Hello Everyone,

Here is the BIG question and debate. Which will provide better overall performance results. Spoon is saying;
"The Spoon air cleaner is a drop in replacement of the stock Honda filter. Spoon recommends that due to the design of the VTEC engine, the stock intake box be retained to maximize throttle response".

I always thought a CAI/SR would be better, maybe not in this case?

 

Get the T1R INTAKE, you will love it

 

Spoon recommends it because they sell a replacement filter for the stock intake.

One of the first things you should do is get rid of the stock airbox, IMO. It's pretty restrictive, mostly to keep the noise down, and you will definitely see an improvement in torque and throttle response by replacing it. In particular, I would go with some form of chamber intake like the T1R above, Last Station Power Box, or H-Fit Supa Sucka. They will give you the best results for drivablity and response over any CAI/SR on this engine.

 

Thanks for the information. I am familiar with the different intakes available for the FIT.
So Spoon is just saying this because that's all they sell? I wonder what the dyno difference is between a Spoon drop in and a cai/sr. I do not really care about engine noise or how loud it gets when you install a cai/sr. I am looking for the best possible results in power.
thanks again for your imput!

 

I would say yes to that since anyone here who's swapped the OEM box for another intake can feel the improvement immediately. Drop-in's help somewhat, but they're no replacement for a good intake. Be careful too when you say 'power' -- make sure you decide what's more important, response or HP, and keep in mind where the power's made too. CAIs' HP #'s are usually higher than a chamber type intake, but a chamber intake has much better response and snap to it, plus the HP it makes is more in a useable band so ultimately it actually is faster and more beneficial to you. Unless of course you're gonna do only drags where you need that top-end power a CAI gives.

 

Does anyone have a dyno comparison of a chamber type Vs a CAI from 2k or so rpm on up so we can see exactly the difference?

 

Thanks for the information; it's a bit clearer now. So you would recommend a CAI for quater mile usage? What would be your preference some sort of metal intake or plastic or even carbon fiber?

Thx fo da help

"I would say yes to that since anyone here who's swapped the OEM box for another intake can feel the improvement immediately. Drop-in's help somewhat, but they're no replacement for a good intake. Be careful too when you say 'power' -- make sure you decide what's more important, response or HP, and keep in mind where the power's made too. CAIs' HP #'s are usually higher than a chamber type intake, but a chamber intake has much better response and snap to it, plus the HP it makes is more in a useable band so ultimately it actually is faster and more beneficial to you. Unless of course you're gonna do only drags where you need that top-end power a CAI gives".

Thx Again

 

I felt a small differnece when switching to the spoon air filter. It's a very subtle gain IMO. I don't want the noise of the T1R Carbon intake, But when the J's intake comes out I may consider switching to that.

 

I guess it is all personal preference. Would love to see a quarter mile times with the FIT....same bolt on's....one with a drop in / one with a CAI / one with the SR!
What I am thinking is.....T1R Intake, looks great, sounds great....pretty pricey....is it really out performing a 90 dollar Spoon Drop In. And if it is by how much? Keep in mind the T1R sits in a HOT engine bay. Sometimes sucking in hot air can have a reverse affect on performance....IMO....any takers?

Thanks for all the posts...it's been interesting in learning.

 

with just different intakes, i'm pretty sure any differences in 1/4 times will be insignificant or not measureable (and there's too many variables). a dyno would be a better way to investigate this. but really i think the differences are minute and won't matter much.

 

1/4 mile times probably won't show much difference between intakes, but lap times on a track, or run times in an autox would. You will generally have better times in these kind of conditions w/ a good chamber intake due to the improved throttle and engine response, and also by having the bulk of the power in a more useable area, immediately available. This is not something measurable on a dyno, it's something you just have to drive and experience for yourself.

Also, a lot has been debated here about the chambers' filters being in the engine compartment and sucking up hot air. It's a no-issue as the design of the intakes take this into consideration and, as H-Fit's research showed, they actually are able to get lower intake temps then the stock box due to the way they're designed. H-Fit's post about this is here:https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/167567-post140.html. T1R's and Last Station's chambers work on similar principals, so this applies to them as well.

Lastly, there's already one member here who spun a bearing and trashed his engine due to ingesting a SMALL amount of water w/ his CAI. One completely replaced engine later, he's now running an H-Fit chamber and much happier with the performance, and safety too.

** BTW, not endorsing H-Fit's intake at all, it's just they've been very up-front about the design ideals behind chamber intakes, so they're a good reference. I have a Last Station Power Box, myslef.

 

I dunno if this helps. but I tested three intakes in my Integra GSR. Mugen, NSX, and Spoon. Realtime Racing used an NSX stock airbox and modded it with a cone filter and that is all they used for thier race car ITR. I dynoed them all and the NSX box is similar to the Mugen intake.Mugen has more torque int he low rpm range. but the NSX creates more power and torque in the higher bands in vtec.

Spoon filter jsut plain sucked.

 

Granted but this is on the Fit. Comparing how a mod did on another car and another motor doesn't really help with this case. Also we are discussing drop in replacement filters vs intakes not just comparing intakes.

 

Well after installing my CAI from Aspec. Which by the way was a breeze! Took maybe 15 min. total. The hardest part was removing the stock air box because battery sits right up on it.
Now that I am looking at the stock box n stock air filter....I am glad I went with the CAI system. Honestly I do not know how the engine got ANY air if at all . Huge difference in adding a S/R, Chamber or CAI. Get rid of that STOCK BOX, it's sufficating your FIT. Hope this helps.

Peace

 

well granted the motor was different, but the results will still be the same. in terms of differences across intakes and drop in filters. As I said earlier I tested mugen, NSX and Spoon. Spoon doenst make an intake system for the DC2 integra. it is all just a drop in filter. so if you go by that info. a new intake system is better. a motor is a motor. they pretty much do the same thing and all we are talking about is a filter after all.

 

A filter isn't the same as any other filter. There is a differance between brands. Im interested in what a drop in filter replacement does since we all know most aftermarket intake systems don't add much on our small displacement.

 

well I have heard that k&n does wonders for some cars. why not jsut buy them and try them out yourself? they arent nearly as expensive as an intake system.

 

True, I have considered a K&N but with this project I wanted to only add one MAYBE two aftermarket companies and just going with Mugen.

 

I dont knwo if this helps. but when I had a 98 civic coupe EX (it had a 1.6L SOHC Vtec motor) it put out 119hp to the wheels. on paper it is supposed to have 126hp at the flywheel. all i did was have a axleback muffler, 8mm silicone sparkplug wires, really really good oil (royal purple oil), and my AME V2 CAI intake. I really noticed a difference with that intake system. but again we are slightly getting off track as you are inquiring about drop in filters. but that d16 was also small displacement.

 

lol, when I first got my Fit and I started looking into an intake I came accross the Spoon "stock air box" claim which confused the hell out of me too After a lot of digging I found they were talking more about throttle responce performance and rather than power.

If I had to thow my 2 cents in I would say switch to a chamber intake (T1R intake is a very nice performer, plus it sounds and looks amazing) if you are looking for more throttle responce & power.

You can also go with a CAI if you plan to spend more time in the upper RPM's. I went with the Fujita personally because it is all one peice and all chrome MMmmmmmm... chrome....

EDIT: Opps, I should really read these threads more before I post. Congrats on your CAI!!