i was looking on ebay and i was wondering what brand are all the civic CAI's they are all dirt cheap and i was wondering if any one has used them before or if i shoud stay away form them ??

 

this has been covered. probably the "best" intake for a civic is an AEM (unless we're factoring the J's racing and those type) but most people will tell you an intake is an intake, its the filter that matters and the best filter is the K&N

 

You're looking at a negligible performance different from something name brand, and like an 80-90% savings in cost. Moving air into a throttle body is not scientific. Vacuum pressure is vacuum pressure. Removing restrictions is how you improve flow. The filter is the key.

I have an ebay CAI, and I love it. Simple, clean, and exactly like the old-skool AEM, just in 2 pieces. Great fit. The filter isn't huge, and really doesn't need to be. It doesn't restrict anything, and even has a velocity stack cast into the inside rubber. Cost me $32 with shipping with filter, all couplings, hoses and clamps. So, you COULD spend $300 on a name brand and get that extra 1hp, or you could get the function and sound of the CAI for chump change. My bet is that your butt-dyno will never feel the difference that 1hp makes.

 

Oh yeah... some people think that coatings make all the difference. The air doesn't stay in the intake long enough for heat-sink to occur significantly. Maybe it will at idle with the throttle plate closed, but it won't make a difference at WOT.

How many people dyno their cars at idle and compare their HP gains at 0% throttle?

How many people that dispute coatings have a 1k ohm resistor in place of their Intake Air Temp Sensor already?