well, i got a few questions. i have a non turbo 1g eclipse. i am wanting to get an air intake kit for it, and i am wanting to know the difference between cold and ram air intakes and which one is going to be better? i am also wanting to know if anyone has heard of the turbonator? and if anyone has ran it on thier car. i would like to hear from someone that has actually ran it to see if its as good as its made out to be. i am considering getting it if it is. Thanks for all the help, this site is great!

 

Don't get that POS turbonator. More than anything it's an obstruction in the intake tract.
They are both good in different aspects.
The good...
RAM, will most likely never take in water and hydrolock the motor. Easy mounting and easy to view dirty filter
CAI, will help the motor injest "cold" air.

The bad...
RAM, will most likely injest hot engine bay air and cause AFR issues later (been there done that)
CAI, may suck up water if not driven carefully and hydrolock the motor. Not as easily mounted and filter gets dirty fast.

 

And the basic difference is that the short ram intakes stay in the engine bay and are usualy a small pipe with a filter. Then the cold air intakes will have a longer pipe or another extension from the short ram that usually places the filter behind the front bumper away from the engine and lower to the ground. So hopefully that clarifies what silvercoupe was talking about

 

if you do get a CAI you can get something called a bypas valve, where the cai splits you put one half into the bypass valve and the other half into the other end, it will ensure that you never hydrolock your car even if the intake is completly submerged.... the downfall is that you won't be getting ALL cold air anymore. so it's kind of a wash.

 

thanks for the help everyone. i think i am going to get a cia. and once again, thanks!