i broke that part too one time, when i hit a manure pile on the side of the road, my stock air box broke, if u also got the 6th generation (98+ accord)very very late at nite, couldnt see anything... well, i would say, get the CAI, for the looks and the little more performance gain, however, depending where u live, does it rain often, and are their huge puddles of water that creep up, i mean the big one's where if u drive through them, they splash the car coming the opposite way... cuz u need to intake alot of water to get water into that engines.. but yea, my friends have had bypass valve, and they've been fine.. i dont have one, and it does rain here a normal amount, and their can be HUGE puddles where i could take in water, but haven't, just drive with a little more caution, dont accelerate when over the water, accelerate alot before going over water, but, if u can avoid them, drive around them, but get the bypass valve if its worth the peace of mind... and btw, u need to clean whatever intake u get.. i dont, which has caused some problems to my car. my friend has a short ram, and i see less performance difference, not that an intake DOES that much, but i can tell, its not as good in performance as the cAI from AEM, cuz i have the cAI, and he has the short ram.