Cold air intake question
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 460
Likes: 0
From: Houston TX
Cold air intake question
3. Questions!
1. which cold air intake increases HP by the most? K&N?
2. I know cold air intake increase hp, but does it also increase torque also?
3. people who installed an intake already, do you guys notice a difference? is it worth it?
1. which cold air intake increases HP by the most? K&N?
2. I know cold air intake increase hp, but does it also increase torque also?
3. people who installed an intake already, do you guys notice a difference? is it worth it?
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,983
Likes: 1
From: Seguin Tx
I did the K&N
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 915
Likes: 31
From: Los Angeles CA
I still have the K&N on mine and very little difference if you can even notice it. My intention was not to increase hp/torque though it was just to get more cold air in. If you want toque,hp you need to throw in a lot more in.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,746
Likes: 35
From: Jupiter Fl
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 10,399
Likes: 26
From: Austin Texas
Read most of the CAI ads with at least an open mind, beware of "advertising speak".
CAI stands for Cold Air Intake and unless the so called CAI makes some provision (A cut shroud or ducting to the filter) for getting fresh air to the filter it's not a CAI, just a filter/filter box change. The replacement filter may flow easier than the stock filter but it's not a CAI.
CAI stands for Cold Air Intake and unless the so called CAI makes some provision (A cut shroud or ducting to the filter) for getting fresh air to the filter it's not a CAI, just a filter/filter box change. The replacement filter may flow easier than the stock filter but it's not a CAI.
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 118
Likes: 0
I put a Hurricane on mine, mostly for the look (carbon Fiber). But it does have crisper throttle response now. I do not believe any of the claims on any of these. The only real way would be a before and after Dyno on your car. However anytime you can shoot a cooler air-fuel mixture into a hot engine you will increase HP. And sucking HOT engine compartment air into the engine definitely will not increase HP.
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 4,070
Likes: 162
From: Coralville Iowa
Just remember that a CAI can also be a CWI - as in Cold Water Intake. There are reports on this forum of CAI - induced hydraulic lock and subsequent "broken motor" after a significant amount of water was ingested by the CAI. Rare - but still a risk. Not worth it to me - stock works fine.
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2001
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From: Pine Bluff Arkansas
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-‘19-'20-'21
Some good unbias answers here.
Cold air is good, but most of the so-called CAI's....are not. I installed one of the so-called CAI's on my car and only lost 3 MPG. I felt nothing in the SOTP, but I wasn't really expecting too. Real HP is expensive.
Larry
Cold air is good, but most of the so-called CAI's....are not. I installed one of the so-called CAI's on my car and only lost 3 MPG. I felt nothing in the SOTP, but I wasn't really expecting too. Real HP is expensive.
Larry
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 118
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Just remember that a CAI can also be a CWI - as in Cold Water Intake. There are reports on this forum of CAI - induced hydraulic lock and subsequent "broken motor" after a significant amount of water was ingested by the CAI. Rare - but still a risk. Not worth it to me - stock works fine.
Life Time NCM #2196
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 82,599
Likes: 1,717
From: Converse TX
The air intake is more about looks until you do headers, cam and catback then as a combo you get more out of it. With that being stated I put on an Airaid as I did not like the look of the 09 stockers silencer
Racer
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 271
Likes: 0
From: Plumas Lake CA
I installed a vararam on my 07 A6 with Z51 package. I noticed a difference. Was able to run back to back 12.4's at 118mph a couple of days ago on a other wise bone stock car, not even a tune. IMHO it is a great mod for the money. Oh I get 28-32 mpg on the freeway all day long.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,597
Likes: 101
From: TN PA
CI 5-6-7-8-9-10-11 Vet
Read most of the CAI ads with at least an open mind, beware of "advertising speak".
CAI stands for Cold Air Intake and unless the so called CAI makes some provision (A cut shroud or ducting to the filter) for getting fresh air to the filter it's not a CAI, just a filter/filter box change. The replacement filter may flow easier than the stock filter but it's not a CAI.
CAI stands for Cold Air Intake and unless the so called CAI makes some provision (A cut shroud or ducting to the filter) for getting fresh air to the filter it's not a CAI, just a filter/filter box change. The replacement filter may flow easier than the stock filter but it's not a CAI.
If your not cutting the shroud its not a CAI, the air the new filter will be drawing in the same temp air the factory unit does....You might want to check out some temp. test I did on the factory LS3 unit...
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...temp-test.html
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...-part-2-a.html
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 14,106
Likes: 1,608
From: Edmond Oklahoma
If your not cutting the shroud its not a CAI, the air the new filter will be drawing in the same temp air the factory unit does....You might want to check out some temp. test I did on the factory LS3 unit...
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...temp-test.html
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...-part-2-a.html
Good reading!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,207
Likes: 148
From: St. Louis MO
Seriously research the filter you choose if you replace your stock.
The little-spoken of downside of K&N and all other washable filters is that as they flow better, they also let more dirt into the engine.
This has been proven in tests like this Duramax diesel test. http://duramax-diesel.com/spicer/index.htm
Notice that while the K&N filter passes more air, more fine dust passes also! This is backed up by the oil aficionados who routinely report their oil analysis tests on forums like bobistheoilguy.com.
"Better" flowing filters show less filtration, and more dirt in oil analysis tests. Period.
I'm looking if there is a best CAI mod. There is some "zip-tie" mod for the LS3 C6's I'm trying to find. But I will not use less than a Wix air filter on my vette.
The little-spoken of downside of K&N and all other washable filters is that as they flow better, they also let more dirt into the engine.
This has been proven in tests like this Duramax diesel test. http://duramax-diesel.com/spicer/index.htm
Notice that while the K&N filter passes more air, more fine dust passes also! This is backed up by the oil aficionados who routinely report their oil analysis tests on forums like bobistheoilguy.com.
"Better" flowing filters show less filtration, and more dirt in oil analysis tests. Period.
I'm looking if there is a best CAI mod. There is some "zip-tie" mod for the LS3 C6's I'm trying to find. But I will not use less than a Wix air filter on my vette.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 10,399
Likes: 26
From: Austin Texas
If you read the K&N ads carefully you'll see that they DO NOT advertise their filters or aircharger systems for the C6 as CAI. A K&N filter or Aircharger is NOT a CAI.
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 179
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From: Arnold Missouri
Any CAI should be followed by a tune to get the full effect of more air. The more air you let in the more fuel you can burn. To do this you should have the car tuned. I know for a lot of you it's a warranty issue and I understand that but my car was past the warrant stage so I installed a Vararam and had the car tuned and picked up over 50HP
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 26,714
Likes: 344
From: Houston, TX
Any CAI should be followed by a tune to get the full effect of more air. The more air you let in the more fuel you can burn. To do this you should have the car tuned. I know for a lot of you it's a warranty issue and I understand that but my car was past the warrant stage so I installed a Vararam and had the car tuned and picked up over 50HP
Intakes are not as magic as some would have you think. A filter has a flow rating. In most cases, the flow rating of any filter is greater than the flow demand of the engine - meaing that you are already getting all the air that engine requires.
As some have stated above, the benefit comes when you are ingesting colder air from outside the engine compartment.
Also - beware of "dyno" claims on CAI's. Every dyno run I've ever seen is done with the hood up and a huge fan blowing air over the car. What that tells me is that you are comparing before and after runs both with the benefit of cooler air than on the road where the hood is closed.
Understanding the dynamics of how an engine works helps debunk many of the myths of intakes. I believe that a true COLD AIR intake can increase horsepower, but most of the claims are not very believable.
CF Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 23,313
Likes: 25
From: Tucson Arizona
I feel there's no question a true, bottom-feeding cold air intake is beneficial. That said an after market cold air intake on its own will not make a noticeable (seat-of-the-pants) difference. IMO a cold air intake should be thought of as but one component in your overall modification plan.
There are several decent and popular cold air intakes on the market (such as Vararam and the Callaway Honker). My preference was the Lingenfelter high-flow intake. IMO the name "Lingenfelter" is synonymous with Corvette performance engineering and quality. I've been very pleased with my LPE intake!
There are several decent and popular cold air intakes on the market (such as Vararam and the Callaway Honker). My preference was the Lingenfelter high-flow intake. IMO the name "Lingenfelter" is synonymous with Corvette performance engineering and quality. I've been very pleased with my LPE intake!