Are cold intakes really worth it?
Edit: I realize this is an old post I just wanted to set the record straight for future readers such as me. I'm currently looking into how penstars respond to the extra CFM and if I need to step up to 89octane since the compression is 11:1 or 10:1 (can't remember) and 87octane is called for but I think it's because the stock air filter is a measly 30square inches and can't provide more than 180CFM at 6000RPM when 380CFM is needed.
I've put a short ram intake on a 2013 Elantra, 2015 Altima, and later this week I'm putting one my 2018 Grand Caravan with 3.6L penstar.
Yes they do improve performance in a way. You will lose low RPM torque but your throttle response will become much quicker, by that I mean your engine will rev up to the 3000-4000RPM range much quicker and that is the range of peak horsepower. So while not necessarily creating a significant improvement in HP or torque (likely less than 20HP or ft lbs of torque) you will get where you want to be in your power band much quicker. Your mileage will suffer, BUT THE SOUND, oh the sound. The stock air box kills a bunch of sound that you get fed back up the intake. With a pod near the engine you will get all that glorious powerful sound.
That said I have never installed a "Cold air intake" which is where the pipe is really long to the bottom of the vehicle and the filter is under the vehicle. A short ram is when the filter is near the engine. As others indicated you need to buy or build a box to contain the cool air that your stock pipe used to bring up the your stock air box. The cheapest way to do this is go to a junk yard and buy a stock air box. Cut a hole to bring in whatever pipe you have going to your intake. Get some rubber weather stripping (melting point above 500F should be more than safe) and put it in the box around that tube, and between the top of the box and the hood or make a top for the box. Then you are sucking the air from the outside just as usual.
I've put a short ram intake on a 2013 Elantra, 2015 Altima, and later this week I'm putting one my 2018 Grand Caravan with 3.6L penstar.
Yes they do improve performance in a way. You will lose low RPM torque but your throttle response will become much quicker, by that I mean your engine will rev up to the 3000-4000RPM range much quicker and that is the range of peak horsepower. So while not necessarily creating a significant improvement in HP or torque (likely less than 20HP or ft lbs of torque) you will get where you want to be in your power band much quicker. Your mileage will suffer, BUT THE SOUND, oh the sound. The stock air box kills a bunch of sound that you get fed back up the intake. With a pod near the engine you will get all that glorious powerful sound.
That said I have never installed a "Cold air intake" which is where the pipe is really long to the bottom of the vehicle and the filter is under the vehicle. A short ram is when the filter is near the engine. As others indicated you need to buy or build a box to contain the cool air that your stock pipe used to bring up the your stock air box. The cheapest way to do this is go to a junk yard and buy a stock air box. Cut a hole to bring in whatever pipe you have going to your intake. Get some rubber weather stripping (melting point above 500F should be more than safe) and put it in the box around that tube, and between the top of the box and the hood or make a top for the box. Then you are sucking the air from the outside just as usual.
I strongly disagree with you I don't believe that an internal combustion engine cares what it's attached to. The Penstar V6 in my van is not different than the one that is in the pickup truck. Neither is any other gas engine that they put in a pickup truck. The transmission might vary the torque but not the engine. But the beauty of the Forum is I've got to say my piece and you've got to say yours and I just want to say I don't agree. Also I don't own a dino or have access to one, that's a ridiculous thing to claim I need to do. The manufacturer makes the claim so go troll them. What I said really had little to do with 20 horsepower. If that's all that you took away from all that I wrote then you voiced my time replying.
If you want to trade off filtering efficiency for performance gains that's fine, after all many race cars have no air filters. Personally, if I look at a used vehicle to possibly purchase and I see a K&N filter I walk away.
Here's some good info derived with 250k+ specialized test equipment: https://nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html
Here's some good info derived with 250k+ specialized test equipment: https://nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html
There's a couple things that haven't been addressed here.
1. Throttle response: increased throttle response is a common claim of "Cold Air Intakes" but why is that? The cotton filter media in 99.9% of these kits breathe easier. So yeah, that should increase power right? Not necessarily. Hold your shirt over you mouth and breathe, pretty easy right? Now double it up and try it, more difficult right? Now think about it, when it was doubled up, tripled up, even 4 layers thick did you really inhale any more air with 1 layer? Were you short of breath after trying that? No, you weren't. Same thing happens in engines. It takes a hair more effort to inhale that air through the stock paper filters than it does through cotton BUT the CFM is unchanged. Motortrend has a show called EngineMasters and they showed a great example of this (refer to the salad bowl comments). The engines in question have very low requirements.
2. Air Temperature: People love to call exposed filter "hot air intakes" and 100 other similar things. Location location location, blah blah blah. Nobody ever takes into account the fact that vehicles MOVE....AT SPEED....WITH AN OPEN GRILLE. Yeah when you're sitting in traffic at idle your intake temps can be higher with exposed filters pulling air from the engine bay than when running a factory intake pulling from a fender cavity or somewhere similar. But, as soon as you start driving again, the temps level out. Don't believe me, compare IATs while using a TorquePro App and dongle to see what the vehicle is seeing. About the most you'll see is 3-5 degrees and that can also be attributed to environmental differences. That 3-5 degrees is maybe 1hp at the crank difference. It's moot.
3: Design in regards to airflow: This on has been touched on with the talk of turbulence. But what hasn't been mentioned is things like ram-air. 4th gen Hemi trucks have a ram-air Vararam available that is quite effective. For these 2nd gens, Volant is another that uses a ram air tube. Gale Banks was one of the first to use this regularly.