Cold Air Kit Question
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 279
Likes: 2
From: Cabot Arkansas
Cold Air Kit Question
I bought a 99 vert and it has an AFE cold air kit and dry filter. I was checking it last night and as I looked into the cavity I began to wonder where the "Cold Air" might come from. There are no openings in the radiator shroud or the fog light bezels or anywhere else for that matter. The only air leaks in from the surrounding seams and the engine compartment. Heck half the filter lays against the radiator shroud and gets no air. If I cut into the radiator shroud to get pressurized cold air will it affect the engine cooling or should I cut out the fog light bezels and will that provide enough.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,190
Likes: 0
From: Fayetteville AR
Thats not a true cold air system. For a cold air intake you need a vararam or honker etc. I think my Vararam is worth it but it really depends on how you drive your car and what you want out of it. Many are happy with what you have and just cut out the fog light surrounds for cold air. Do some searches on CAI or Cold Air Intakes and you will finds hundreds of treads with pros and cons. Good luck.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 10,554
Likes: 33
From: Not on either liberal coast.
Think of your system as a cooler air intake instead of cold air intake unless you isolate the air intake completely from the hot engine compartment (HONKER or VARARAM after market) or with a DIY approach.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 19,304
Likes: 85
From: San Diego CA
I agree that what you have is not a true cold air system - like the Blackwing. opening up the foglight panels is essentially what GM did with the C5 Z06s and it does help mix outside air with hot engine bay air. under this scenario, your intake will ingest a mixture of high and low temperature air - certainly better than ingesting only hot engine bay air.
A better method, IMO is to do something like I did with my Halltech Stinger intake system. You can see what I did by clicking on this link.
http://www.conceptualpolymer.com/Rad...op%20inst..pdf
This mod allows outside air to blast the intake filter directly, and like the Z06-style air inlet configuration, has the additional benefit of cooling off the engine bay - very important when trying to maximize engine bay components (plastic, rubber, and electronic).
Without cold air infusion, your ecu can dial back power by 10 RWHP. That's significant in my book.
A better method, IMO is to do something like I did with my Halltech Stinger intake system. You can see what I did by clicking on this link.
http://www.conceptualpolymer.com/Rad...op%20inst..pdf
This mod allows outside air to blast the intake filter directly, and like the Z06-style air inlet configuration, has the additional benefit of cooling off the engine bay - very important when trying to maximize engine bay components (plastic, rubber, and electronic).
Without cold air infusion, your ecu can dial back power by 10 RWHP. That's significant in my book.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 28,753
Likes: 9
From: San Jose/Bear Valley CA
CA Events Coordinator
Cutting away the fog light area and installing Z06 screens works well at low speeds. The cold intake like the Vortex has you cut a hole in the shroud and access the air under the car. What I found to work the best is a combination of removing the fog light shrouds, install Z06 screens and add the front license plate screen unit to blow all the cold air I could access for the intake/radiator and intercooler. How much you do really depends on how much power you want to make and what your cooling requirements are.
