kingarthur said:
The CAI is pointless with or without the turbo. Tests on the base engine have shown 2-3 Hp gain plus a lot of hissing noises. Don't waste your money unless and until GM provides reliable dyno figures and they exceed 10 HP gain (I
don't think they ever will).
Generally speaking you're right. Alone a CAI is pretty minor of an upgrade. However, it is one of the things that sets foundation for other mods later on. Usually, when combined with other modifications, it produces a larger gain than on it's own.
For instance, a CAI alone my give you 3 hp gain. An exhaust may give you a 10 hp gain...but together they may produce 15 hp instead of the expected 13. The more air you can get out, the more air you can get in...but if you can move a ton of air out but are strying to suck it through swizzle stick you can't move much. Together they work better than on their own.
I'll admit $300 is a little steep (until this year no one made a fenderwell intake for the Grand Prix so many of us made them out of 3" sewer pipe from Home Depot for $20...so $300 is a lot) especially considering the minimal gains on it's own but if you're going to do more to the car it certainly will help.
I'll be interested to see though what they put on the Redline. Look at the Cobalt SS or Ion Redline and you'll find they already have a CAI like intake made of plastic. From what GM has been doing lately, I wouldn't be surprised if they did it for the Sky Redline too.