i just installed my AEM cai today, it "sounds great" with a VTEC roar... however didn't feel much about the torque/hp gain.... no other mods besides a 20lbs sound system... i actually flet slower at the throttle response ...my question is does the AEM CAI actually gain hp?... if so how much.. any of u guys with the AEM cai feel any difference?

thanks,
Mike

 

Well I had the version 1 installed last summer and there was a lost in HP below 4000 rpm.......but there were slight gains from there on and the greatest gains felt would be after 6000rpm. You should never expect much gain from Mods like this on an S2000.......
I've done the basic I/TB/H/E plus an untuned V-AFC2 (waiting for Toda cam gears to tune at the same time at the dyno shop).......even though my goal is to gain 20WHP I'll be happy to see anything over 10WHP.

 

Here are my dynos before/after AEM CAI v1 was installed. Before installing the CAI, I already had Toda cams SpecA v2 and a mild Port & Polish.

Red is w/ intake, blue is w/o.

 

i know someone w v2, still not noticable gains hp wise...but im about to purchase the v2 just for sound and looks, makes the engine look a lot cleaner...

you mention about throttle response, i think it is common to has a decrease in throttle response because of the cold air piping, compared to a short ram or the stock intake, it takes much longer for the air travel because of it is farther away from the engine...

 

Especially when it is hot out.