Cold Air Intake, worth?

wpillera

Well-Known Member
24
18
Was looking for upgrades on my new to me 2012 civic si and found this CAI. Amazon product
View: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C7PUF2E/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1



Seems like a good deal as most CAI's are $300+. Not sure why the chrome version is so much cheaper than the charcoal.. Either way, is this something worth doing? I'm not looking for crazy power gains like a turbo or anything, just something to spice it up a little. I also plan on getting a flashpro tune later down the road to eliminate rev hang and gain some power as well.
 
your stock one may work better. But it would look nice.
 
It’ll make more noise than power sadly. You may see a few hp/tq gains with flashpro and a tune. Most intakes tested didn’t make really any gains unless they were 3.5” and custom tuned with hondata.
 
I would save your money and get a 3.5" intake. The Acuity intake is one of the best in my opinion in both looks and performance.

With the 3.5" intake it will require a tune most people get a check engine light.
 
first mod should always be flashpro. installing anything on these cars requires a tune to make the money spent worth it. also most anything that is worth spending any money on is going to be pricey. also using the pre loaded tunes on flashpro arent a good idea, you'll want to get a tune done, either dyno or e tune. a lot of people ( including me ) use etunez.com .
 
Thanks for the input guys. Not looking to spend over $1000 right now to mod the car so I guess most of those mods will not be happening. I still do want to get my ECU tuned via flashpro though. I'm going to look into the e-tunez package as you mentioned. Seems like a good deal for the price. Assuming you have to send in your ECU, so I guess my car would out of commission for a bit?
 
Thanks for the input guys. Not looking to spend over $1000 right now to mod the car so I guess most of those mods will not be happening. I still do want to get my ECU tuned via flashpro though. I'm going to look into the e-tunez package as you mentioned. Seems like a good deal for the price. Assuming you have to send in your ECU, so I guess my car would out of commission for a bit?

I have had my stock si ( with drop in k and n filter ) tuned by them. its a big difference in power and delivery. they do offer a package if you buy the flashpro through them, all prices are american, they are out of manitoba canada. you do not send your ecu in. all the info is on their site but basically you tell them your mods or lack of mods and they send you a calibration. you load it up do a data log. send the data log and they send a new calibration. takes a few times ( took me about 8 i believe ) to get it perfect. then they offer a reduced price to re do the tune if you do basic bolt ons. think its around $80. there is no down time at all. but after tuning a stock si i have kind of got addicted to buying parts.
not sure how old you are but parts for these cars are much more than back in the day with efs, egs, and eks.
 
Thanks for the input guys. Not looking to spend over $1000 right now to mod the car so I guess most of those mods will not be happening. I still do want to get my ECU tuned via flashpro though. I'm going to look into the e-tunez package as you mentioned. Seems like a good deal for the price. Assuming you have to send in your ECU, so I guess my car would out of commission for a bit?
You buy a flashpro unit and then you will send data logs back and forth with the tuner. You don’t send the ecu or have any downtime. You pay the tuner whatever their price is for data logging. Maybe 10-30 revisions later, your car is tuned.
 
Gotcha, that makes more sense than sending in the ECU. Will save up for this and get it done hopefully this spring!

Are there any mods that you guys recommend that you've thought are worth while? I thought about doing an HID upgrade as well, but stock lights aren't terrible.
 
What are your goals? Do you have a HP goal or do you plan on going boost? I would save up and do a 3" downpipe with 3" exhaust in combination with the 3.5" intake once you get them all you can tune the car all at once instead of for each part. After that I believe you will be happy with the car as far as performance goes.

Is for the headlights I added LED bulbs in mine while I wait to save up for a pair of retrofitted headlight assembly to go HID @webby knows a website to purchase a set of custom assembly's.
 
What are your goals? Do you have a HP goal or do you plan on going boost? I would save up and do a 3" downpipe with 3" exhaust in combination with the 3.5" intake once you get them all you can tune the car all at once instead of for each part. After that I believe you will be happy with the car as far as performance goes.

Is for the headlights I added LED bulbs in mine while I wait to save up for a pair of retrofitted headlight assembly to go HID @webby knows a website to purchase a set of custom assembly's.

I don't plan on going boosted as that will cost thousands. Will definitely look into the 3" exhaust as well, but as with the tune these things will come in time. As for the HID, would it be feasible to install the HID's in the factory housing, or buy a set of ebay housings that have projectors?
 
I don't plan on going boosted as that will cost thousands. Will definitely look into the 3" exhaust as well, but as with the tune these things will come in time. As for the HID, would it be feasible to install the HID's in the factory housing, or buy a set of ebay housings that have projectors?
I would not bother with most of those cheap ones some like the Spec-D have horrible projectors and sometimes are worse then the OEM ones. I put LED in my SI for the Fog lights and low beam this is the ones I used:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07N63R679?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B075MWXVDQ/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My low beam are nice and bright I do wish the fogs were a little brighter but for the price I can't complain about either.
 
Most eBay lights and specd branded lights aren’t up to the quality of oem.

Pics of output and cutoff from other members who’ve tried them.
EA94A576-4459-422E-B9B2-DADA84ADFA82.jpeg AB2B535F-9A2B-4320-99D5-4615325A696E.jpeg 06819234-AE51-4713-9E23-49262E107D42.jpeg
 
I got Amazon LED lights. They were the worst purchase, they aren't as bright as the OEM lights. If you go with led you'll want a good brand and that usually means a lot more money.
 
Philips makes the best bulbs for Halogen bulbs and LED. The lightning dark LEDs ones I got are bright for being cheap($50.00 compared to Philips 150.00) . Amazon has a ton of cheap LED products that are horrible I used reviews on YouTube to make a choice the Beam tech I used for my Fog light were a big improvement over my 6 year old orginal Philips halogen bulb. The beam tech are only $25 so of course the Philips led will be a night and day deference. Lightning dark says they use Philips led diodes but I am not sure they look to be nice quality.
 
I got Amazon LED lights. They were the worst purchase, they aren't as bright as the OEM lights. If you go with led you'll want a good brand and that usually means a lot more money.
What brand? I got my Sealight LED bulbs on Amazon and have been pretty satisfied. I may just be a cheap date though. :corngrin:
 
Meanwhile, in the DIY-Dimension...

feeling-lightheaded
 
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