what to put for better fuel millage?
Captain
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 580
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From:
RE: what to put for better fuel millage?
Nothing wrong with having checks and balances. The difference between AirRam's opinions and Hanks opinions is that AirRam markets himself better. AirRam sounds like a quality dealer while Hank comes off as a hillbilly. How they sound however has nothing to do with who is correct. I lean more towards what Hank says than AirRam.
I would love to see a quality runoff on a dyno. Take a stock truck, add the power wire, cold air and exhaust indifidually and compare them to stock. Then compare the add ons all installed at once to the stock. If AirRam would like to prove himself and really believes in his products, this test would sell some product. Remember the first rule of marketing find or create a need.
I would love to see a quality runoff on a dyno. Take a stock truck, add the power wire, cold air and exhaust indifidually and compare them to stock. Then compare the add ons all installed at once to the stock. If AirRam would like to prove himself and really believes in his products, this test would sell some product. Remember the first rule of marketing find or create a need.
Champion
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,313
Likes: 8
RE: what to put for better fuel millage?
A guy whose day job is running a dyno at the official DCx's test center
has also tried to bet AirRam - in this case that no aftermarket intake
(including his AirRam model which claims a 10-12 hp gain)
can make more than 3 hp more than the stock factory airbox
because of what the IAT and MAP sensors show
at full throttle on a 5.7 Hemi Ram
like the dyno operating guy owns and races.
AirRam certainly has been less than co-operative on that test offer.
If you were making an air intake you were proud of,
wouldn't you jump at the chance to have it tested
on a fully instrumented engine shaft dyno that costs over $1.2 million ?
AirRam refused to send an intake for testing,
and then when the guy called his bluff
and offered to buy one with his own money,
AirRam claimed he could not send one out for 9 weeks, etc.
I have previously offered to share $100 of the cost if the Houston School of Automotive Machinist student racing team (SAM) would do an independent test. AirRam declined that.
I also pointed out to AirRam that if he offered a modest prize to the SAM racing student team who could come up with an improved air intake design that would be cheaper than doing improvement design himself - and give the students a project that several 3-4 man teams might work unbelieveably hard to win.
Certainly those students would buckle down and study 'tuned harmonic intakes' which is what the 5.7 Hemi intake is.
David Vizard says this about the 5.7 Hemi intake:
"The system has a tuned length from the filter to the plenum and from here each port runner to valve is a tuned length. Computer modeling and dyno testing has allowed the ports, plenum and filter-to-plenum runner length and diameter/volume to be sized near optimally for a wide power band consistent with street performance needs. "
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tec...engine_review/
Is this "tuned length" stuff just mumbo-jumbo that you can ignor?
This article says no.
http://moparmusclemagazine.com/techa...7_hemis_dynos/
Ask AirRam what the resonant frequency of his intake is,
and what the 2nd and 3rd Harmonics are and at what rpm....
Think 'hillbillies' are not capable of understand this kind of thing?
Right now Johnny Depp is starring in the movie Pirates of the Carribean.
Johnny Depp's father was a registered professional engineer in Kentucky
who specialized in building and troubleshooting water plants.
If you asked Johnny Depp's father about the tuning of an air intake
instead of the water pipes he was used to analysing,
all he would have to do is pull out a book and look up
the density, viscosity, speed of sound, etc
for air instead of water.
In water pipes harmonic tuning of the wrong sort causes 'Water Hammer' and can crack apart pipes valves and pump casings like you can't believe in less than the blink of an eye.
Every civil, mechanical or chemical engineer gets basic training in understanding harmonics of fluids in pipes and ducts.
Johnny Depp's father was a hillbilly.
So am I.
So was Chuck Yeager who broke the sound barrier.
By the way, in old german 'Depp' means idiot.
In old italian, the word 'Fibonacci' also means idiot or blockhead.
Johnny Depp took a lot of heat, threats and name calling to create a memorable character,
but he stood his ground even when threatened with being fired from the 1st Pirates.
I am sure Fibonacci took a lot of heat, threats and name calling
when trying to teach the world "double entry accounting"
and the fascinating 'Fibonacci Number Sequence'
which occurs...you guessed it...in the harmonics of flowing air or water.
has also tried to bet AirRam - in this case that no aftermarket intake
(including his AirRam model which claims a 10-12 hp gain)
can make more than 3 hp more than the stock factory airbox
because of what the IAT and MAP sensors show
at full throttle on a 5.7 Hemi Ram
like the dyno operating guy owns and races.
AirRam certainly has been less than co-operative on that test offer.
If you were making an air intake you were proud of,
wouldn't you jump at the chance to have it tested
on a fully instrumented engine shaft dyno that costs over $1.2 million ?
AirRam refused to send an intake for testing,
and then when the guy called his bluff
and offered to buy one with his own money,
AirRam claimed he could not send one out for 9 weeks, etc.
I have previously offered to share $100 of the cost if the Houston School of Automotive Machinist student racing team (SAM) would do an independent test. AirRam declined that.
I also pointed out to AirRam that if he offered a modest prize to the SAM racing student team who could come up with an improved air intake design that would be cheaper than doing improvement design himself - and give the students a project that several 3-4 man teams might work unbelieveably hard to win.
Certainly those students would buckle down and study 'tuned harmonic intakes' which is what the 5.7 Hemi intake is.
David Vizard says this about the 5.7 Hemi intake:
"The system has a tuned length from the filter to the plenum and from here each port runner to valve is a tuned length. Computer modeling and dyno testing has allowed the ports, plenum and filter-to-plenum runner length and diameter/volume to be sized near optimally for a wide power band consistent with street performance needs. "
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tec...engine_review/
Is this "tuned length" stuff just mumbo-jumbo that you can ignor?
This article says no.
http://moparmusclemagazine.com/techa...7_hemis_dynos/
Ask AirRam what the resonant frequency of his intake is,
and what the 2nd and 3rd Harmonics are and at what rpm....
Think 'hillbillies' are not capable of understand this kind of thing?
Right now Johnny Depp is starring in the movie Pirates of the Carribean.
Johnny Depp's father was a registered professional engineer in Kentucky
who specialized in building and troubleshooting water plants.
If you asked Johnny Depp's father about the tuning of an air intake
instead of the water pipes he was used to analysing,
all he would have to do is pull out a book and look up
the density, viscosity, speed of sound, etc
for air instead of water.
In water pipes harmonic tuning of the wrong sort causes 'Water Hammer' and can crack apart pipes valves and pump casings like you can't believe in less than the blink of an eye.
Every civil, mechanical or chemical engineer gets basic training in understanding harmonics of fluids in pipes and ducts.
Johnny Depp's father was a hillbilly.
So am I.
So was Chuck Yeager who broke the sound barrier.
By the way, in old german 'Depp' means idiot.
In old italian, the word 'Fibonacci' also means idiot or blockhead.
Johnny Depp took a lot of heat, threats and name calling to create a memorable character,
but he stood his ground even when threatened with being fired from the 1st Pirates.
I am sure Fibonacci took a lot of heat, threats and name calling
when trying to teach the world "double entry accounting"
and the fascinating 'Fibonacci Number Sequence'
which occurs...you guessed it...in the harmonics of flowing air or water.
All Star
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 852
Likes: 4
From: EULESS TEXAS DFW
RE: what to put for better fuel millage?
ORIGINAL: HankL
A guy whose day job is running a dyno at the official DCx's test center
has also tried to bet AirRam - in this case that no aftermarket intake
(including his AirRam model which claims a 10-12 hp gain)
can make more than 3 hp more than the stock factory airbox
because of what the IAT and MAP sensors show
at full throttle on a 5.7 Hemi Ram
like the dyno operating guy owns and races.
AirRam certainly has been less than co-operative on that test offer.
If you were making an air intake you were proud of,
wouldn't you jump at the chance to have it tested
on a fully instrumented engine shaft dyno that costs over $1.2 million ?
AirRam refused to send an intake for testing,
and then when the guy called his bluff
and offered to buy one with his own money,
AirRam claimed he could not send one out for 9 weeks, etc.
A guy whose day job is running a dyno at the official DCx's test center
has also tried to bet AirRam - in this case that no aftermarket intake
(including his AirRam model which claims a 10-12 hp gain)
can make more than 3 hp more than the stock factory airbox
because of what the IAT and MAP sensors show
at full throttle on a 5.7 Hemi Ram
like the dyno operating guy owns and races.
AirRam certainly has been less than co-operative on that test offer.
If you were making an air intake you were proud of,
wouldn't you jump at the chance to have it tested
on a fully instrumented engine shaft dyno that costs over $1.2 million ?
AirRam refused to send an intake for testing,
and then when the guy called his bluff
and offered to buy one with his own money,
AirRam claimed he could not send one out for 9 weeks, etc.
FACT! I never refused to let him use one of our induction systems, FACT he was informed of the 6-7 week turn time and if he wanted one he would have to place an order just like EVERYONE else. But he failed to place his order, I can’t just stop what I’m doing and let him cut in front of the 34 other customers who have been waiting 7 weeks (Not 9 weeks as you posted in your LIE). How can you expect me to STOP what I’m doing because ONE or TWO people doubt what I do... The funny thing is, while we have always advertised 10-12RWHP companies like K&N, TRUE FLOW, AEM & 360 have advertised 15-20RWHP… we have been honest from the start unlike the bigger guys… I’m so swamped with AIR RAM INDUCTION SYSTEM orders I can’t see straight, so your “DOUBT†in what I do for a living has ZERO effect on my business! I have customers backed up for months waiting to get on the list… So apparently I must be doing something right because 75% of my advertising comes from our past satisfied customers… the other 25% comes from you… and honestly there is no such thing as bad advertising… its FREE (Thank you).
Third... Your going to like this one, an =AIR=RAM=> customer of ours has volunteered to allow him to do the test with his intake... So there is NO waiting involved for anyone... So your entire PERSONAL attack based on me not wanting to go through with it is GARBAGE just like EVERYTHING you post. This has been in motion for well over a week… man get informed before you start to flame…
ORIGINAL: HankL
I have previously offered to share $100 of the cost if the Houston School of Automotive Machinist student racing team (SAM) would do an independent test. AirRam declined that.
I have previously offered to share $100 of the cost if the Houston School of Automotive Machinist student racing team (SAM) would do an independent test. AirRam declined that.
ORIGINAL: HankL
I also pointed out to AirRam that if he offered a modest prize to the SAM racing student team who could come up with an improved air intake design that would be cheaper than doing improvement design himself - and give the students a project that several 3-4 man teams might work unbelieveably hard to win.
Certainly those students would buckle down and study 'tuned harmonic intakes' which is what the 5.7 Hemi intake is.
I also pointed out to AirRam that if he offered a modest prize to the SAM racing student team who could come up with an improved air intake design that would be cheaper than doing improvement design himself - and give the students a project that several 3-4 man teams might work unbelieveably hard to win.
Certainly those students would buckle down and study 'tuned harmonic intakes' which is what the 5.7 Hemi intake is.
Hank once again you have proven your WORTHLESSNESS in yet another tread... I will not even address the other half of your none since because I don’t want to feed the trolls any more than I have too. Why do you put yourself through so much trouble... are you trying to get kicked off yet another forum? I would have thought you would have learned by your mistakes.... I guess not.
Anyway, as I pointed out above... your freaking crazy dude, and full of it your ears must be seeping brown fluid...
All I have to say Is your NOT informed.. but what is new! You try to act as though you are informed but again you ALWAYS a mile short of the quarter mile. I have nothing to prove to an old man in a Ford Pinto, you act as though your trying to save the world from me when in fact your the deceptive one and out of all the CUT & PASTING you do... you never really answer the questions, So I will ask YOU hank POINT BLANK brother...
HANK,
WHAT DID YOU DO to increase the fuel economy in your .... 3rd Gen Ram?
If you can answer this specific question I would be shocked .... but we all know you cant! So all the other information you have been posting for the last 20 years does not apply to the question.... Please dont twist your answer around and try to make it look like Im the reason the worlds fuel economey has gone to sheet... Dont tryto tell everyone that I sneak out at night tim ewhen everyone is in bed and I steal there gas out from there tanks while they sleep... I know you will do you best to prove its all my fault... Just try to tell the truth for once.
Come on hank, here is your opportunity to save some face... answer the question and STOP running from the truth...
SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM
All Star
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 852
Likes: 4
From: EULESS TEXAS DFW
RE: what to put for better fuel millage?
ORIGINAL: HankL
Certainly those students would buckle down and study 'tuned harmonic intakes' which is what the 5.7 Hemi intake is.
David Vizard says this about the 5.7 Hemi intake:
"The system has a tuned length from the filter to the plenum and from here each port runner to valve is a tuned length. Computer modeling and dyno testing has allowed the ports, plenum and filter-to-plenum runner length and diameter/volume to be sized near optimally for a wide power band consistent with street performance needs. "
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tec...engine_review/
Is this "tuned length" stuff just mumbo-jumbo that you can ignor?
This article says no.
http://moparmusclemagazine.com/techa...7_hemis_dynos/
Ask AirRam what the resonant frequency of his intake is,
and what the 2nd and 3rd Harmonics are and at what rpm....
Certainly those students would buckle down and study 'tuned harmonic intakes' which is what the 5.7 Hemi intake is.
David Vizard says this about the 5.7 Hemi intake:
"The system has a tuned length from the filter to the plenum and from here each port runner to valve is a tuned length. Computer modeling and dyno testing has allowed the ports, plenum and filter-to-plenum runner length and diameter/volume to be sized near optimally for a wide power band consistent with street performance needs. "
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tec...engine_review/
Is this "tuned length" stuff just mumbo-jumbo that you can ignor?
This article says no.
http://moparmusclemagazine.com/techa...7_hemis_dynos/
Ask AirRam what the resonant frequency of his intake is,
and what the 2nd and 3rd Harmonics are and at what rpm....
Those two links you posted have NOTHING to do with COLD AIR INDUCTION SYSTEMS but they do infact speek about tuned intake runners... LOL
Velocity is everything when it comes to intake runners (thats Intake manifold for you Hank) And when you speak about "Tuned" runners they are infact speaking about the INTAKE MANIFOLD runners hank.... LOL
You crack me up... you posted those links and they didnt even back up your FLAME!!
this just proves you do NOT know what your talking aobut... your very own post exposed you as a fraud for not knowing what the heck your talking about. Thats what happens when live off the experiences of others...
And just so you know... there is a BIG difference in the way your INTAKE MANIFOLD works and your COLD AIR INDUCTION SYSTEM (Filtration system) works...
Your induction system (Filtration system) does NOT move the air fast enough to create the velocity needed to PACK air into your engine... so it should be selected to flow as freely as possible without restrictions... I have always said NON- TURBULENT UN-RESTRICTED, COLD AIR makes the most power... (This is refurring to Induction systems hank NOT Intake manifolds)
Your intake manifold is a different monster... You need your intake runners to promote super high velocity so air will ram itself into the cylinder even as the piston is on its way up... If you lack velocity then the air charge will be weak and you will not get the cylinder fill needed to make the most HP... This is an entire different subject, but it clearly points out hank hasn’t a clue…
I have built a few race engines in my time... Im putting together Pontiac engine that will belt out 650lbs@3,000RPMs right now… You want to bet I did the math on that hank!
SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM
Captain
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 580
Likes: 0
From:
RE: what to put for better fuel millage?
AirRam, got the power wire today, thanks for the quick shipping.
Question, so you think reseting the computer as outlined in the instructions is good to do at regular intervals? Such as at every oil change? Do I have to reset the computer when I install this power wire?
I would like to know more about how exactly the computer "learns". I wonder if it just works off of average A/F, shift points and such as baselines? I'm going to look into this a bit. A bet there is some SAE journal information out there.
Question, so you think reseting the computer as outlined in the instructions is good to do at regular intervals? Such as at every oil change? Do I have to reset the computer when I install this power wire?
I would like to know more about how exactly the computer "learns". I wonder if it just works off of average A/F, shift points and such as baselines? I'm going to look into this a bit. A bet there is some SAE journal information out there.
Captain
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 560
Likes: 0
From:
RE: what to put for better fuel millage?
If (big if) DC designed their computer system on the Dodge the same as the Jeep, which I do not see why it would not be, the pc averages your driving over something like 50 times and sets itself to that. Now, on my Avalanche, to clear the learning computer you would stop and kill the truck, crank it and put it into drive then accelerate as hard as you could to 60 mph. You would do this 3 times and the computer would relearn. It sometimes could have amazing results. On another web site where we talked about Jeeps, the Cherokee could be reset this same way. Like I said, i do not know if it would work for Dodge.
All Star
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 852
Likes: 4
From: EULESS TEXAS DFW
RE: what to put for better fuel millage?
ORIGINAL: HemiBuell
AirRam, got the power wire today, thanks for the quick shipping.
Question, so you think reseting the computer as outlined in the instructions is good to do at regular intervals? Such as at every oil change? Do I have to reset the computer when I install this power wire?
I would like to know more about how exactly the computer "learns". I wonder if it just works off of average A/F, shift points and such as baselines? I'm going to look into this a bit. A bet there is some SAE journal information out there.
AirRam, got the power wire today, thanks for the quick shipping.
Question, so you think reseting the computer as outlined in the instructions is good to do at regular intervals? Such as at every oil change? Do I have to reset the computer when I install this power wire?
I would like to know more about how exactly the computer "learns". I wonder if it just works off of average A/F, shift points and such as baselines? I'm going to look into this a bit. A bet there is some SAE journal information out there.
I reset my PCM on EVERY oil change and before EVERY road trip of 500+ miles. You see the adaptive memory can actually help you get better fuel economy IF you reset the PCM and drive like an old lady... before long trips I reset the computer and get an EASY 1-2 MPG more than I would had I not reset the PCM on long road trips... this is one reason I have been able to get 20+MPG over 2500 miles with the 4.56's. On the flip side... If I know I want to go to the track a week from now... I will reset my PCM today and drive like an azz all week with my foot to the floor...I will have my foot to the floor every chance I could get... I have notice this to be worth an average of .2-.3 in the 1/8 mile alone... Sure there are allot of variables like humidity, pressure and temps... but honestly I have NEVER run slower times when I accomplished the reset a week prior. What I have been doing is making the adaptive memory work for me... not against me.
And to back up what I have said... I will ask you guys... why do ALL 3rd Gen Rams perform differently even when all seems to be equal... Its the adaptive memory that is recording the average driving style of each owner... When people say "The PCM learned my Mod" ....LOL NO IT DIDNT! You felt a loss because either you got a bad tank of gas and the timing was retarded or you have been driving miss daisy around and the PCM has detuned itself for better fuel economy rather than performance...
So in a nut shell... YES reset your PCM for better all round performance....
SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 345
Likes: 0
From:
RE: what to put for better fuel millage?
This was an interesting thread.
I always refer back to what my grandpa told me "these companies have engineers who design these vehicles where everything operates in harmony together, they test and retest.....once you start messing with the original design you will more then likely experience a lot more problems in the future then if you just leave it as it was built"
I just try to look at it logically.
Automakers are under tremendous pressure from government regulators to improve fuel mileage. Who's best interest is it in to design and engineer a vehicle to get improved mileage? What would the real cost difference be for the engineers to include these different "systems" (CAI, Exhaust, etc.)? I'd say minimal and the cost benefit to be able to advertise a few MPG more would be MORE then worth the one tenth of one percent increase in cost of the vehicle.
My honest take on all of this is it's mostly window dressing. The exhaust and intake systems make the vehicle sound better and might give the impression it's more powerful but I've read too many conflicting reports on the actual advantage realized. I think MOST HP gains are greatly exaggerated....IF just a simple air filter added 10-20 HP gains EVERY manufacturer would include them. These CAI systems look fairly simple, not exactly revolutaionary and the ones I've looked up draw air from about the exact same location the air on my truck is drawing it from now. It's been 100+ degrees all week here, does it really matter where you draw the air from? If you live in the midwest a CAI would seem to me to be pretty much useless, do cars seem to perform better in Minnesota in the winter? I mean, no CAI in the world can cool air like that.
When it's all said and done, you put all this money into these things and you might realize what, 10-20 HP gains? That's what, a 3- 6% gain on a 345 HP motor? The two BIGGEST factors in increasing your MPG is proper tire air pressure and how many RPM's your running your motor on average.
Hey, it's a <relatively> free country, however someone wants to spend their money is their own business. I've read one person swear they noticed a big difference from a particular mod. then read someone else who did the exact same mod. say they noticed no difference. I think there is a pretty strong psychological effect going on and the SOUND plays a big part of that.
I always refer back to what my grandpa told me "these companies have engineers who design these vehicles where everything operates in harmony together, they test and retest.....once you start messing with the original design you will more then likely experience a lot more problems in the future then if you just leave it as it was built"
I just try to look at it logically.
Automakers are under tremendous pressure from government regulators to improve fuel mileage. Who's best interest is it in to design and engineer a vehicle to get improved mileage? What would the real cost difference be for the engineers to include these different "systems" (CAI, Exhaust, etc.)? I'd say minimal and the cost benefit to be able to advertise a few MPG more would be MORE then worth the one tenth of one percent increase in cost of the vehicle.
My honest take on all of this is it's mostly window dressing. The exhaust and intake systems make the vehicle sound better and might give the impression it's more powerful but I've read too many conflicting reports on the actual advantage realized. I think MOST HP gains are greatly exaggerated....IF just a simple air filter added 10-20 HP gains EVERY manufacturer would include them. These CAI systems look fairly simple, not exactly revolutaionary and the ones I've looked up draw air from about the exact same location the air on my truck is drawing it from now. It's been 100+ degrees all week here, does it really matter where you draw the air from? If you live in the midwest a CAI would seem to me to be pretty much useless, do cars seem to perform better in Minnesota in the winter? I mean, no CAI in the world can cool air like that.
When it's all said and done, you put all this money into these things and you might realize what, 10-20 HP gains? That's what, a 3- 6% gain on a 345 HP motor? The two BIGGEST factors in increasing your MPG is proper tire air pressure and how many RPM's your running your motor on average.
Hey, it's a <relatively> free country, however someone wants to spend their money is their own business. I've read one person swear they noticed a big difference from a particular mod. then read someone else who did the exact same mod. say they noticed no difference. I think there is a pretty strong psychological effect going on and the SOUND plays a big part of that.
Grand Champion
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 6,041
Likes: 0
From: Gilbert, Arizona
RE: what to put for better fuel millage?
ORIGINAL: raidermike67
This was an interesting thread.
I always refer back to what my grandpa told me "these companies have engineers who design these vehicles where everything operates in harmony together, they test and retest.....once you start messing with the original design you will more then likely experience a lot more problems in the future then if you just leave it as it was built"
I just try to look at it logically.
Automakers are under tremendous pressure from government regulators to improve fuel mileage. Who's best interest is it in to design and engineer a vehicle to get improved mileage? What would the real cost difference be for the engineers to include these different "systems" (CAI, Exhaust, etc.)? I'd say minimal and the cost benefit to be able to advertise a few MPG more would be MORE then worth the one tenth of one percent increase in cost of the vehicle.
My honest take on all of this is it's mostly window dressing. The exhaust and intake systems make the vehicle sound better and might give the impression it's more powerful but I've read too many conflicting reports on the actual advantage realized. I think MOST HP gains are greatly exaggerated....IF just a simple air filter added 10-20 HP gains EVERY manufacturer would include them. These CAI systems look fairly simple, not exactly revolutaionary and the ones I've looked up draw air from about the exact same location the air on my truck is drawing it from now. It's been 100+ degrees all week here, does it really matter where you draw the air from? If you live in the midwest a CAI would seem to me to be pretty much useless, do cars seem to perform better in Minnesota in the winter? I mean, no CAI in the world can cool air like that.
When it's all said and done, you put all this money into these things and you might realize what, 10-20 HP gains? That's what, a 3- 6% gain on a 345 HP motor? The two BIGGEST factors in increasing your MPG is proper tire air pressure and how many RPM's your running your motor on average.
Hey, it's a <relatively> free country, however someone wants to spend their money is their own business. I've read one person swear they noticed a big difference from a particular mod. then read someone else who did the exact same mod. say they noticed no difference. I think there is a pretty strong psychological effect going on and the SOUND plays a big part of that.
This was an interesting thread.
I always refer back to what my grandpa told me "these companies have engineers who design these vehicles where everything operates in harmony together, they test and retest.....once you start messing with the original design you will more then likely experience a lot more problems in the future then if you just leave it as it was built"
I just try to look at it logically.
Automakers are under tremendous pressure from government regulators to improve fuel mileage. Who's best interest is it in to design and engineer a vehicle to get improved mileage? What would the real cost difference be for the engineers to include these different "systems" (CAI, Exhaust, etc.)? I'd say minimal and the cost benefit to be able to advertise a few MPG more would be MORE then worth the one tenth of one percent increase in cost of the vehicle.
My honest take on all of this is it's mostly window dressing. The exhaust and intake systems make the vehicle sound better and might give the impression it's more powerful but I've read too many conflicting reports on the actual advantage realized. I think MOST HP gains are greatly exaggerated....IF just a simple air filter added 10-20 HP gains EVERY manufacturer would include them. These CAI systems look fairly simple, not exactly revolutaionary and the ones I've looked up draw air from about the exact same location the air on my truck is drawing it from now. It's been 100+ degrees all week here, does it really matter where you draw the air from? If you live in the midwest a CAI would seem to me to be pretty much useless, do cars seem to perform better in Minnesota in the winter? I mean, no CAI in the world can cool air like that.
When it's all said and done, you put all this money into these things and you might realize what, 10-20 HP gains? That's what, a 3- 6% gain on a 345 HP motor? The two BIGGEST factors in increasing your MPG is proper tire air pressure and how many RPM's your running your motor on average.
Hey, it's a <relatively> free country, however someone wants to spend their money is their own business. I've read one person swear they noticed a big difference from a particular mod. then read someone else who did the exact same mod. say they noticed no difference. I think there is a pretty strong psychological effect going on and the SOUND plays a big part of that.
Unfortunately Im gonna have to disagree with you on this one. The "reason" why DC doesn't include any mods on their vehicles is because they have to meet certain critiria and specs in order to release it to the public so they limit the performance and sound of the vehicle to appeal to the average customer. The 5.7L HEMI can be tuned to produce alot more power than what it does from the factory and can also be made much more fuel efficient too if the right tuning is done and the right mods are added.
Also making your truck relearn your driving style makes the truck feel like you bought it bran new every 3,000 miles so I'd say its worth it.