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I have a stock 2003 C5 other than the Flowmaster exhaust system and I have been thinking about modding it just a little. I'm really not looking to race the car but just something to tinker with a little and honestly I'm just as interested in the sound.
Do the aftermarket intakes for these cars add a little noise and do they require any tuning changes with the computer. I'm pretty happy with the performance now and don't want to have cut anything in case I want to put it all back original.
I do like a little intake sound though and extra hp too of course so what systems are considered worthwhile and don't require any other changes.
Last edited by Rabbitman; Dec 10, 2016 at 04:09 AM.
results of my tinkering: the drop through the stock system (really a joke comprising a few small holes sucking in the air) is 2 mpa at wot. so anything that reduces the restriction will have nearly zero effect. i proved that to myself by installing a home made cai. even if there were any difference, the stock fueling is so rich that you would not need any tuning adjustment. as to the sound, i didnt notive much change either.
Last edited by romandian; Dec 12, 2016 at 02:52 PM.
Unless your CAI you made was able to pull in outside ambient air, you were still sucking the warmer engine heat. When running a true CAI, your incoming air temp at the TB will be lower and thus able to contain a higher oxygen content for combustion. This will lean the fueling out. Unless you run a scan/log you will not be able to know if this is good or bad, among the results will be the LTFT's and you want them to be +/- 5% from 0.
well, my cai was a cai and got the air from in front of the car. as to warm engine air btw, did you ever thing about what air velocity you see under the hood when driving? once my dipstick came out and produced a fine mist of oil on the firewall. the tube was dry. not much warm air under the hood.
I noticed quite a bit of intake noise at wot when I had installed a K&N filter into the stock box of a stock engine. Currently running an AFE and don't notice the intake noise as much because of the headers, x pipe and hci install.
Also installed a K&N filter on my Dodge Rumble Bee and the intake noise is quite noticeable.
I don't know if any power was added because of the filter changes, as claimed by the manufacturers though.
I have the Vararam, it does make slightly more noise, but is a sucking sound, kind of like a vacuum, not like the old 4 barrels used to sound like. Maybe a little more power, probably just because you are expecting more. If so, it's only at wide open throttle.
While this is an oversimplification, the reason for a good scan/log tune in a normally aspirated Corvette is to increase the power/torque values in the low to medium RPM's. There are numerous changes that can be made to optimize your results. You can take a stock or slightly modded engine and change enough parameters to make 15-25 hp gains on a dyno yet that car may very well be slower in the quarter mile and have idle and decel issues. Yet a great tune can also give you a Corvette with 2-10 hp gains yet great power increases in the 2500 to 5500 rpm range and eliminate the hesitation in a DBW system. Anyone who HPDE's or autocrosses would opt for the latter because that is where the engine spends most of it time and they want an engine that is not going to crash and burn.