Archives

i took off my cone filter k&n to clean it. i put the stock system back on. my mpg jumped from 44 to 48.9. it was just 1 tank, so i'll put 10 thru it before/if i switch back. i seemed to gain some bottom end torque and i know i lost the top end power (lol it's an accent). anyone else expierence this? i was also thinking of running the stock system with a k&n panel later.

Depending on many factors , Stock air intakes are best.

Lenth of pipe, diameter, flow, laminar flow , location of AM sensor , all these things have to be just right .

The people who design them know .. ah. just a thing or two. also your computer is programed for it, so it works better that way, aftermarket systems are very few that will improve efficiency and power from the get go, if you have an old car 80 and older, then yes, you will see gains, but newer cars you will loose power (torque) and efficiency.

If you do want to have a cai , sai , ram ( cold/short /ram air intake ) and you want the best power and efficiency then you HAVE to have the ECU retuned to the new intake. and it can not be a generic system, it must be one well designed for just your car.

So unless you have an older car / or you have money to spend on this project, Stock system is best.

K&N are NOT recomended if your MAF is after it (most of them are ) reason is because K&N and many other aftermarket filters use oil to trap some of the dust , this oil will eventualy coat your MAF , and you will loose efficiency and power. cheap paper filters changed often is the best route, unless you are making MAD HP and the intake is slowing down the progress.

read I did not mention modification of oem parts , this is a good compromice that may work for some cars, give that a try :)

Aftermarket CAI or lower restriction air filters -CAN'T ABSOLUTELY CAN'T IMPROVED PART THROTTLE FUEL ECONOMY on a modern vehicle. If you lower the restriction before the throttle valve, your foot or the drive by wire computer simply opens the throttle a bit more to get the same amount of fuel and air in the combustion chamber.

AND the OEM folks actually tune that crude stock intake system to get the best part throttle FE.

CAIs are a waste of money if you buy for better MPG. Even worse, they generally don't make your vehicle accelerate faster (even when they add a bit, tiny bit usually, of peak hp).
Charlie

thanks for the help. i just had the cone from my truck and threw it on. it did wonders for my 2.8 making 225hp. i did read a thread about part throttle fe 10 mins ago that phoebeisis talked about. i'm not going to mod it b/c it 's my work car that i drive 100 miles/day. accents cost too much to mod anyways. that's why i bought other toys.

Hmm. makes me think.
I have a 'homemade' K&N short-ram system. Here's info from my website: Homemade CAI (http://web.mac.com/danielbrinton/Website/Homemade_Air_Intake.html)

I like modding things, so naturally I put in my own intake system - wanting more power. I don't know why... I traded in my Exploder for better FE.

I think I'm going to put the stock system back in and see what happens. Even though I'm on 1/2 tank - I think I'll go fill 'er up and change out the intake.