Do cold air intakes actually work or worth it?

[spikerS]

Stumbled on this today



I was thinking of doing a CAI setup on my ecoboost, promising some substantial gains. I mean, the theory as I understand it is sound. More dense air = more oxygen = bigger bang and cleaner burn...

Apparently this is only viable for like late 70s and 80s vehicles as they mostly pulled air from under the hood, while newer vehicles are already set up to pull much cooler air from outside the vehicle already...

Thoughts?

discuss!

[ercchry]

nah, its more like. less restriction=more flow. more flow means more air in. couple this with more air out= more efficient engine

[DeleriousZ]

They're great noisemakers, and I usually run them because I love the sound they make, but in terms of gains, especially on new cars, it's usually pretty slim.

Depending on how they're set up, some newer cars will run worse or even dangerously lean on a pod filter or CAI setup, so make sure you do your research for your specific vehicle before putting one on them.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by DeleriousZ

Depending on how they're set up, some newer cars will run worse or even dangerously lean on a pod filter or CAI setup, so make sure you do your research for your specific vehicle before putting one on them.

waiting for jimmy to reply...

we had this conversation yesterday

"cai for my car requires a tune"

"no, your ecu will compensate for it"

[Mibz]

Any modern (or even not that modern) car should prevent itself from running dangerously lean/rich on its own. Cars blow up because of bad tunes, not CAIs and exhausts. I'd love to know what modern ECU doesn't compensate for air variables.

[sxtasy]

I wouldn't do it. HP gains will be negligible and you run the risk of poorer than stock filtration, perhaps even potential warranty issues

[Sentry]

You want my opinion? Only worth it for the intake noise, and only if you buy an ebay one.

Any gains a "real" brand intake will add will not be enough to be felt.

Especially here at 3300ft.

[spikerS]

well then, I will have to change my thinking. I was under the impression that even at 3300 feet, these things helped combat the thinner air.

Learn something new every day!

[ercchry]

Originally posted by spikers
well then, I will have to change my thinking. I was under the impression that even at 3300 feet, these things helped combat the thinner air.

Learn something new every day!

the best thing you can do on those eco-boosts is exhaust+tune, something like a 50hp gain

[Maxx Mazda]

Anyone else notice that homo shit at 2:15???

And what the hell is a "mario kart edition" Skyline?

[Kramerica]

just out of curiosity how much power gain do CAIs typically get from older vehicles. I've got a old beater VW that put out a whopping 90 hp from the factory and I can't imagine getting the promised 5-10 hp gain just from freeing up the air intake and putting more cold air through.

[Sentry]

Originally posted by spikers
well then, I will have to change my thinking. I was under the impression that even at 3300 feet, these things helped combat the thinner air.

Learn something new every day!

You've got turbochargers to combat thinner air.

You wanna really wake it up, do an exhaust.

[spikerS]

Originally posted by ercchry


the best thing you can do on those eco-boosts is exhaust+tune, something like a 50hp gain

yeah, I am really leaning towards the Hearthrob cat back system. sounds so sexy.



The Rouch sounds good too, but might be a little loud for my liking.

[78si]

I had one on my tundra.. It sounded bad ass! I'm not sure about power gains, but I ended up taking it off because of the crazy droning noise while pulling my trailer.

[bspot]

Originally posted by Mibz
Any modern (or even not that modern) car should prevent itself from running dangerously lean/rich on its own. Cars blow up because of bad tunes, not CAIs and exhausts. I'd love to know what modern ECU doesn't compensate for air variables.

That depends. If the flow characteristics change enough that the MAF thinks you are taking in less air then you actually are, you can run lean just from an intake.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by bspot
That depends. If the flow characteristics change enough that the MAF thinks you are taking in less air then you actually are, you can run lean just from an intake.

O2 sensor should see leanness and adjust fuel trim though, shouldn't it?

[JZS_147]

You can see in the AFR over Boost map why a tune would be recommended. The turbo makes more boost down low with an intake, and that area of the timing and fuel maps should be optimized.

On a stock V6 mustang Eric, it's not going to make that significant of a difference.

A lot of performance filters these days do compromise filtration, but there are a lot of good filters on the market that will provide similar to OE filtration while providing better flow.

[Sentry]

O2 sensors just tell the ECU whether or not the cat is working.

Some modern cars have wideband air fuel sensors from the factory though. They will adjust fuel trims accordingly.

[JZS_147]

In ideal conditions on the dyno, a Supra for example will make more power with the hood open and a few dyno fans going full tilt. Hood closed, sitting in traffic, driving around town..ambient engine bay temps are much higher and you'll end up losing some power. I found the best result on my old JDM car with stock modded airbox and a high flow filter.

I made 367whp consistently on my Supra with stock ECU, stock airbox and an exhaust. It was very inconsistent with an aftermarket intake.

[Crazyjoker77]

Originally posted by Mibz
O2 sensor should see leanness and adjust fuel trim though, shouldn't it?

This is true only in closed loop operation (which is at idle and less than 30% throttle usually) but at WOT the car runs in open loop and does not use any feedback and goes directly off the fuel maps. This is the time you dont want to be running lean as your running high cyclinder pressures and temps and when the damage can happen.

Originally posted by Sentry
O2 sensors just tell the ECU whether or not the cat is working.

Some modern cars have wideband air fuel sensors from the factory though. They will adjust fuel trims accordingly.

This is not true at all almost all cars have at least 2 o2 sensors. A front and rear or upstream + downstream. And like you said only newer cars are using wideband. (the ones on my mustang retail for 670$ a piece to replace. Narrowband is the norm though.

The rear O2 is the one that checks Catalitic effeciency and is not needed at all. (other than to monitor the car and keep you CEL off)

The front O2 sensor is what gives feedback to the car to update the fuel trims to maintain a 14.7 a/f ratio (closed loop operation)
(if this sensor goes bad you will get horrible gas miliage since it can not get any feedback on your A/F ration)

Of course V motors are gonna have one sensor in each header and one after each cat.