Its like Ive said before in a previouse post Dodge and every other dealership is will sell thier stock options in thier trucks, These are basically base options while yes they are good but they are also upgradeable. Go to the mopar catalog web site and check it out dodge does aka mopar does make a CAI Chevy and fords both do too, but you will never see them on one of thier stock trucks it just wont happen, they like money to much...... Now you can come in and say I would like to "upgrade" this or that and they'll do it in a heart beat. All dealerships will sell only a stock truck/car thats just the way it is. I mean other wise wouldnt you think that all the sports packages would have the STS Turbo pre installed or the Borla System that dodge uses as thier Mopar Exhaust System? Just think about it? Bottom line is that Dodge/Mopar makes all the parts that we all want on our vehicles so you cant say that they "dont do anything" if the dealership and Mopar perfomance is making them too!

 

Better hope you never drive thru high-water....

H.H.

 

For me personally, HustonHemi I didnt buy my truck for off road use, I have an 05 regcab 2x4 1500 with the 5.7L Hemi, I wont be taking it off road off roading, Camping/hunting in certain areas and fishing yes but I dont intend on encountering any high-water anytime soon. Plus I live in Arizona and I gotta tell you it doesnt rain in Arizona

 

An open intake may make too much noise for some owners, so they have to come up with something that fits the broadest spectrum of customers. Also they have something to sell you AFTER you buy the truck!

 

Bottom line is that Dodge/Mopar makes all the parts that we all want on our vehicles so you cant say that they "dont do anything" if the dealership and Mopar perfomance is making them too!
>>>>>>>>>>

Does it work as advertised though? I simply don't see the advantage except to line the pockets of dealers and aftermarket part manufacturers. I THINK it's more about show and sound then measurable performance. IF someone could PROVE to me these things improve mileage by 2 MPG then sign me up.....I simply don't see where the manufacturers have anything to really gain by hiding these hidden secrets to improved gas mileage.....why let K&N etc cash in?

To address the fuel mileage thing further. Detroit has to meet certain mileage averages in their cars, of course average out a Saturn with a Chevy full size and the numbers are skewed but I'm willing to bet upping that average by 2 MPG would be HUGE to any automaker. GM sells some cars around cost in order to boost their fuel economy average, I learned this when purchasing my last Saturn. In order for GM to satisfy EPA regulations they have to sell a certain number of high MPG cars to offset the Tahoes, Suburbans etc. which are low MPG vehicles.

The same debate occurs over those "tornado's" etc, devices that are supposed to alter the air pattern in your intake to boost power and MPG, I've yet to find a study that proved this works. They advertise "up to" 24% increase in mileage but what are the criteria? Drive 100 miles at 80 MPH A/C blasting full vs. 60, no a/c with the vortex/tornado device?

 

First off the tornado DOES NOT WORK dont put it in or even try it or even think of trying it, IT DOES NOT WORK...

As for do they do what they're suppose to do thats a topic that will go back and forth from now untill the end of time. Personally I think they do Ive used them in the past and have noticed quite a few improvments in horse power and mileage, I will be putting another CAI on my ram as soon as I can afford to do it after I get back from vacation at the end of the month. You also have to look at it this way yes there are alot of different manufactures of CAI's out there some are just BS and some are the real deal, your gonna find that with any product out there that any major company produces. I guarantee you that if a new tv is invented by one company less than a day later it will also be produced by 20 other knock off company's too. Its a fact of life. Your best bet for performance wise is to look around at the top 3 most popular brands including the one Mopar makes and do your research from there I know for a fact that K&N's do what they say or close to it and the ones from Mopar which are warranteed for what they do also work. I cant show you any numbers from them to prove my point no one one here can make a post ligit enough to use as solid evidence for that fact, Just do the research on it.

Also, while Id have to dig out the pics, after installing my Borla Cat-Back Exhaust System my mileage jumped from 14.5 around town to 16.3 around town plus the added perfomance in HP and torque and thats a "Mopar performance Exhaust" as dodge told me and it did everything I hoped it would do and then some so the mopar parts do work. But if you still have your doubts then dont get one put on it is your choice as to what you want on your truck. Still if you get the mopar one put on reset your computer and drive it around for a week and if you cant tell what it does for power and mileage then return it just keep your old hardware......

 

the 5.7 air box and filter is huge to begin with, I'm no expert but if the filter was down low and a intake tube went stright into the tbi with out the little lip that is in the stock intake tube, may be this would add some power, yes you can push more air into the engine but you need the extra flue to take advantage of it, engines need more than air to run, add more air.flue, performance is greater but not going to help your mileage...

I'm debating on installing a CAI I still have to find a kit and price it out

 

Did you see that TV ad where the guy from Toyota comes on and says:

"With its improved super-duper-pooper Low Restriction Cold Air Intake
our Toyota Prius now gets better MPG than the Honda Insight"

{no you didn't see this because it hasn't happened and it never will}

When Chrysler turned Mr Knott and his special SRT team of engineers loose to create the
6.1 Hemi V8 the first thing SRT team must have done was to create a
new bigger air intake, Right?

{no, the air intake on the 6.1 Hemi is actually smaller than the Ram 5.7 pickup}

When the 2002 Ram redesign took place,
one thing that definitely happened was that the air intake system on the Ram was changed, and the change was put on all the new engines (3.7 and 4.7) but also placed on the 'carry over' Magnum 5.9V8 that had to be used because the cam bearing on the 5.7 Hemi had failed in long term testing. Along with a lower backpressure exhaust you can see the benefit of this slightly improved airbox by going to the Hypertech website and looking at the 'stock' rear wheel dyno graphs for a Magnum 5.9V8 in a 2001 Ram - then looking at the dyno for a Magnum 5.9V8 in a 2002-2003 Ram.

So you must of seen the advertisements from Dodge saying:
" New factory CAI gets 2 MPG better on the 2002 Magnum 5.9V8 Ram !"

{no you did not see that because it never happened}

And in 2003 when Dodge finally got the 5.7 Hemi patched up and into production
(even if it still had a 'tick' that annoyed owners)
certainly their official press released talked about how the 5.7 Hemi was more fuel
efficient because of its super-duper-pooper Cold Air Intake:

http://www.dodgeboy.net/news/57hemi/index.htm

Gee, what's wrong with those idiots at Dodge?
Their official press release talks about how the 5.7 Hemi is 8% more 'fuel efficient'
but all they mention is:
1. revised oil pump drive
2. revised coolant pump with bypass feature on thermostat
3. smaller main bearings
4. thinner piston ring designs
5. dual sparkplugs on each cylinder

WHY DID THEY FAIL TO MENTION ALL THE MPG GAINS THEY GOT WITH THE DIFFERENT AIR INTAKE ?

{perhaps because those engineers understand that at "part throttle" the restriction of the air filter and ducting is so much less than the restriction being created by the butterfly plate that it does not affect MPG at all}

Is there an air intake system that improves MPG?

I used to make the 'blanket statement'
that no
'air intake system'
improved MPG.

However, a top Toyota engineer heard me say this and corrected me.

Turbocharged Intercooled air intake systems
do improve MPG by as much as 15%,
but to get the full benefit from turbo intercooled air intakes the engine needs to be downsized and the transmisssion gear ratios need to be changed too.

Want to look at a Turbocharged Intercooled installation that is 'optimised' for MPG improvement rather than for an increase in horsepower?

Go look at a 2006 VW FSI four cylinder engine,
and keep in mind that the present head of VW used to be the vice president of Chrysler North America, including the period when the PT Turbo was introduced and the 5.7 Hemi was being developed.

 

There are 2 main reasons that DC does not sell vehicles with CAI's from the factory. First, they have the liability about people sucking up water (if it were mounted low). They have to make sure that anyone can drive the vehicle and not damage the engine because of the air intake. Secondly, they assume that most people buy a vehicle for transportaion or work purposes. I know the people that have installed CAI's have heard the increase in interior noise when you install one of these. For us gear heads, we like the sound, but many people want a "smooth" and "quiet" vehicle. This is why they design the intakes with all those bends and plenums. The plenums make the intake quiet. I take my opinions directly from DC engineers.

 

CAI systems CAN improve you MPG and HP. But that it also highly dependent on your driving style. Go to K&N's website and look at the comparison curves. You will see that you gain 10-20 HP but it is at 3500-4500 rpm. So, if you drive around at 70 all the time, yeah you'll some improvement in economy. But look further down the curve, in the 1200-1700 rpm range, or normal driving range (my 4.7 is usually at 1700 at 50), and you can see that the gains are negligible. There will be a difference, but it will be more the sound than the performance.

I am not saying there is no reason to change. But a perfect example, my buddy got a K&N CAI for his 2003 4.7 1500 QC 4x4 and we dcided an experiment was in order. One month of driving with his stock air system, one with a K&N drop-in replacement, and finally put on the CAI and look at it over one month. His average mpg over the three months was 13.1, 13.4, and 13.4 respctively. So, most of your everyday driving gains could be made up by using the aftermarket higher flow drop in filter. That is what I did. Had 13.0 mpg before the drop in and after 9 months I now have 13.3.

This was as scientific an experiment that my friend and I (both Mechanical Engineers), could think to try for little or no trouble. I am sure someone is going to show up and flame me for the data we got, but it has worked for me so far.

In the immortal words of my grandfather, "If you like it, who cares what everybody else thinks."