S&B Cold Air Intake

[Hammer757]

Was looking at the S&B Cold Air Intake. I'm hearing it gives around 2 to 3 MPG increase, along with a little more horsepower and a better sound out of the exhaust. Does this change the water fording depth on the truck at all? Also, noticed it has a lower 2nd air inlet that you can plug. S&B seems to recommend using the plug more in the case of extreme heat or dust.

Does anyone have experience with this kit on the PW?

 

[LaramieAdam]

I would assume you need an exhaust and a tune to get full benefit from it. I doubt the stock intake would be that restricted for an aftermarket filter to increase mpg. I didn't even check yet to see if these PW have the same ram intake as the Cummins

Sent from my SM-N975W using Tapatalk

 

[PWonly]

I’ve had mine installed for about two months and roughly 1500 miles. The 2-3mpg increase claim isn’t remotely true if you’re just running the intake. My city numbers went up .4 mpg and highway was .6 mpg and I have a light foot.

With that said, I’d absolutely do it again. It’s noticeable how much better the engine breathes and I’ve found the gear shifts are smoother and quicker. I can’t tell a big difference in the sound, but I can tell you it looks amazing in the engine bay! Also didn’t hurt that S&B reached out to see if I was satisfied. Great customer service.

 

[BowerPower]

The stock system does take air from above the radiator on the never trucks. I don't have experience with this system on this truck but I will give my two cents.
The benefit you're getting from that system is because the filter is less restrictive but that also means it doesn't clean particles out of the air as well. You would in theory get the same benefits by swapimg out the stock paper filter with a k&n like filter and save a few bucks. I have seen numerous independent tests on air filters. The filters that give a minor performance boost do not filter as well. In most situations lesser filtration is ok but in commonly dusty situations is not good. The best way to look at it is... if a filter swap was all it took to gain so much mpg and performance wouldn't the manufacturer do that from the start?

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[HEMIMANN]

I’ve had mine installed for about two months and roughly 1500 miles. The 2-3mpg increase claim isn’t remotely true if you’re just running the intake. My city numbers went up .4 mpg and highway was .6 mpg and I have a light foot.

With that said, I’d absolutely do it again. It’s noticeable how much better the engine breathes and I’ve found the gear shifts are smoother and quicker. I can’t tell a big difference in the sound, but I can tell you it looks amazing in the engine bay! Also didn’t hurt that S&B reached out to see if I was satisfied. Great customer service.

Identical findings here.

 

[2012RAM1500RT]

I have the vararam CAI and I did not buy it for the more HP, more MPG hype. I simply bought it for the looks and that I'm happy with. If I get more MPG I can't tell it. If it runs better I say more air flow, it has to. But nothing about it is night and day difference except the looks which is undeniable!

 

[SeppW]

I looked at S&B long and hard and in the end stuck with OE intake and it is pretty good on it's own. You could go with a AFE dry element or the Green, dry too, and call it done. About all you'll get out of aftermarket intake is increase in sound of engine sucking in air on hard acceleration. I would expect any performance/MPG increase is marginal, as pointed out, w/o the other mods; cam, headers, tune, and so forth. NA stock engine can only do so much, going forced induction would result in better gains and if not heavy on acceleration, appreciable MPG increase, but the ROI is questionable with forced induction too.

Benefit of aftermarket air intake is subjective. In the end, it's what you want that counts and your discretionary income.

 

[unxpctd]

I put the S&B Intake on my 2021 75A with about 500 miles on it. I have 933 on it as of this morning.

No noticed increase in mileage...still getting just under 13 on the dash. Sounds a little better though

Easy install overall....good video on Youtube for it. Takes air from the stock intake area above the radiator.

Looks amazing too!

 

[Fatbob Frank]

I like mine.
It uses the factory hood intake so water fording is a wash.
Works great with my glass packed exhaust...

 

[Defconone]

Vararam and a pulsar is all i run on a 2019 Warlock and i get a constant 17 city and 21 hwy. 23 hwy if i really try.

 

[4xdad]

I would think it all boils down to surface area of the filter and where the air is picked up from .colder air more power really are you only going to buy an cia no programmer /exhaust bigger tires most guys bo multiple mods a cia a good start and good driveway project

 

[62Blazer]

No way it will provide 2-3 MPG as that's like a 25% improvement on these trucks! Also just looked at S&B's website and I didn't even see that claim on their page. They do advertise better air flow, which I don't doubt. But more airflow doesn't automatically equate to more power or better fuel economy. If the engine needs X amount of air for the most efficient mix with the fuel rate and the stock intake can provide that X amount of air, adding more air doesn't do anything. I can see if you add other mods like tuning and exhaust it could help some, but not sure about stock.

Don't you think that if Ram could get a 2-3 MPG improvement on their trucks but simply redesigning the air intake they would? That would be huge in both marketing and CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) ratings, plus I doubt it would cost much if any for them to do it.

 

[Tray Burge]

View attachment 249725 I have the vararam CAI and I did not buy it for the more HP, more MPG hype. I simply bought it for the looks and that I'm happy with. If I get more MPG I can't tell it. If it runs better I say more air flow, it has to. But nothing about it is night and day difference except the looks which is undeniable!

Me too, if I was concerned about gas mileage I'd have bought a Toyota.
Love the graphics 2012! Not to mention the breather cover hold downs, I finally got some Mr. Gasket's per your suggestion off ebay, but with the tiny holes in each arm.
I also decided to go with "old school" graphics this time around when re-finishing my Vararam because I liked what you did.
I really like the way you re-purposed the original "Air Grabber" decals!
I had to clear all mine in to keep them from peeling up on the edges though.

 

[2012RAM1500RT]

Me too, if I was concerned about gas mileage I'd have bought a Toyota.
Love the graphics 2012! Not to mention the breather cover hold downs, I finally got some Mr. Gasket's too per your suggestion off ebay!
I too decided to go with graphics this time around when re-finishing my Vararam.

Thanks! I've seen your breather system, it looks very nice! I'm all about the graphics you have also, All Mopar!

 

[HEMIMANN]

No way it will provide 2-3 MPG as that's like a 25% improvement on these trucks! Also just looked at S&B's website and I didn't even see that claim on their page. They do advertise better air flow, which I don't doubt. But more airflow doesn't automatically equate to more power or better fuel economy. If the engine needs X amount of air for the most efficient mix with the fuel rate and the stock intake can provide that X amount of air, adding more air doesn't do anything. I can see if you add other mods like tuning and exhaust it could help some, but not sure about stock.

Don't you think that if Ram could get a 2-3 MPG improvement on their trucks but simply redesigning the air intake they would? That would be huge in both marketing and CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) ratings, plus I doubt it would cost much if any for them to do it.

Nope - cost at mass production scale is often the driving requirement. The S&B has document 35% less airflow restriction. Why? It costs more!

 

[2012RAM1500RT]

View attachment 250159
Me too, if I was concerned about gas mileage I'd have bought a Toyota.
Love the graphics 2012! Not to mention the breather cover hold downs, I finally got some Mr. Gasket's per your suggestion off ebay, but with the tiny holes in each arm.
I also decided to go with "old school" graphics this time around when re-finishing my Vararam because I liked what you did.
I really like the way you re-purposed the original "Air Grabber" decals!
I had to clear all mine in to keep them from peeling up on the edges though.

Now that's an old school looking air cleaner! I love it! It looks like it would suck the air out from in front of the truck so....... You SHOULD get better MPG! LOL

 

[62Blazer]

Nope - cost at mass production scale is often the driving requirement. The S&B has document 35% less airflow restriction. Why? It costs more!

I worked in the automotive testing industry and other large scale productions operations for years and and know first hand how how saving $1 per vehicle can equate into a lot of money, so don't disagree with you at all. But you do have to look at the overall return on investment.....that would include the potential increase in sales if you suddenly showed a large increase in MPG, and of course all the federal standards that could help the company.
I would like to know what the mark up on the S&B intake really is, but would guess it's really high (meaning the difference between the $329 price tag and what it actually costs them to make). You then remove the marketing cost (because you don't have to advertise an OEM part and put it in a flashy box to sell to the general public), remove some of the design features that are purely cosmetic (again, to sell it to the aftermarket crowd), and then you go from purchasing maybe a few thousand to a few million of them (which GREATLY reduces the cost...I'm talking the difference between buying 1,000 vs. 10,000 may cut the price by 90%).

 

[Tray Burge]

Now that's an old school looking air cleaner! I love it! It looks like it would suck the air out from in front of the truck so....... You SHOULD get better MPG! LOL

Thanks, I like to think of it as paying homage without looking like a poser. haha
Yeah, you betcha I improved my gas mileage!
Actually, with it being sealed to the under side of the hood when I romp down on it you can actually here it sucking in the air in big gulps.
I love watching the gas gauge literally move. lol

 

[Jpmucha]

I put one on my 2019 2500 with 6.4L in the spring. Wanted to use it for a while before making a comment, for what they’re worth. As with most, gas mileage is only a slight improvement like under 1mpg. Throttle response is a little better. I also have a MBRP exhaust so I can’t hear any additional under hood cool factor.
Guess it all depends on whether $329 is worth it to you for just a little performance. I don’t regret it though.