hey im about to purchase a cold air intake system and i was just going to through this out there are see which ones yall liked best, and thought helped the most. i was looking at kn, aem, and air raid. The aem one looked the the tubing was aluminum and i was wondering if that mattered at all? Also i wasnt sure if they all came with heat shields or not? Any help would be great and i appreciate it. Im also about to put a new cat converter on it to hopefully open her up alittle bit and maybe yall had suggestions about that?

thanks
eric

next:
intake
cat converter
programmer - which one yall like best????
180 t stat - wont this hurt gas mileage because the fan will run more often????

 

Why not the 14" round air cleaner? A lot cheaper. Check this thread:
https://dodgeforum.com/m_613741/tm.htm

 

Before spending considerable money on a cold air intake,
read what the volunteers found independently testing
KN Air Charger, KN drop in, Volant, Mopar and Airaid 360
aftermarket air intakes against the stock factory airbox
on 5.7 V8 Hemi's in Chrysler LX's

http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=14140

Keep in mind that the factory airbox
on a Ram pickup 5.7 Hemi engine is even
bigger and less restrictive than the factory box on a LX.

To save everyone some math
the average of three runs
of the stock factory airbox and paper filter dyno'ed:

280 HP with a standard deviation of 3.75
(corrected to standard pressure and temperature)

The only cold air intake testing better
was the KN Air Charger at
281 HP with a standard deviation of 4.15

Since the average of all 18 dyno runs
where an air intake design
was tested after a standard PCM reset was:

279 with a standard deviation of 3.24
(runs number 4 to 6 plus runs 10 to 24)

you really can't say with certainty that the
extra 1 HP for the KN Air Charger was 'real'
because even a well designed wheel dyno
that is well maintained
and has a great operator
can't be depended upon to repeat that close.

279 HP with a standard deviation of 3.24
means in simple terms
that if you ran exactly the same engine exactly the same way
100 times, then
98 of the runs would 'scatter' between
a high of 285.5 and
a low of 272.5
(which is 279 plus and minus two times 3.24)

1 HP gain for the KN Air Charger versus
280 for the factory air box
is below 1% difference
and this rear wheel dyno
seems to be varying over a range of 12.96 hp
which at a bit less than 5%
is actually admirable for repeats on a wheel dyno.

What can you say with certainty?

You can say:
1) they have fancy colorful paint jobs

2) they make more noise than the factory intake

3) 50% of the buyers who check their next tank of gasoline
will 'by chance' find a higher MPG than the last MPG they remember.
Of the other 50% who 'by chance'
find their next tank of gasoline's MPG is lower,
a considerable number will think something like
"the computer is still learning" or
"I must have been driving with a heavy foot"
and will go on to give the CAI another chance
and watch future tanks of gasoline
for their wishes to come true to justify their purchase.
Since MPG improves on vehicles as they age,
(because their pistons' ring tension wears looser
and their tire tread depth wears down and gives lower rolling resistance
.....the well known 'break in' effect)
these buyers will eventually find their MPG has gone up,
and they give the credit to the intake for the increase.
Very few will ever take the CAI off for awhile to check to
see if the MPG stays the same, or goes down.

 

Hank,
These tests were done on a 5.7L Hemi. The stock intake on my 5.9L Magnum looks pretty restrictive, the air intake goes into the front quarterpanel. Do you think there would be a difference on a Magnum over the Hemi?

 

It is a fair question as to whether the 1994-2001 air box is more restrictive than the 2002+ design.

For a second opinion on the 2nd Gen Ram airbox design
you can read Kenne Bell Company's tech sheet:

http://www.kennebell.net/techinfo/do...-test-data.pdf

On their own in-house rear wheel dyno Kenne Bell claims to have measured a 8 hp rear wheel gain when 'everything' is taken off a 1998 Magnum 5.9V8...fender tube, airbox, filter, and 4 inch duct back to the throttle body....and then cool outside air is run through a large hose to the throttle body bores. How much of this potential 8 hp could you get with a superior design aftermarket CAI? Certainly not all, maybe half with a brand new fresh filter. How quickly will that filter plug up if the new inlet faces directly into the path of dirt, bugs, pieces of scrap paper off the road, etc?

or you can read these two old posts where I did some measurements on the stock air box prior to the filter element, and where I tested a KN drop in filter versus a brand new Mopar paper filter, and no filter at all:
======
I have measured on my 1995 5.9V8 airbox the restriction that the intake tube and lower airbox entry
causes to the airflow by the various bends, turns, corregations in the tube,
etc.

On the lower driver's side of the factory airbox there is already a plastic
1/2 inch nipple that the rubber tube leading to the valve cover breather
pushes onto. This nipple is on the 'outside' of the filter so it is a place
you can measure the 'vacuum' caused by restriction BEFORE the restriction
caused by the filter itself. It is a place where you can measure how bad/good
the Dodge engineers did at making a free flowing inlet.

If you go to a hardware store and buy 12 feet of 1/2 internal diameter clear
plastic tube (about $3.50 cost ) you can make a 'manometer' pressure measurer
that will connect to the 1/2 nipple on the airbox.

Press the 1/2 clear plastic tube onto the airbox nipple, run the tubing into
the cab by pushing over a little of the weatherstripping at the rear of the
hood to make a hole where it won't get crimped when you shut the hood. Then
leave the window partly open and run the rest of the tubing inside.

Make a U loop at the cab's open end of the tube. The sides of the U have to
be at least 10 inches high or so. Tape the U loop in place to some part of
the dash to keep it still. I taped it to the infamous over-radio-cupholder.
Now use a waterbottle to put some water in the tube - enough to fill the
bottom of the U with water going up 6 inches.

Now go for a test drive. Accelerate to full throttle. The 'vacuum' caused by
the inlet tube and airbox restriction pulls the water in the bottom of the U
tube up on the engine side and down on the open end side. The new difference
in height between the two water levels is the pressure difference.

I measured 4.25 inches of water level difference.
Each 27.7 inches of water equals 1 psi of pressure.

Typical atmospheric pressure is about 14.5 psi (14.7 at exact sea level).
So in terms of inches of water, the atmospheric pressure all around us is:
14.5 times 27.7 equals = 400 inches

So the restriction in the Ram's air inlet tube and lower airbox is about
(4.25 inches /400 inches) times 100% equal = 1% pressure loss.

That is also about 0.3
inches of mercury if you use a conversion factor for the math. The Engine Analyser 3.2 program predicts if you up the air pressure from the standard SAE conditions of 29.6 inches of Hg and 77 degrees,
to 29.9 inches of Hg and 77 degrees
the SAE rating of the 1995 Magnum 5.9V8 would climb from 230 hp at 4000 rpm to 232 hp at 4000 rpm.
=============

>Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 15:12:52 -0500
>From: hl1@acpub.duke.edu
>Subject: KN/Mopar paper/no air filter/ Quarter mile tests
>
>I was curious as to whether the KN air filter element in
the factory Ram
>air filter housing I have been using for 3 years was truly
less
>restrictive than the paper filter elements.

>Back on RTML there was a
>discussion about whether re-useable filters really filtered
the finest
>dust particles as well as paper ones do.
>
>One RTML reader said his construction company tested
re-useable filters
>and did spectrograhic oil analyis to test for dirt passing
through the
>filters. When the silica levels in the oil went up - the
construction
>company went back to paper filters - and the silica levels
in the oil went
>back down. I can't vouch for this alleged test - but the
story worried
>me.
>
>I had the afternoon free and I decided to test the
acceleration question
>myself. I went to the local Dodge dealer (the same one who
sold me a KN
>element) and bought a $14 Mopar air filter. It is white
paper, has many
>more pleats than the KN, and bears part number 53004383.
Below the part
>number is printed "Made in Canada" and 38682 and then 05/99
is stamped in
>different ink. The rubber gasket on this paper filter seems
to be slightly
>thicker and it takes a little more effort to clamp down the
top cover on
>it than the KN.
>
>I went to my home-made quarter mile on Highway 64 over the
Jordan Lake
>causeway. Remember this may be a little more than a true
measured >quartermile, is 0.4% grade uphill, and I am timing
with a stopwatch. I do a soft >start with my foot off the
pedal. The 235/85R16 tires with 65 psi never broke
>loose or smoked in these tests. Gasoline was 87 octane.
>
>Yesterday (a humid 95F day) With KN element, 1/2 tank of
gas I ran:
>18.75
>18.72
>
>This afternoon ( a humid 95F day) with KN, 3/16 tank of gas
I ran:
>18.81
>18.75
>Average= 18.78
>
>Both yesterday & today with the KN there was mild pinging
when rpms went
>+3750, and then a short burst of rapid 'clacks' when the
auto trans made
>its shifts at 4900 rpm. I have found from past driving that
the pinging
>goes away if I use above 90 octane.
>
>Both yesterday and today there was a KN element in the air
filter housing
>that had been cleaned approximately 3000 miles ago. When I
took it out
>today it showed no signs of visible dirt and was dark red
in color. I am
>using the stock factory air filter housing, with the
plastic cold air tube
>going over to the passenger fender wall.
>
>With the 53004383 Mopar paper filter, 3/16 tank of gas I
ran:
>
>18.75
>18.85
>Average= 18.80
>
>I then took the Mopar filter out and re-assembled the air
filter housing
>with no air filter inside. Everything else was the same -
the plastic
>cold air tube was still pulling air from the fender and the
top of the
>housing was clamped on.
>
>With NO FILTER element, 3/16 tank of gas I ran:
>18.72
>18.68
>Average= 18.70
>
>During these two runs without any air filter it seemed to
me that the
>pinging above 3750 rpm was still mild, but a little louder
and more
>frequent. The noise of the engine seemed slightly louder
without an air
>filter.
>
>I put the Mopar paper filter in and drove the truck home.
I could not
>feel any difference versus the KN filter.

----

 

Go with the Mopar Performance top mount air filter..... i run it and its great!! more power then my cheap cold air game me.

 

So is your 1995 5.9l v8 completely stock? I am assuming that the pressure loss you measured was with the stock intake manifold with stock heads and exhaust. What would you say aboutthe efficiency of that box with an m1 manifold, ported 2.02's, a camand a good exhaust system at 5800 rpms. I know that DC made sure that thier stock intake with a run of the mill paper would supply all the air neccessary forthier stock motor, but, once you start modding any part of theengine, the stock air box will become restrictive.

As far as the round air cleaner, they look awesome -kind of old school, but when temps start getting upwards of 85 &90 degrees you are gonna hate it. A good solution might be to swap back and forth with the change of seasons. I would think that a good cold air setup would cost mpg'swhen the ambient temp. is below 50.