cold air intakes discussion

[butters90]

So ive been looking into cold air intakes and have been trying to do some research. I have searched multiple forums, youtube, and some other truck performance sites but havent found anything. Sorry if i brought back up an old thread but couldnt find anything specific like this.

Do cold air intakes really work? There is back and forth going both ways saying stock air filters are built for a purpose and there is a reason they are so sealed off and that is too keep the engine heat out of the air filter and are built specifically to get the coldest air possible. If you waste your money on a CAI you are dropping performance because now you are sucking in that warm engine heat. There a couple of videos of dyno tests showing that CAIs actually drop performance compared to stock boxes.

And the other way around that CAIs actually improve performance and you should buy them. You spend a bunch of money up front but you eventually get your moneys worth and it also saves MPGs. Not a huge number but between 0-2%.

not sure what to go with since there is back and forth on this. Anyone have thoughts?

 

[KGBIGCOUNTRY]

A CAI is typically a gateway mod that leads to the rest of them. You do not want an open element cone filter like a Spector without a cold air box that seals to the hood. The higher end kits will sheild the filter as best as possible while still being able to draw in fresh air. If you have your doubts but want it to breath beter and retain the stock box as a fairly sealed unit you can do a K&N drop in filter and a Mid-tube to the TB.

 

[charonblk07]

And then you can start the debate about the differences between a CAI and a short ram intake and the benefits/disadvantages of both. This is a very deep rabbit hole full of half-baked science and personal opinions of people who have used X intake and say it's the best because it's what they use and 'it works'.

The stock assembly is a true coild air intake, however, everything past the intake box is designed to silence the air flow to make it more acceptable to a larger market, by decreasing the restrictions and smoothing out the airflow you'll get better performance from the stock air box. You need to compare filter flow capabilities, intake air temps, flow capabilities across a broad RPM range, MAP readings, and (if you care) noise levels. Also, once you ignore the cold air aspect and realize that, at speed, a short ram intake is pulling air that's the same as (or very near) ambient as it's refeshed through the engine bay you'll have a better flowing system without the top-end restriction of a sealed style intake.

I for one ignore the 'cold air' requirement and go for flow capability because I run a higher performance engine than ~90% of owners and want it to breath at WOT, fuel mileage be damned. Colder temps help with low-mid RPM performance, but are less of an issue at high RPM until you start pulling timing from detonation. Then again, since I've gone boosted, intake temps are a primary concern but there's a difference between ingesting 100 degree temps and 175 degree temps.

 

[dodge dude94]

If you're gonna do a CAI, do this:

A CAI is typically a gateway mod that leads to the rest of them. You do not want an open element cone filter like a Spector without a cold air box that seals to the hood. The higher end kits will sheild the filter as best as possible while still being able to draw in fresh air. If you have your doubts but want it to breath beter and retain the stock box as a fairly sealed unit you can do a K&N drop in filter and a Mid-tube to the TB.

I fully agree.

I saw a guy that cut a hole in the stock box and used it to run a large diameter tube and scoop to the grille

 

[rustydagger]

My '12 has the cheaper plastic variant of the k&n intake. I like the way it sounds, mpg and/or hp seems to be about the same. I don't like the fact that if I went into a major mud hole it is a giant water scoop. But I don't get my truck into things like that if I can avoid it. I got it to seals well against The hood with a bit of tweaking.

Personally, I wish I had done a drop in and modded the stock box. For the $$ that's a better route.

 

[NYCruiser]

I think I'm going to look for a spare stock box to fool around with. That way I will have my stock box to put back if I need to.

 

[rustydagger]

Don't forget to post an update when you do. I'm considering going back to the stock one and selling my k&n

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

 

[truckin151]

A CAI in my eyes is a supporting mod. On its own, you will hear it but you wont really tell much of a difference when driving except maybe a little better throttle response. As you start getting into other mods, mods that need the engine to breath deeper, thats where they will really shine.