Ah, thin wallet.
The worse thing about not having money is that you don't have a lot of options. Money doesn't necessary buy happiness, but having a large quantity of money does give you more options in life, and more choices gives you a better chance of being happy and content with your life...
Err... anyway...
The great thing about a free market is competition, and when you can't afford a particular brand name, there's a good chance that there is a generic offering out there.
AEM's CAI for the 01+ Civic 5spd cost nearly $200. That's quite a lot of money in my opinion. Luckily as mentioned above, there are alternatives.
This particular generic CAI was made in Taiwan by an unknown manufacture. I purchased it for $53 shipped off of eBay from the seller x3racing. The picture above shows what is included. Overall finish is decent for the price, there are not dents or cracks on the intake tubes, and the filter provided is also a decent one with an air funnel opening on the top. If you bought one with the small skinny filter, replace it! Installation instruction for this particular intake can be found here.
An important piece of component in this generic CAI would be the transmission bracket provided (black bracket in the picture above) which from my experience, some other generic intake does not provide this. This particular bracket is of the same design that AEM provides in their CAI system. It really helps with installation to have this piece, and I was really surprised to find out that this $53 intake comes with this bracket.
Although this is an AEM replica, it isn't replicated to exact specification. Some differences are:
* AEM's top intake tube's diameter is 2.5 inches, while the generic CAI's is about 2 3/8 inches.
* AEM's bottom intake tube's diameter is 2.75 inches, while the generic CAI's is the same as the top, about 2 3/8 inches.
* AEM's filter's opening diameter is 2.75 inches, while the generic CAI's is about 2 3/8 inches.
* AEM's cone filter's flange length is also considerably longer than the generic CAI's. It is almost an inch or two longer.
* AEM's filter is probably of better quality, ie: more layered.
* AEM has better fit and finish.
After reading all that, you're probably thinking I made the wrong choice of purchasing this intake. Actually, I beg to differ! AEM's intake is almost four times more expensive! The generic CAI is very similar, and I can easily replace the inferior part such as the filter with a $28 K&N cone filter.
Generic Cold Air Intake (AEM replica) Review
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for 2001-2003 Honda Civic EX manual transmission
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