was looking at an Injen CAI for my Cruze. Price is $230 US from ebay.
is it worth the money or are they utter ricer bullshit.
this is a ton of money for me to part with and I don't want to buy something that is not worth it.
Advice is greatly appreciated.

My honest opinion is that it differs on the engine and what it likes.
My 350 TBI in my Suburban works better with a open intake I know...

In my experience it's like 90% bullshit, especially when used on their own.
I mean if you're going all the way and complimenting it with exhaust, headers and a tune, then you'll see results from the whole package, but as a standalone mod it's little more than eye candy. And as Skelly pointed out, a lot of it is really motor dependent. Some are going to be more receptive than others to small ancillary mods like a SRI/CAI.

Posted by terapr0 In my experience it's like 90% bullshit, especially when used on their own. I mean if you're going all the way and complimenting it with exhaust, headers and a tune, then you'll see results from the whole package, but as a standalone mod it's little more than eye candy. And as Skelly pointed out, a lot of it is really motor dependent. Some are going to be more receptive than others to small ancillary mods like a SRI/CAI.

I bought the stupid thing and really wish I hadn't. I could it back on ebay, but seriously, who else but me would be a CAI for a Cruze? (facepalm)
So... was going to install it yesterday as the weather was nice... no no no... like all things I deal with, complications ensued... You have to pull the nose off the car to get at the bottom mounting for the intake ducting. So, figured next week, i'll install it with the new headlight bucket I bought because someone thought it was a great idea to jam a shopping car into my headlight.

Oh well, at least the kiddies will ooh and ahh when I open the hood on the stupid thing.

most stock intakes perform properly, and the CAI will act more like a hot air intake.

certain cars require tuning to benefit from the cold air intake as well.

biggest benefit is more noise and turbo sounds

Posted by Nismo most stock intakes perform properly, and the CAI will act more like a hot air intake. certain cars require tuning to benefit from the cold air intake as well. biggest benefit is more noise and turbo sounds

this is an Injen model that actually sits the filter out of the engine bay... basically I think it will be more visual appeal than anything. as I said, I pretty much wish I hadn't bought the fucking thing.

my brother installed it Tuesday... I hear a ton of induction now. Also, when I shift, it sounds like darth vader under the hood, which I hate to admit, I kind of like... sorry.

here's where it gets fruity... it seems to pull harder through the midrange, but the launch and beyond 5000RPM are still as before... Really, after 5000RPM, the engine doesn't feel like it's doing anything for you anyway.

the whole 'feel' thing is very subject to scrutiny. The box guarantees +9hp... I find that a wee laughable myself.

What the puddles with that CAI.

Posted by gambino What the puddles with that CAI.

in the cruze, it sits high enough where the soup doesn't bother it... it's surround by the inner fender, lower splash valance and draws air from behind the grille and the headlight. I am very concerned about high water; I've heard horror stories from some of my Honda friends.

Nice, I thought it was one of those that sit low in the engine bay.

Do you notice your oil getting dirty? prematurely?

I was always under the impression that with these filters (more air = more dirt in the oil).

Also these CAI cone filters require oiling, which gums the MAF.

Posted by gambino Nice, I thought it was one of those that sit low in the engine bay. Do you notice your oil getting dirty? prematurely? I was always under the impression that with these filters (more air = more dirt in the oil). Also these CAI cone filters require oiling, which gums the MAF.

I had a K&N drop-in filter since the first week I had the car... the sensor looked fine when we pulled it out to install in the CAI.

That's a clean engine bay. Seriously.

Posted by jeepdave That's a clean engine bay. Seriously.

we take pride.
not bad for almost 117,000 miles, eh?

Getting a CAI only won't give noticeable power gain. There are other performance mods that you need to do like installing a free flowing exhaust.

Posted by larryjom Getting a CAI only won't give noticeable power gain. There are other performance mods that you need to do like installing a free flowing exhaust.

not happening. I live in a quiet neighborhood.
my neighbors hated me when I had a straight exhaust on my 98 Cavalier.

Do ittttttt.

Posted by bandi Do ittttttt.

I was pricing cat-back systems for my car... holy shit! why so expensive, batman?!?!

Do you have a local non-franchise exhaust shop? Some of them get pretty excited about custom work. The place across the road from my work did the entire system on my VR6 Bug, it's a god damned work of art... and it cost less than a factory replacement muffler.

I *do* send them a lot of work, but still, they've always been reasonable and they do incredible work.

Posted by bandi Do you have a local non-franchise exhaust shop? Some of them get pretty excited about custom work. The place across the road from my work did the entire system on my VR6 Bug, it's a god damned work of art... and it cost less than a factory replacement muffler. I *do* send them a lot of work, but still, they've always been reasonable and they do incredible work.

the last time I had a shop here do a catback was on my 91 Cavalier RS... the pipe was el cheapo and rotted out in two years.

The Cruze has a goofy exhaust route, the muffler being between the spare well and the fuel tank... I just want something a little freer, something a little angrier, but not so angry my neighbors boycott me.