Cold air intake
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Joined: Mar 2008
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RE: Cold air intake
Interestingly, I've been playing around with the intake system on my '97 Dakota lately. I've decided to keep it stock. Here are some of my thoughts on it:
https://dodgeforum.com/m_1244875/tm.htm
It's pretty well-documented that cotton-gauze filters compromise filtration capability for flow capacity. Paper air filters are pretty clearly superior to cotton-gauze in terms of filtration, and when sized properly, will not present a flow restriction to the engine. The filter area on the stock panel filter is huge...plenty for the engine. Consider that the 2.5L, the 3.9L, and the 5.2L all take the same filter. It works for the V-8, and is PLENTY of filter for the smaller engines as well.
I found that by removing the stock filter box, there are some resulting odd resonances in the intake system. For the example, the engine became flat off-idle at light throttle. It seemed more sluggish at lower throttle openings in general. This is because the air box was replaced with a straight pipe. The filter didn't matter at that point. It doesn't matter at 4000 RPM and it didn't at 1000 RPM. The stock panel filter flows plenty enough for this engine. Remember that the biggest restriction in the intake system is your throttle plate. Unless your filter is a restriction at maximum RPM and WOT, you gain nothing. In my opinion, an air filter should be chosen for how it filters the air, not its ultimate flow capacity, or "cool sound"...but that is just my opinion, and I'm not going to say that you're wrong if you disagree.
Anyway, there are actually some pretty good places from which you can do stuff home-made. Check out www.siliconeintakes.com and also www.intakehoses.com. Lots of parts there to do it yourself. It may take some trial and error to get something you like. The engineers spent a lot of time and money at the factory doing the stock stuff. In my experience and opinion, they got it right. But there's a lot of stuff out there that you can play with. It should be fun. Good luck, and show us pics when you're done.
https://dodgeforum.com/m_1244875/tm.htm
It's pretty well-documented that cotton-gauze filters compromise filtration capability for flow capacity. Paper air filters are pretty clearly superior to cotton-gauze in terms of filtration, and when sized properly, will not present a flow restriction to the engine. The filter area on the stock panel filter is huge...plenty for the engine. Consider that the 2.5L, the 3.9L, and the 5.2L all take the same filter. It works for the V-8, and is PLENTY of filter for the smaller engines as well.
I found that by removing the stock filter box, there are some resulting odd resonances in the intake system. For the example, the engine became flat off-idle at light throttle. It seemed more sluggish at lower throttle openings in general. This is because the air box was replaced with a straight pipe. The filter didn't matter at that point. It doesn't matter at 4000 RPM and it didn't at 1000 RPM. The stock panel filter flows plenty enough for this engine. Remember that the biggest restriction in the intake system is your throttle plate. Unless your filter is a restriction at maximum RPM and WOT, you gain nothing. In my opinion, an air filter should be chosen for how it filters the air, not its ultimate flow capacity, or "cool sound"...but that is just my opinion, and I'm not going to say that you're wrong if you disagree.
Anyway, there are actually some pretty good places from which you can do stuff home-made. Check out www.siliconeintakes.com and also www.intakehoses.com. Lots of parts there to do it yourself. It may take some trial and error to get something you like. The engineers spent a lot of time and money at the factory doing the stock stuff. In my experience and opinion, they got it right. But there's a lot of stuff out there that you can play with. It should be fun. Good luck, and show us pics when you're done.
Joined: Apr 2008
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RE: Cold air intake
Honestly, the cold air intake most likely won't even do anything for performance (OBD II). Also, the air box's purpose is to silence the air as it enters your engine, so yes it will be louder (if you care about noise... haha).
Hall Of Fame
Joined: Jan 2004
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RE: Cold air intake
CAI's work... recently I put one on a '00 dak QC 4x4 4.7 truck I had and when driving up 2 steep grades heading into work the motor was not working as hard as hard as it was with the stock airbox. Upper rpm performance was way better as well.
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Joined: Jan 2008
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RE: Cold air intake
there are a bunch of threads on this subject...
i was going to do a home brew type but changed my mind. i replaced the tube at the front of the airbox andjust put a flex tube out the front of it and thru the rubber flap next to the radiator so i now get cold air directly thru the grill into the airbox. i got a very noticable power increase from about 1500 rpm's. and also very noticable throttle response. it cost me less than 10 bucks.
i was going to do a home brew type but changed my mind. i replaced the tube at the front of the airbox andjust put a flex tube out the front of it and thru the rubber flap next to the radiator so i now get cold air directly thru the grill into the airbox. i got a very noticable power increase from about 1500 rpm's. and also very noticable throttle response. it cost me less than 10 bucks.
Professional
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 129
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RE: Cold air intake
I noticed a difference as well. I have a 5-speed 3.9 and i was able to scale steep hills without downshifting when with an airbox i would normally have had to downshift. Makes a big difference IMO.
