well hydrolock is very rare with sr type of intakes, such as the JWT and STillen, since it would have to be submerged in water ... which means someone just pushed your neutral car into a river or you fell asleep behind the wheel, again in which either case you'll be having biggerproblems than just hydrolock ... the stillen airbox is attractive b/c it maintains a stock look, but then again, the JWT popcharger looks pretty hot with its heat shield ...

 

I would go with a stock Z-tube or CF Z-tube for cooler intake temps. Why upgrade to something that looks stock if you want some bling. If you want to keep stealth look, go stock z-tube with Stillen box. If you want the same performance and sound with some bling, go CF Z-tube and JWT popcharger. Just my .02.

 

I think it's all a circular argument. If I go with the stock or CF Z-tube for cooler intake temps, then why would I go with a short ram set-up (such as the popcharger) when it's subject to heat soak when sitting at a light? Seems like it would defeat the purpose. I went with the chrome because I don't like the look of CF and if I was going to change to the very stock-like Stillen box I wanted something that stood out a little more than the black plastic Z-tube. Maybe this is a better way to put the rationale:

Item and Reason Against:
Long-tube CAIs: Didn't like the possibility of hydrolock and low end power loss
Short ram CAIs: Didn't like the look and I couldn't see where it would be a good idea to pull air from inside the engine bay
Stillen or OEM Z-tube: Looks cheap
CF Z-tube: Don't like the look of CF

That left me with the Stillen box and a polished or chrome Z-tube. I think the chrome will look better so that's the one I went with.