud sound, im talking about the right sound....at the right time. in your intake you want just the perfect biggest possible sound wave to go into your combustion chamber just as the intake valve closes, pressurizing it. with an exhaust....you dont want two exhaust pulses to arrive at the collector at the same time. its like when your on the freeway and that ****ty**** in front of you has to box in the person who has to merge and everyone has to slow down to 35. if he would have just hung back a few feet, everybody could have cruised at 65. i like short ram intakes the best, but it has to be tuned. when you intake starts to get loud, ie resonates, thats the area where its optimally tuned to send those rarefaction waves back into the cylinder. when the intake gets quiet, those are the areas where it isnt. now with just a regular 3 inch tube shorty intake and your stock intake manifold, you cant make it resonate everywhere....but when you change the length of the tube, you get to choose where those points are. where do i have mine set? 1500-2200, 3200-3900, and 4600-redline. but now make no mistake, there IS a intake and intake manifold combination that will make the sound resonate everywhere. and....the lower the rpm/lower the intake note, the longer the wave is.

i tuned it by changing the length. i shortened mine from how it came originally. probably about 6-8 inches. i can get you the details on the length if you want. how do i know its correct? its not........... i know that for a fact. and i wish i could get it to resonate in the 2-3000 range but it doesnt. my knowledge on intake sound really is limited i only know a little bit about a little bit. but what i have been talking about, you can find that on a couple high performance cars out there right now. the focus svt uses a two stage intake system where at a certain point an electronic system changes the intake runner length to get the sound to resonate at a different set of rpms......now the system on the bmw 745 is really what im talking about........ infinately variable intake runner system .....continuously. the intake sound always resonates just perfectly no matter what the rpm is. now these two systems are electronic. there is a way to mechanically set the intake up so that most of the powerband is tuned correctly. sometimes dual throttle bodies helps cause the sound has a shorter distance to travel to that first cylinder as opposed to the back one.

� DO NOT CUT YOUR V2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111 you cannot run a bypass valve. if you cut it you will ruin the sound technology which is what your paying all the money for. the v2 is a purist intake. you dont drive your car in the rain when you have one you figure out another way of transportation.�



RTexasF:

“If you live in a state that requires a CARB approval for modifications in order to pass inspection or smog testing buy name brand only. AEM, Injen, K&N are a few examples but they must state CARB approved or CARB excempt, with a sticker to prove it. The sticker should be applied to the intake in plain view. When I got my car inspected last time the guy questioned the short ram until I showed him the CARB exempt sticker. Frankly I don't see HOW he missed it but it was passed once he saw the sticker. It would have flunked otherwise & I would have had to put it back to stock in order to pass.

If none of this applies then do whatever suits you!�

Mbo1985:

Well if it's not sucking in cold air, then you will be losing HP. Cold air is more dense, thus your engine is essentially getting more air when it's cold then if the air was hot.

And he's right about the heat wrap. Although you may not notice a difference, theoretically, the cooler you can keep the air the more power you can make. Now will you even notice a difference with the wrap? I doubt it. As long as your cold air intake takes air outside the engine compartment, then you shouldn't worry too much about the engine bay heat.