Saw a YouTube vid where these guys tested factory air boxes against aftermarket & homemade setups as well as external intakes with all kinds of different filters & saw no gains! Thoughts?

 

The gains are not very big really, most people do it for looks or sound, just helps the engine breathe a little better.

 

Gains also vary on a car by car basis. Such as a group called MightyCarMods did Dyno test of Cold Air Intakes. They came to the conclusion the CAI was not worth any gains.... But their test car was a Nissan GTR. I think a car of that caliber would have good factory air flow from the start.

My view is it varies, but unless the car is a absolute dog, gains are minimal. The one thing I believe you can bank on with all cars is just what Keanne said, it's looks and sounds.

 

The CAI is probably most effective as a supporting mod. A smaller supercharger pulley, for example, would not be as effective without some kind of a CAI (amongst other mods)

 

I have a K&N intake sounds better did notice much of a performance increase but it works well with my ram-air hood

 

Juniorcar is correct. An intake itself has no major gains but it supports other mods that make more power.

 

Ive checked many times and I get 2-3 more mpg and like the sound and looks.

 

This is right in the ballpark of the mpg increase I saw when I installed a CAI.


If the test shows no increase then I would have to suspect that it was not conducted properly and/or there was an underlying motive to discount their effectiveness. An engine is nothing more then an air pump. The more air you can pass through it the more potential for power. If the CAI is allowing more air into the engine (and the engine has injectors that will provide adequate fuel) then more power is being produced. You can't defy the law of physics.

 

Ditto! One other thing to remember is that most weekend horsepower nuts like me get ideas from the pros, race teams, and so on. Even the smallest gains in HP are explored in racing. Having a free breathing engine helps and is one of the first considerations in building HP.

The small gains from a cai and other such add on's on street cars may not save several mpg or add big HP individualy, but all the little tricks that get 1/2 HP here and 1 or 2 HP there add up to a small but noticeable gain. It all comes down to how much time and or money that few extra HP means to you.

Just my opinion...

 

I just saw a video on youtube that proved there are actual unicorns among us, the earth is really flat, and that we are actually living pawns in a simulated world like the movie Matrix. It's amazing what you can find on YouTube.


Here's the FACTS about CAI's, which that video majorly FAILS on presenting.


1. Not every car is going to get the same effect from a modification such as a CAI. They tested 1 vehicle (in some pretty sketchy test conditions with not so clear parameters). Is a CAI going to produce gains for every car ever made, nope, that's a reason that there are a lot of vehicles we won't even consider making a CAI for. Our CAI on a 5th gen will get 15+ rwhp gain over the stock airbox on any dyno you can test it on consistently. That doesn't mean your going to see those same gains on a 4 cylinder GEO Tracker when you add a CAI. So they tested one car with their "CAI" and it didn't make gains, what the heck does prove for the thousands of other vehicles out there and hundreds of CAI designs that are available for them, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.


2. Different CAI's will get you different gains, even on the same vehicle. I'll use a Chevy Silverado for example. When we developed our CAI for that truck we tested some other companies systems as well multiple in house designs for some comparative data and prototyping. We tested some "Cold Air Intakes" that were made and sold by well known companies that actually LOST power on the Dyno. We also tested some that made very little gain, under 5 rwhp. Even some of our first initial designs left a lot to be desired and barely made power, when just by looking at it you would think there would be no way that was possible. What's my point you ask, simple, all CAI's are not created equal. We have some very expensive testing equipment here at our facility that goes way beyond the dyno for development, and despite what people think, there is a lot more engineering that goes into the final design then just sticking a cone filter o the end of a tube. You can take 1 vehicle, and test 10 different CAI's in the same day on the same dyno under controlled test conditions and you may see everything from a loss in power and un-favorable fuel trims all the way to a gain of 15+ whp.


3. Engines are pretty much large air pumps that mix that air with fuel to create combustion, which then is turned into usable power. Especially when talking about EFI vehicles, More Air means More Fuel which equates to More Power. Its a relatively simple concept to understand, what do you think a Supercharger does, it gives your engine more air. Does x amount of air added always mean x amount of added power gain, no, it varies on the vehicle, motor, fueling system, drivetrain, and many other variables. Does more air give your vehicle the ability to make more power, yes, as long as those other variables are favorable to do so.


4. I'm not even going to get into the "testing" that was done in this video, lets just say it leaves a lot to be desired.


5. HP gains are not the only thing that a properly designed CAI can improve. Less restriction on the air intake tract and favorable fuel trims can equate to your engine running more efficiently, hence why there are many customers that actually see a fuel economy gain after adding a properly designed CAI. Does this mean that every CAI on every car ever made will always see a mpg gain when its added, no of course not, its not a 1 size fits all solution.


6. A good CAI can increase the HP that other modifications can add when used in conjunction with each other. What do I mean you ask? Lets say you add a properly designed CAI to your car, along with a set of headers, full exhaust, and a custom tune. By themselves, any one of those mods have the ability to make more power on your vehicle, but when used in conjunction with each other they can do even more. The CAI is letting you get more air into your engine and enabling power gains, the headers and exhaust are going to help release that exhaust pressure quicker and easier, and the tune is going to tie it all together by creating the best parameters possible for those new mods to work with each other. Since it all starts with getting more air into your engine to make more power, a CAI is typically one of the first things added to a vehicle and for good reason, its sets a foundation to build more power on.


So will a Nissan with a CAI made from dryer duct and a vacuum cleaner mean more power, maybe not. Will our CAI which was engineered and tested specifically for your Monte Carlo get your more power, most definitely. I could go on, but I think you get the point. Let me know if you have any questions, I'm always happy to help.