Cold Air intakes

[SurfinCR]

for what its worth if you have a decent flowing stock system its better to throw a k&n drop in filter in than a full cold air. i've put a drop in filter in 2 of my cars both saw 1-2 mpg increase but nothing noticable in performance. i got a deal on a full cold air intake system and installed it. no change in mpg if anything i saw a bit less than the drop in, it did change the tone of the engine to be a bit louder. the other lesson i learned was when in cars always spring for a bypass valve as they will not hesitate to suck up water and flood your engine.

the only way i could see the cold air making a big difference is if you opened the exhaust up or had a restrictive intake in the first place. for the rest of my cars i'm sticking with the drop in k&n and similar as the cold airs arent worth the trouble.

 

[4xcrazy]

Guess GM and others should stop installing cold air systems from the factory then.

My '89 even has one.

 

[SurfinCR]

Guess GM and others should stop installing cold air systems from the factory then.

My '89 even has one.

if that was in response to my post i should clarify i was saying worth going with aftermarket cold air intakes. if the car has a good intake already its not worth the money going to the aftermarket ones unless (i am guessing) you upgrade the exhaust as well.

 

[diesel4me]

Back in the days of carbed engines,around here they ran much better if you left all the stock air cleaner setup intact and made sure all the vacuum doors worked and the EFE valve and hot air stove was all there and working--otherwise except for summer when it never drops below 60 ,your engine would often hesitate and bog,or stall from carb icing on cool damp days or when it was foggy or raining,the carbs were jetted so lean for emissions you had to keep the incoming air hot enough to keep the carb from frosting up and stalling the engine at stop lights...

If you dared use an open element air cleaner housing chances were good you'd have these kinds of issues with a stock carb..too cold isn't good either,it'll waste gas and promote oil dilution ...of course with EFI this is all pretty much aincient history..I dont know much about EFI,but wouldn't the computer be able to sense the incoming air is colder than normal,and perhaps adjust the air/fuel ratio to compensate for that?...I'd think that would tell it to richen up the mixture and that wont save gas,it'll use more..

 

[80' 427]

They do an awesome job of letting in lots of air and dirt!

 

[dyeager535]

For a modern vehicle, forget it. GM has been "CAI" since what, 1981? I'm sure most everyone else has been for nearly the same period of time.

K&N's have their place, IMO its on the race track. They have been tested and do not filter as well as stock air filters, but they do flow more. Makes perfect sense, just doesn't make sense on an engine you want to get all the life out of you can.

I have *heard* not seen first hand, that the CAI kits and K&N's will sometimes trigger check engine lights. The K&N/MAF argument to me never seems to have been resolved...K&N says it's never been proven, others say it's happened to them. Either way, better left alone.

More air in equals more fuel in, fuel economy gains would ONLY come from reducing the resistance to airflow (engine has to work less hard to suck in air) and that benefit, apparently on most tested engines, is minimal.

 

[Chief Brody]

I miss the days when you didn't worry about gas mileage at all...it was cheap...

 

[euzoa]

from what one of my instructors was talking about any oiled gauze filter wont filter fine dust particles as well as a foam or paper filter, resulting in shorter engine life, again, I haven't done much research but from what he said unless your running on a track foam is your best be for a reusable.

 

[diesel4me]

I thought about getting a K&N replacement air filter element for my diesel,the usual paper ones get dirty real quick on a diesel,when it has a intake opening bigger than any 4 barrel carb wide open does, that draws in a huge amount of air at all times,even at idle..but when I saw the price was over 60 bucks for one locally,I decided buying 6 of the stock paper element filters would be a better idea..especially where the high flow one might let it inhale dust and grit and finish it off sooner..

So far since I owned my pickup I have replaced the air filter only twice ,in less than 5000 miles,and its due again..they gunk up fast compared to a gas engine!...
You can feel the difference when you put a fresh air filter in!..

I've had gas powered cars & trucks I drove 30,000 miles in a year that still had new looking air filters in them I put in during a tune up at the beginning of the year....

 

[Rugger187]

I put a k&n in my dodge Neon and it gained a solid 3mpg.
Your pilot would probably pick up some mpg. I would not really do a CAI kit though. If you ever step on it just a bit, mpg goes down fast.
I like the k&n filters for cars I plan on keeping. Saves money in the long run and flows better. Anything bigger than a 6cyl engine doesn't really see a huge mpg increase though.

 

[Chief Brody]

The thing with the pilot is that it I only barely push the accelerator and boom..it's revved up to 5500 RPM and is throwing me back in my seat...it seems like it accelerated too easy....I don't know if it an adjustment or computer thing or transmission or what...I actually have to be very careful not to jack-rabbit start every time...

 

[Blue85]

The K&N filters better the dirtier it gets, but flows worse. They advertise that it flows better dirty than paper does stock, but who knows.

If you want to reduce the restriction of the filter, the most obvious approach is to run a bigger filter. I think that's what K&N, AEM, etc are doing with the cones - just trying for more surface area. As for swapping your factory intake for an aftermarket one, this is only an advantage in vehicles that kind of got screwed in the intake department. For others it will just be about looks and sound.

The truck tall air filter that sat on top of the carb/tbi must be the largest air filter you can get. I bet a paper one flows better than a standard K&N cone.