Airaid CAI New product (review)

[puulboy]

This is a review of the newly developed CAI for the FJ Cruiser/Tacoma

I friend of mine, does the R&D for Airaid and decided to develop one for the off-road market . My understanding is , the Jeep Pentastar folks, are giving this intake, lots of love. Most of the Airaid folks, are Toyota fanatics, so they wanted their own system . I figured, since I am reviewing it for him, I would post my review here.

I already am running the AFE CAI and decided to give this intake a workout.

The box arrived a whole 1 day after it was shipped . (Phoenix isn't very far from here )

First impression was that this is one of those intakes that put a divider in the engine bay, instead of using the fender area to pull in outside air. So I opened it up and realized that the intake on the package is just a standard picture , that doesn't really reflect the specific intake in the box, phhhew , I didn't want to send it back



The packaging was done well . Along with a sheet, that actually had human writing on it. Nice to see they still verify contents, with inspector number xxxx





After the AFE uninstall, I compared some of the main parts of the intake


The main tube is much larger and seemed the be well made. The flex is what really stood out. I know some have had issues with the TRD and the AFE tubes coming apart from the box. It looks like Airaid has a better solution for the flex tube



The hardware packaging was done the way I thought it should be done. All the parts were separated in sections, which makes it easy to count and figure out what goes where . I didn't think about taking this pic, until I had removed, some of the parts .



Install was straight forward



Filter is an oil style , that has a layer of water resistant foam inside.

There is also a pre-filter you can buy , that is also water resistant. Normally I am not big on pre-filters, but it will add some life to my filter oil intervals



Why would you do all of this , without cleaning your MAF sensor? Afterall , that alone, adds 10 hp. :bigthumb:



One thing I noticed , while installing the box, itself (of course I forgot to take a pic) was that the tube, going through the fender was much better to seal, versus the AFE. The AFE had a very short snout that barely fit to the fender and didn't really seal like it should
The Airaid , had a longer tube that sealed perfectly, in the fender opening.

Here is the finished picture
It went together much better than the AFE, because of the way the silicone boots are designed. Plus there was much more room for flex and vibration



I was explained there are 60 dyno runs, that were done, getting the specific tuning, of the new design. They have the advantage of having a dyno in house.

I was told to give it about 45 miles, to settle everything in for the ecu.
My first observation is that is a wee bit throatier, when you go WOT. My idle was so smooth, I had to look at the tach, to see if it was running at the stop sign.
That may be a symptom , of cleaning the throttle body/MAF sensor , but the intake seemed smooth.

It did feel a little more peppy, but my AFE may have soon been do for a cleaning .

If I compared the 2, side by side on the shelf, I would probably choose the Airaid, because it just seems to be designed , a little better.

The knock I have with every CAI that I have had, is the lid of the box, always seems to need a little more rigidity . Same applies here. I think that's just a perception I have though

All in All I think they hit a home run and could be a great player in the CAI market.

The model number sent to me was the 510-301
He thought this was a better choice for the off-road crowd, versus the 511-301, which is better suited for street stuff
Here is the link for more specs
Airaid - Product Search

[NTAPHSE]

Nice review!

[puulboy]

Follow up to my review
After about 5000 miles Summit trip , daily driving, pulling my trailer daily I can say I am happy with how the intake performs. It's actually a little louder than the previous AFE, but it could be because of the media type. The pre -filter has kept the filter much cleaner and is very easy rinse dry and put back in . I would recommend this intake. Fit and finish is great. It has a nice style and seems to perform well.

On a side note.
The day after the initial install, I took the MAF sensor back out. The reason was during the install, I didn't pay too much attention to the o-ring. That night I played it back in my head and realized this. When I went out to my garage the next morning , bingo! There was an o-ring on the ground .

I attempted to install and realized it had stretched, so it wasn't making a good seal.

How important is that o-ring?

Even though there is a secondary foam seal around the MAF housing, the o-ring is suppose to make a perfect seal, not to let unfiltered air from being sucked into the intake.

After my failed attempted I re installed it and went to work.

During the day I called Toyota. . No dealers in the state had that o-ring.

After worked I went to NAPA ( they seem to have more stuff than most chain auto parts stores)
After an exhaustive search, for the exact correct size, I couldn't find one. So I started to look for something that would work
I found one that was slightly larger diameter of the actually rubber and slightly smaller diameter of the actually o-ring . I had to stretch it some, to fit, but it looked like it would work. Went out to the parking lot and installed it.
I could tell it fit perfectly because while I was inserting the sensor, I could feel it compress pass the outer lip then it had a smooth tight feel. I remember this from my many MAF cleanings.

To save you from trial and error, I am posting the part number, for your future reference .

NAPA part number 727-2113 o-ring .77 cents

[Chas]

I just put in Airaid Intake on my Tundra and am very pleased with the performance and the sound. They are definitely a step above the other intake manufacturers. Thanks for the review.