l am buying a cold air intake for my car, l was wondering what is the main differences between on off brand cold air intake and a brand name one ( AEM, Injen, TRD, Fujita) is it just the name brand a couple of ponies? any risk on an off brand one?

with a name brand youre pretty much guaranteed good materials and less bends for a better flow. most of it is involved with the filter. my friend got the TRD one (which also doesnt void the warranty) and you could actually tell the difference unlike most intakes on cars. l tend to stay away from ebay/off brand things because you never know what youre getting

Just to concur with the last response, l would definately vote for TRD or AEM, especially since the TRD and AEM design are identical.for sure the TRD one will not void warranty. One thing though..make sure and have a dealer install it if you buy it from them.makes any future warranty issues a lot easier for you.just my .02 The ebay stuff works ok..but its not usually street legal either, unlike the big name brand stuff.

Someone asks this same, lame question everyday; dude, no amount of aluminum tubing bolted to ur engine will make ANY difference in performance. Sure, all the makers will claim 'up to ten' additional HP but this is with the engine screaming at 6000+ rpm under ideal, laboratory conditions. Do u honestly believe that the engineers at Toyota (or any other automaker) has not caught on to the fact that a metal tube will gain HP for pennies per car if installed at the factory? If it is true, then why do not ALL cars come equipped with them? The truth is u will gain far, far more HP by simply switching off the AC. Besides, u car HAS a cold air intake in place -- it just does not look as cool as a pipe.

The factory intake system is NOT the same is a CIA. The 'know-it-all' above me is talking out of his butt! To avoid any issues with the warranty and/or reliabilty, go with the TRD unit.

Cowboy: Your argument is seriously flawed. If thats the case, why does not the auto industry just eliminate the aftermarket, & auto makers can just produce 600+ horsepower cars. Engineers at Toyota HAVE 'caught on to the fact that a metal tube will gain HP for pennies per car', thats why there is a TRD Cold Air Intake ya moron!

some of the cold air intakes allow water into your cars engine

Aviod the K&N ones. They had problems breaking off the mounting bracket. Its an easy and cheap fix but you shouldnt have to fix their poor design. You will lose a little low end power and gain a little top end power. l didnt think it was worth it and took mine off.

Please check out the dyno sheets for the Injen, Fujita, & K&N. You will see a HUGE difference between those three. TRD is just like the Injen & so is AEM. Based on this, l went with the Injen CA l & love it! l definitely feel the car running better & quicker. There is not much hp gain, but the car runs better & sounds great! You will reach up to 15 hp gain if u go full exhaust: CAI, headers, s-pipe, & catback.

l have heard good & bad things about knock-off intakes, like the ones on eBay. l would not buy anything performance wise on eBay, unless it is brand name. You get what u pay for.but with an intake, a pipe is just a pipe. You want to make sure the thickness is quality. The only things that make an intake perform is mainly the filter & thickness of the pipe.

http://scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=92108&highlight=gsc+intake+test

Risks would be if u r running full CA l & get hydrolock. You definitely will screw up ur engine, so best thing is run ur intake short ram if u r worried about this. The only way to get water in ur engine, is if u went through 2-3 feet of water. l have a full CA l & am in WA state where it rains alot, but have not had any problems. TRD has a bypass valve for any water.