I've never heard a good argument as to why CAI is better than a short ram on a turbocharged car. If anyone can show me one i'd be very interested. As far as 'any' intake being put on the wrx, i've heard that gains will only be seen after EM and without it you will in many cases cause a lean condition. I've seen many tuning facilities (mastro included) tell customers to sell their aftermarket intakes and go back to simply running a filter on the stock airbox. Supposedly they are a pain in the ass to tune for then as well with our MAF sensors. I think in most cases the stock airbox will do a great job on the td04h and most ihi turbos, so if your in this boat, i recommend looking for another mod (exhaust mani, pulley kit, ic hoses, save up for EM)