Way OT - Vehicle Cold Air Intake Question

Re: Way OT - Vehicle Cold Air Intake Question

Gary B

>I put one on my 1996 F-150 about 6 years ago. It's only a 4.9 liter (straight 6) so I wasn't expecting much, but it was noticeable. I haven't had any if at all improvement in mileage, but I think off-idle response is better. I'd like to hear from someone who's got a 300+ hp monster that put one on, and did up the exhaust, I bet they'd see quite a difference.

I modified it.

Joe in a Cleveland suburb

>My BMW has a cold air intake already. I just modified it a little to open it up more. I reduced reduction in the tube as well as the cold air box. I removed baffles basically.

Did I gain anything? Doubt it. I gotta believe the BMW engineers know a little more than me. It definitely has a better sound at wide open throttle since the baffles were also muffling the intake sound.

The exhaust has a dual set up. One part doesn't open when at idle or lower rpm/throttle. So I plugged a vacuum hose that keeps a butterfly thing closed at idle. Now it's always open. That alone makes the exhaust sound raspy and deep at lower speeds. It opens the exhaust up slightly. Sounds better for those boy racer moments I have now and then... :)

If you're looking at one of those K&N filters I heard/read you don't gain anything. You'd be better off chipping it.

Joe

My understanding is as follows:

Steve Antonucci

>A racer buddy of mine once described an engine as an air pump. Anything you can do to move more air, more efficiently will result in improvements.

Cold air is denser than warm air, which means that you can stuff more into a cylinder than when it's warmer. I know that my 1969 carbed Chevelle used to run a lot better and faster in the winter months than in the summer.

On the output side of the engine, headers greatly improve flow and than means HP. Drag racers use tape on their headers to keep exhaust temps up and engine compartment temps down. If you want the best overall bang for your buck, you'd spend money here first.

Steve

Re: Way OT - Vehicle Cold Air Intake Question

Neal in San Jose

>I did it on a '71 Datsun 240Z. Don't know if it helped the horspower, but it did eliminate the vapor locking problem that the early Z cars were prone to. I just cut a piece of vacuum cleaner hose (2 1/2 inch as I recall) and ran it from the air cleaner almost straight to just behind the grill. I had to cut a hole in the sheetmetal wall-like bracket that held the radiator, but it got the intake up ahead of the radiator, where the air was cooler. The vapor locking problem immediately went away.

The dealer had installed a recall kit that included insulated fuel lines and an electric fuel pump that went on the gas tank in line with the mechanical one on the engine. That helped the vapor locking, but it wasn't until I put in the air duct that the problem completely went away.

After the dealer put in the electric fuel pump, I added a hidden switch under the dashboard so I could kill the power to the pump. I worked in a REALLY bad part of town, and I would turn the switch off when I parked at work. I thought it might improve the chances that my beloved Z would still be there at the end of the day. I think now and then what if the next owner found the switch, wondered what it was and turned it off, and then couldn't get the car to start! Kind of makes me chuckle!

Re: "Cold" air intake should be ....

Jamie Donaldson

>...qualified to mean "cool" air intake- air too cold will not vaporize fuel mixture correctly and reduces "power." During the summer heat you can make slight gains with cool ait induction, meaning cooler than under the hood temps. Any change in current stock auto breathing is prone to be confusing to the ECU parameters, and probably cause more trouble than possible gains. Items such as K&N filters can have a little improvement in airflow efficiency, but state of the art cars have no tolerance for shade tree mechanics that want to play. I have tinkered with everything from my old SCCA HProd Austin Healey to my F350 Powerstroke towing a 43" trailer, and any gains are costly and marginal.

Yeah but Jamie...

Joe in a Cleveland suburb

>tinkered with everything from my old SCCA HProd Austin Healey

Those 980cc Spridget engines were nothing but ticking time bombs! :)

Just kidding. I always thought an H Prod Bugeye would have been fun. I raced an F Prod Midget (1275cc) and a nice Alfa E Prod. The double overhead cam aluminum engine in the Alfa was so nice. Dual side draft Webers (45 DCOE ?) too. The exhaust sound was awsome when wound out to 9000 rpm. Oh those good old days...

Joe

Re: Way OT - Vehicle Cold Air Intake Question

David Yoho

>Last year I installed a K&N cold air intake on my 5.9L Dodge Ram just after installing a Magnaflow exhaust. I figured improving the airflow in and out of the system would improve performance. Without any testing equipment (Dyno, etc.) to verify the results, I can't say what the HP gain was but as a driver I can tell it's better. My fuel mileage also improved a bit, which was what I really was after.

I don't notice any sound difference inside the vehicle using the CAI but the exhaust does sound sweet. I don't regret this modification, since I can feel a difference in response and gas goes a little farther too.

David

Re: Way OT - Vehicle Cold Air Intake Question

Gary B. in Central NY

>oh yeah, I forgot to mention mine is a K and N. What vehicle are you thinking of doing?

I like mine

Brad Thompson - Hartselle AL

>Installed one on my 04 Ram 1500 truck that has the 5.7L Hemi (345 hp).

Mileage improved on long distance trips - 2-3 mpg. Adds a deeper sound when accelerating. The throttle response is crisper with better low end torque/acceleration. If you get one, go with the cheap ones on eBay but make sure it has a good filter (K&N for example).