Hey, first time truck owner. Recently bought a 03 Ram 1500, 5.9L, im lovin it so far but the gas milage is killing me. On thursday ill be installing 3" exhaust with a cherrybomb vortex muffler, new iridium plugs and a new distributor cap and rotor.

Now to the base of the matter, i have a K&N filter in my airbox that needs cleaning. Been considering upgrading to a cold-air intake instead of buying the cleaning kit and cleaning up the filter.

What kind of gains would i be looking at going from the square K&N filter i have to a cold-air intake system. Ive found the K&N system for around 300$ and a AEM one for a little less.... Or some really cheep knock offs on ebay for a fraction of the price
http://cgi.ebay.ca/02-10-3-7-3-7L-V6...item4cf62e0fa2

http://cgi.ebay.ca/DODGE-RAM-1500-4-...item230f5d4368

Any insight on this matter would be greatly appreciated. If it is worth upgrading, any thoughts on how these cheeper ones would compare to the K&N or AEM intakes would be great. Also whats the difficulty on this kind of install as well? Thanks much!

EDIT: Also forgot to add this other brand Kool-Vue Price is about 90$ and looks a fair bit better than the other cheepies from ebay http://www.car-stuff.com/carparts/do...tings+Page%3A2

 

Everyone else I've talked to have said a cheap knock off would work just as well. I sure as hell wasn't about to spend that kind of money on a piece of pipe. You can make one on your own out of PVC too. A CAI is designed to get cooler air into the engine, so as long as you make a system that does this you won't be missing out on anything. I used a 3" Spectre flex pipe on mine and hooked from the filter box straight to the TB and I was definitely pleased with the results. maybe a 2mpg increase, better throttle response, and definitely a nice growl from the intake and you can hear it in the cab.

 

+2mpg from an intake? Not likely. An intake by itself won't improve much. An freer exhaust added will add maybe 1 mpg, but it'll take a while to break even.

 

You can disagree if you wish but I hand calculate and thats what my gain was.

 

If you don't want to drop all that cash try a DIY CAI? I know some people may say that mine isn"t a "true" CAI but it is what I consider to be awefully close. And alot cheaper than $300.00. I had about $30.00 in mine, not counting the K&N drop in filter. $20.00 for the 90 and $10.00 in pvc , rubber connectors and hose clamps. I noticed a considerable gain in throttle response and it sounds good too. As far as the mileageI would have to agree with MikeHTally. I gained very little in mileage but I love the way it jumps when you push the pedal now.

 

A Cold Air Intake by itself doesn't really yield any significant gains in either power or fuel economy. BUT it's a mod that works well with certain other mods and the cumulative effect will yield better results than the sum of those parts individually.

Dynos basically confirm that a home-made CAI, bargain CAI off of ebay or a $300+ name brand one basically offer the same gains, given the quality of the filter is about equal. There are a few "high end" CAIs which show better gains, but the price is on the high end of the scale. Problem I've found with most ebay ones are even though they tend to give the same results, often they are made of cheap materials and don't hold up well to everyday driving. Many complain of broken brackets and failed welds.

One problem with installing a mod for MPG gains is that people tend to drive a little more "MPG conscious" without realizing it. A tad less throttle on starts, longer coasting into stops and so forth, which results in a false perception that the mod is actually getting better gains than it really is. There is actually a psychological term for it, but I can't remember what it's called...

 

I can assure you that I have not changed my driving style. If anything it's gotten worse because of the mean rumble I get now with the intake mod.

 

2 mpg is a little optimistic for a cai. i've been a mechanic for 11 years, 3 of them at a performance shop. have installed probably over a hundred cai's including quite a few vararam's which just about everyone concedes is the best design and by themself they won't get you 2 mpg.

 

Okay that's fine. But I'm still sticking to my guns,

 

Even the best K&N says a max of 8hp gain on a Hemi Ram. $300= for 8hp is not a good deal!! The stock set-up is quite efficient. You will gain noise. I would not use a chrome metal kit because the metal will heat soak and cause the intake air to rise and give even worse performance.
If the original filter was dirty and you installed a CAI with a new filter, yes I can see a decent gain in mpg. I have installed one on mine and saw no noticeable difference. This is with a good Magnaflow cat-back and a Predator tuner.