Ok so i am having some trouble understanding the real differences between CAI's and short ram intakes. Is one better than the other? What should i get to give me the most HP, Torque, and sound. I have a 2009 MCS R56 and i am trying to find a good intake. I have been slowly planning my minis upgrade, and want to start with a CAI or short ram. Iv'e been looking at various k&n kits, as well as the ddmworks street intakes. Thanks
:cornut: The K&N(CAI) seem to be rated highest by the customers and are more economically priced. Looking at the literature, Short Ram seems to just be a marketing ploy(a Rose by another name as it were) as they don't seem to be very different from CAI. A 'Top of the Line' CAI is available from 'NM Engineering'. You might also check out the CAI available from our sponsors listed at the top of the page. GOOD LUCK. Jason
What ever one you choose make sure it is a cold air intake. The R56 has a lot of heat under-hood, cold air helps make power. In the old days when cars had carburetors racers used different length velocity stacks to tune the engines. Long ones moved the power band up higher in the rev range & short rams made more low end power. That concludes today's history lesson.
For the record: I have not seen evidence that aftermarket intakes actually increase power on a R56. We haven't isolated intakes vs. stock, but based upon a lot of dynoing, I'm not seeing a gain.
Many parts have placebo horsepower. The more money spent the bigger the placebo HP bang. Robo91 there are many good parts out there, ask the good guys (Eric is one) & they can steer you down the correct path saving you money that might be wasted. It is all about bang for the buck.
The stock intake is a very effective Cold Air Intake, it would be hard to improve on it. Most aftermarket Cold Air Intakes, just sound cool and many even hurt performance. A ram intake just isn't effective on a turbocharged engine. The turbo is going to pump the amount of air that the engine control unit tells it to. That and the air filter is going to slow down all that 70 mph air that is coming down the ram tube, you don't want to run without an air filter. Dave
The DoS Intake seems to be the best one so far in the aftermarket realm. I have not seen data compared to stock but compared to other aftermarket options it does have lower intake manifold temps.