Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior AEM cold air intake decreases power?

Hey fellas,

Could anyone venture to tell me why it seems that the car lost it pick up when the high rpm cam kicks in after I installed the AEM CAI? The sound is great but it just seems not as powerful now. Seems ok at lower rpm but when it opens up at 6800 rpm the acceleration is just not as swift as when stock air box was in place.

What gives...anyone?

maybe it's your car or maybe it's just your mind. aem's do great in the low, mid and high rpm's. i've had mine for a year now and it's still awesome.

This is just a possibility since I don't have an CAI (I plan on getting the AEM myself), but just from reading your post I noted you said the acceleration didn't seem as great after changeover, not that you've noticed any lowering of the speed ranges you're operating in. For this case calling pre-changeover rpm low end and post changeover high end, it could be that the percentage increase you've achieved in the hp with the addition of the AEM CAI in the high end is less than the percentage increase of hp you achieved in the low end rpm, meaning that the actual difference in hp after changeover, while numerically may be greater than previously for low and high end, is now a smaller percentage difference. The changeover, if this is the case, could feel like actually less of a kick in the pants even though the hp levels have increased across the range. Just a theory.

Knyt

[ 09-30-2002, 07:49 AM: Message edited by: Midknyt ]

The Guy I bought my car off of had a aftermarket
intake in the engine and I noticed the same powerloss after the vvtli kicked in. It hestitated
but then it got the air and bounced off the rev limiter. After I installed the original air box
the problem went away.

i just put my AEM cai in and i feel an increase across the whole range so maybe its an individual problem you're having, one thing i would not do is go back to the stock airbox, just my opinion tho

Thanks to all who ventured a guess. It seems MIDKNYT may be onto something...sounds like a ligitimate explanation as I do feel the low end torque is greater up to 6000 rpm when the other kicks in. Wish I could have it dyno'd to see for sure tho.

I would still appreciate hearing from anyone else who has noticed the same situation or heard of someone who has. Thanks!

I have an AEM Cold Air Intake on my 2002 GTS, it is definitely faster than the stock intake, i feel the gains throughout the rpm range, maybe something is wrong with your system. Just a thought.

make sure you check all the hoses and everything is nice and tight, when lift kicks in it will pull more air and so your cai should kick even harder. I personally have a injen and i notice power gainst throughout the powerband, just make sure everything was put on correctly