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Cold air vs. Air Volume question

opfor2

opfor2

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Oct 28, 2002
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Ventura County, CA
What's more beneficial for my engine ??? I just replaced the stock exhaust manifold with a Edelbrock TES system, added a K&N air filter and I removed the stock restrictive black plastic cold air intake tube. The Air filter now sucks air directly out of the engine compartment. Now my question is whats better ? Having cooler but more restrictive air enter the engine or using the hot engine air with out any restrictions? I'm guessing that using the free flowing hot air would be better than using the cold air tube.

thanks

Dan
 
that depend on how you look at it.... colder the air molicuals the smaller they are and more can be stuffed into the cylinder. But your limmiting the amount of air you can suck into with cool air. If you change to an open or no duck work you may be able to suck more air, but it's bigger and doesn't allow any more into the cylinder.... I would go with a dual snorkle cool air like a ram air system... or make your own....
 
the motor probably isnt pulling more air than the intake can supply, meaning the cold air is better than less restrictive. This is because there is already little restriction but the colder air is an added benefit.
 
From what I have heard cold air on a carb'd motor doesnt do much like it would on a newer injected motor. So for a carb'd motor your looking for volume where as if you were injected you would be looking for that cold charge.
 
Cold air is better for the engine. Elevation of the air intake temperature can cause significant power losses, becuase the engine works by raising the temperature of the air to very high, then extracting the heat via expansion. By increasing your intake temperature, you effectively kill off the 40 degrees or more worth of power you can recover. For example: many (if not most) modern power plants run an air conditioning system to regulate the intake temperature so they can run at peak efficiency. That is kinda the extreme case, but cooler intake temps really help.

And you are not highly restricting the air flow. Look at the size of the primaries on a carb, that is about how much unrestricted air flow you need. Unless the duct was kinked or blocked, it will help.
 
85mudblazin said:
From what I have heard cold air on a carb'd motor doesnt do much like it would on a newer injected motor. So for a carb'd motor your looking for volume where as if you were injected you would be looking for that cold charge.
Click to expand...

Never heard such a thing...The principles are still the same. Cold air = more oxygen molecules= more power
 
The only real way to prove it would be to flow the stock ducting. But given that most small blocks only need around 600CFM (generally) it seems pretty unlikely the stock ducting is a restriction to worry about.

You can flip the air cleaner lid to get the sound, it doesn't mean you are making more power :)
 
dyeager535 said:
The only real way to prove it would be to flow the stock ducting. But given that most small blocks only need around 600CFM (generally) it seems pretty unlikely the stock ducting is a restriction to worry about.

You can flip the air cleaner lid to get the sound, it doesn't mean you are making more power :)
Click to expand...

That my point, i doubght the duct work is going to be the restrictive part...
 
If you want to get that in depth with air flow then yes the ducting would hurt performance because it is not smooth inside. This is going to cause turbulane in the air which equals less flow.
 
But the question is "how much", and without actual testing, I don't believe it's answerable definitively.
 
opfor2 said:
What's more beneficial for my engine ??? I just replaced the stock exhaust manifold with a Edelbrock TES system, added a K&N air filter and I removed the stock restrictive black plastic cold air intake tube. The Air filter now sucks air directly out of the engine compartment. Now my question is whats better ? Having cooler but more restrictive air enter the engine or using the hot engine air with out any restrictions? I'm guessing that using the free flowing hot air would be better than using the cold air tube.

thanks

Dan
Click to expand...

Where'd you hear it was restrictive? Sounds like one of those "ASSumptions" to me..

As someone pointed out, look at the bore sizes of a carb or TBI... I'm pretty certain that tube is flowing hella more than your taking in.. It's not like your spinning 7 grand...

All that being said, I plan to eventually change my single feed to a duel at some point.. But I'd much prefer the cold single intake to an open element, especially on a TBI...
 
ryoken said:
Where'd you hear it was restrictive? Sounds like one of those "ASSumptions" to me..

As someone pointed out, look at the bore sizes of a carb or TBI... I'm pretty certain that tube is flowing hella more than your taking in.. It's not like your spinning 7 grand...

All that being said, I plan to eventually change my single feed to a duel at some point.. But I'd much prefer the cold single intake to an open element, especially on a TBI...
Click to expand...


Hmmm, I never really looked at it that way. The "cold Air" openings in the radiator support appears to be the same size or bigger that my TBI so I guess it's flowing more that what's required. I'll be putting my cold air tube back on. Thanks for all the input. Happy 4x4ing.

Dan..
 
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