Intake Tube Swap Out?

[Jim Allen]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
You will get a mileage gain. If, for some reason you are running over 70% throttle or thereabouts a large amount of time. Like if you were pulling 5000lbs up a mountain everyday or something so the engine is wrapped out over 4000 rpm.

Yep, I spend lots of time above 4000 rpm. Maybe a total of 30 second per year.

 

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
That's a very nice presentation and appears to be a well done apples to apples test.

BUT:

DId anyone else notice that the gains are all at very high rpms? The tests don't even start until 2765 rpm. At 3500 rom they are all within a coupla HP of each other. They don't really diverge much from stock until after 4,000 rpm. And all that is very typical from what I've seen. My conclusion is that if you are questing 5500+ rpm numbers, you would get them from any of these products. If you have a daily driver and drive it as such, you get no real benefit for whatever these systems cost. That's one reason why I removed the AEM CAI from my truck. The other was an obscene amount of noise. Dyno results were there, but again all at 4-5K rpm. In a very short term, it seemed like I got a slight mileage bump but after a year or so of averaging, that was not truly the case.


At low RPM, you will never make a HUGE gain in HP. Down low, you are more worried about torque, and if you look again you will see between 6 & 9 ft-lbs gain in the lower RPM range. That 2765 rpm is exactly where I am when getting on the interstate, and when I would want some more OOMPH to get my buns moving. To me, that is a big gain for the small amount of money spent. Anybody who thinks spending $130 is going to get you HUGE gains is crazy, but to me, $130 for the gains shown is a VERY good $/hp investment.

 

[Jim Allen]

$130/6= $21.66/lbs-ft. $130/9= $14.44/lbs-ft. I don't like the cost per lbs-ft.

Those number are also within a margin for error on the average dyno. Admittedly, a well calibrated dyno and a good operator can narrow that margin. My personal experience has been a mixed bag, so I usually downgrade most of what I see unless I really know the setup. I've seen operators that can do six runs and you can lay the lines down op top of each other with no deviation. Other guys can get two runs within 10 percent.

I'd be much more impressed to see 6-9 lbs-ft @ around 2K rpm

But it comes down to it, all that matters is if the buyer is happy... whether he has a lot of reason to be or not.

And, yes, I guess I am a bit of a naysayer on the topic of CAIs on otherwise stock engines. I see them as much ado over very little. I acknowledge that there are a few standouts but often it's more a case of a lousy OE design than it is a great aftermarket design.

 

[oldhp]

The reason for the odd shape is simply to make it quieter.
You would not believe how much GM stuck into that shape to make it quiet so Moms can hear kids fighting in backseat.
You can't hear the kids in the back of a pickup truck.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: oldhp
You can't hear the kids in the back of a pickup truck.


Maybe soccer moms should buy pickups instead. It's still legal in this province to toss the kids in the back, after all.

 

[Jim Allen]

Originally Posted By: oldhp
The reason for the odd shape is simply to make it quieter.


True!

 

[wirelessF]

I know the 5.4L engines in the F250 uses a straight tube to a cone filter housing vs. the F150 which has chambers in the tubing and uses a panel air filter.

edit: in my 2004 F250. Later models I searched up uses a different intake design.

 

[NMBurb02]

I took the plunge and purchased the Airaid MIT for $110. Doing so, I will stick with a flat panel air filter (also purchased a Fram Tough Guard filter at the same time). I will also be pairing it with new performance exhaust headers and the cat-back exhaust I have had on the Burb for a few months now. We'll see what happens, but obviously adding multiple mods at the same time will make it so that I cannot really determine the true cause of any gains I do experience, other than saying that combined they produced a certain result.