There's a lot you can do without a lift. Just a 2-ton jack and jackstands. I've done my springs, shocks, bars, exhaust, intake, header, cat without a lift.

If you're not interested in performance, both will sound similar and will be throaty. I'd say the SRI is a little louder than the CAI but I could be wrong. If you're getting a CAI, get the bypass regardless of the conditions. You'll never know when water can get up in there and since you don't care about performance, it's better to be safe than sorry. The CAIs will be more expensive than a SRI. I'd suggest you get an SRI off of ebay and put a K&N filter on it.