I am increasingly seeing these 38 dollar aem copycats on ebay, anyone have any real experience with them, the filter they come with is prpbably junk but if if the piping is also aluminum, shaped the exact same, and i use a k&n shuouldnt it perform exactly as the aem? Anyone with first hand experience..Weighs more??? finish comes off???

 

Good question.

 

I have one. Sounds and feels good. I never seen or used an AEM but I would not buy AEM over the 25 dollar one I purchased. Finish is just like the injen intake, nice and shiny. There is a nice difference before and at VTEC. Just as you said I did use a K&N filter off my prelude intake(the other filter is not as good) and also bought $3 worth of black hoses. So if you have any doubts it really is a good intake for the deal. I bought mine from ssautochrome.com on ebay. The intake with yellow parts.
Hope that helps
Chris

 

Aside from perhaps jewelry, the markup on intakes is about as high as anything I've ever encountered. Total cost of your atypical AEM intake is peanuts compared to its street price. You're paying for their research, advertising, etc. Think of like post-Oscar night. Designers have "sweat shops" working overtime to pull off copy cats of the designer gowns worn by the stars. Cost of a typical Oscar gown? Upwards of $40,000. Copycat? Try about $300.
As long as the bends are the same, the materials used are of like quality, you're probably no worse off buying the $40 intake and replacing it with a $60 high quality filter than you are spending $225 for the best street price on your AEM.
Not the "politically correct" line of thinking but for those who aren't horned up for the logo-look in their engine bay, it works.

 

Quote Russ:

"you're probably no worse off buying the $40 intake and replacing it with a $60 high quality filter than you are spending $225 for the best street price on your AEM."

That's exactly what I did. If you don't care about name brand stuff...this is the way to go IMO. The fit is fine, no problems here.

 

4ig cai is said to be very good for about $125 shipped with a k&n filter check out group buy.

 

Just my 2 cents. Why people are willing to pay $30K plus on their S and try to save $100~ to this great mod???

I don't know the NY states. But in CA, we need the C.A.R.B certificate for the smog. I don't think the copycat CAI do has one come with it.

Personally, I love the Injen CAI. &

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by chan1wan
[B]Just my 2 cents.

 

Is the Injen C.A.R.B legal? I thought only the AEM and Comptech intakes were C.A.R.B legal.

 

It is certified in California.

www.injen.com