who makes the best air intake system
#11
08-11-2006 | 10:42 PM
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 223
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From:
#12
08-12-2006 | 09:51 AM
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 639
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From: Orangevale, CA
RE: who makes the best air intake system
I've had K&N and Airaid both are California legal....buy the way the SRT-10 might have fun on the salt flats but the record is held by the Banks Dakota, 222.139 mph.....bigger is not aways faster 
PS, The addition of the Airaid CAI and Flowmaster 40 got me to 20.8MPG hwy ( 3 more miles per gallon) so you tell me if that is a waste of money at over $3.00's a gallon for fuel
PS, The addition of the Airaid CAI and Flowmaster 40 got me to 20.8MPG hwy ( 3 more miles per gallon) so you tell me if that is a waste of money at over $3.00's a gallon for fuel
#13
08-12-2006 | 11:43 AM
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 299
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RE: who makes the best air intake system
Some of you may disagree with this, but this is my opinion, and I believe it to be 100% dead on.
If you are wanting to race your truck (short bed, Single cab) and want every bit of performance you can squeeze, then maybe buy a CAI.
If you are a daily driver, wanting this to be a hobby and add all the mods you can to your truck, waste money on a CAI.
If you have a QC, it is a waste of money. Our trucks are not racing trucks - ( i am slowly coming to this realization)
I have a 05 QC Hemi; I bought a super 40 single in dual out exhaust; dual out for the look and super 40 for sound - excellent purchase for me - it produced results. It sounds mean and looks good to me.
On a high, I purchased an AIRAID CAI; i couldnt hear a difference in engine sound, because my super 40 was growling if i romp on it.
Wasted 350$$
Then i purchased this jet stream scoop from AIRRAM; i must say when i had my factory set up i was getting 15.4 mpg, after the super40 and CAI i was getting somewhere in the high 14s, now i am getting 15.2 steady - didnt thoroughly test this, but for 50 bucks, i am not kicking myself as hard; however, if i had to do it again, I would only buy the super 40 exhaust.
What I am recommending, if you are buying an exhaust, dont waste your money on a CAI; you wont hear a difference in engine sound, and you most likely will not see a difference anywhere else. Spend the money on another mod, i hear 4.56 gears get a lot of positive tangeable results, maybe headers too, maybe not.
I think the factory CAI box is sufficient and I believe that CAI get a lot of hype, simply because any Joe with a flat head screw driver can install one, and it makes your truck feel more like your own.
**************
Note my review was based on the HEMI, not sure about the 4.7 engine, i know if you have the 4.7 a lot of ppl need the mod of the fastman TB, which is not needed for the HEMI. So maybe the factory airfilter is not sufficient either....dont know.
Let me know if you agree or disagree? Before you disagree, it would be nice if you dyno'd your truck before and after, I wish I would have, maybe the results are there and im not seeing it; but i don't believe that.
Boyd
If you are wanting to race your truck (short bed, Single cab) and want every bit of performance you can squeeze, then maybe buy a CAI.
If you are a daily driver, wanting this to be a hobby and add all the mods you can to your truck, waste money on a CAI.
If you have a QC, it is a waste of money. Our trucks are not racing trucks - ( i am slowly coming to this realization)
I have a 05 QC Hemi; I bought a super 40 single in dual out exhaust; dual out for the look and super 40 for sound - excellent purchase for me - it produced results. It sounds mean and looks good to me.
On a high, I purchased an AIRAID CAI; i couldnt hear a difference in engine sound, because my super 40 was growling if i romp on it.
Wasted 350$$
Then i purchased this jet stream scoop from AIRRAM; i must say when i had my factory set up i was getting 15.4 mpg, after the super40 and CAI i was getting somewhere in the high 14s, now i am getting 15.2 steady - didnt thoroughly test this, but for 50 bucks, i am not kicking myself as hard; however, if i had to do it again, I would only buy the super 40 exhaust.
What I am recommending, if you are buying an exhaust, dont waste your money on a CAI; you wont hear a difference in engine sound, and you most likely will not see a difference anywhere else. Spend the money on another mod, i hear 4.56 gears get a lot of positive tangeable results, maybe headers too, maybe not.
I think the factory CAI box is sufficient and I believe that CAI get a lot of hype, simply because any Joe with a flat head screw driver can install one, and it makes your truck feel more like your own.
**************
Note my review was based on the HEMI, not sure about the 4.7 engine, i know if you have the 4.7 a lot of ppl need the mod of the fastman TB, which is not needed for the HEMI. So maybe the factory airfilter is not sufficient either....dont know.
Let me know if you agree or disagree? Before you disagree, it would be nice if you dyno'd your truck before and after, I wish I would have, maybe the results are there and im not seeing it; but i don't believe that.
Boyd
#14
08-12-2006 | 04:31 PM
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 389
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From:
RE: who makes the best air intake system
Dodge makes the best one for your truck and you’ve already paid for it. Draws air from the same location most aftermarket ones do and filters dirt better as long as you stay with the paper filters. Why pay hard earned cash for a component that provides an insignificant performance gain and will let more dirt into your motor. I’ve been there and done that because I thought it was “cool.†However, after the constant cleaning of the throttle body, TPS and IAC changes, and the knowledge that all the dirt on the throttle body wasn’t all that was getting through, it wasn’t so “cool†after all. Just more noise, more maintenance, more cost, without perceptible benefit.
#15
08-13-2006 | 11:21 AM
Champion
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,313
Likes: 8
RE: who makes the best air intake system
A lot of the nonsense about CAI improving MPG would go away if a two truck test was done.
-----
Got a buddy with a Dodge Ram with the overhead trip computer?
(His truck does not have to be exactly the same as yours, but the closer the
better)
Since you are making a modification with hopes of getting better MPG
why not do a "before & after" test?
Do a 'before test' with both trucks
* you and your buddy fill up at the same gas station and put the same air
pressure in all tires
* Pick a highway without too much traffic and hopefully where the wind is a
head wind or tailwind (side winds mess things up)
* Your Ram and your buddy's Ram follow one another staying at least 6 vehicle
lengths apart
* talk to one another with cell phones or walkie talkies
* drive at the same speed
* reset the overhead computers at the same time
* drive at least long enough to burn up 2.5 gallons
* exit highway, turn around, and continue the test in opposite direction
(this is to partially cancel out wind direction)
* write down average MPG on overhead computers at end of run
and compare this to the gas pump numbers and odometer mileages.
After doing your modification
redo the test the same way as above,
hopefully at a time of day where the temperature is about the same as the
'before' test and the wind speed & direction is not a problem - which you
can check here:
http://tribunewx.wunderground.com/US...WindSpeed.html
Note that in the above weblink you can type in your zip code and get exact
wind, temperature and other weather data.
The value of your buddy's pickup being along on is that on this 'after' test
if his MPG is greatly different you should suspect something has gone wrong
like strong cross winds, a change in temperature, tire air pressure, etc.
If you want to test two trucks against one another that are already modified
like comparing 3.55 differential gears to 4.56 gears
or an underdrive pulley, syn versus dino oil, tire air pressure, thermostat,
SuperChips, etc......
you can modify this test slightly for even better accuracy.
Swap two tires from one truck to the other.
Now both trucks have the same 'average' tires.
Weigh the trucks and add weight to the lighter truck to make them even.
If you really want 'gold standard' accuracy that you can trust
(or if you are measuring a small effect like a thermostat)
then swap the mod over to your buddy's truck
and do the tests another time with your truck as the 'control'.
If you are presently thinking:
"Wow, who would be that careful for a lousy MPG test?"
then just think about a dragstrip
which will have:
carefully measured distances,
highly accurate timing trigger by light beams,
know its altitude,
have a weather station,
and have a computer program to 'adjust' results for weather conditions.
All this type of MPG test is doing is applying the same standards to MPG
that is expected when someone brags about their vehicle's ET or MPH in the
quartermile.
By doing a test this way you are doing a simplified version of a
SAE/TMC Type IV fuel economy test RP 1109.
Here the SAE stands for Society of Automotive Engineers and
TMC stands for Truck Maintenance Council which is a group
of professional 18 wheel truckers who have banded together to share
information. RP stands for recommended procedure.
Credit for inventing a 'reliable' MPG test like this goes to many, but
especially Claude Travis, known to his peers at TMC as "Mr. MPG,"
who has spent 37 years managing the operation, maintenance and testing
of heavy-duty, on-highway vehicles. Highly regarded for his exhaustive
research in the field of heavy-vehicle fuel-economy, he is principal of
Claude Travis and Associates, Fleet Consultants, Grand Rapids, Mich.
In the actual SAE/TMC type IV test they also take the temperature of the
fuel both before and after, because a gallon of fuel coming out of an
underground tank at 57 degrees F will expand/contract several percent
as it approaches that day's air temperature.
If you are interested in learning more about this
there are also SAE/TMC tests I, II and III
and no doubt someday an even better test V will be invented.
-----
Got a buddy with a Dodge Ram with the overhead trip computer?
(His truck does not have to be exactly the same as yours, but the closer the
better)
Since you are making a modification with hopes of getting better MPG
why not do a "before & after" test?
Do a 'before test' with both trucks
* you and your buddy fill up at the same gas station and put the same air
pressure in all tires
* Pick a highway without too much traffic and hopefully where the wind is a
head wind or tailwind (side winds mess things up)
* Your Ram and your buddy's Ram follow one another staying at least 6 vehicle
lengths apart
* talk to one another with cell phones or walkie talkies
* drive at the same speed
* reset the overhead computers at the same time
* drive at least long enough to burn up 2.5 gallons
* exit highway, turn around, and continue the test in opposite direction
(this is to partially cancel out wind direction)
* write down average MPG on overhead computers at end of run
and compare this to the gas pump numbers and odometer mileages.
After doing your modification
redo the test the same way as above,
hopefully at a time of day where the temperature is about the same as the
'before' test and the wind speed & direction is not a problem - which you
can check here:
http://tribunewx.wunderground.com/US...WindSpeed.html
Note that in the above weblink you can type in your zip code and get exact
wind, temperature and other weather data.
The value of your buddy's pickup being along on is that on this 'after' test
if his MPG is greatly different you should suspect something has gone wrong
like strong cross winds, a change in temperature, tire air pressure, etc.
If you want to test two trucks against one another that are already modified
like comparing 3.55 differential gears to 4.56 gears
or an underdrive pulley, syn versus dino oil, tire air pressure, thermostat,
SuperChips, etc......
you can modify this test slightly for even better accuracy.
Swap two tires from one truck to the other.
Now both trucks have the same 'average' tires.
Weigh the trucks and add weight to the lighter truck to make them even.
If you really want 'gold standard' accuracy that you can trust
(or if you are measuring a small effect like a thermostat)
then swap the mod over to your buddy's truck
and do the tests another time with your truck as the 'control'.
If you are presently thinking:
"Wow, who would be that careful for a lousy MPG test?"
then just think about a dragstrip
which will have:
carefully measured distances,
highly accurate timing trigger by light beams,
know its altitude,
have a weather station,
and have a computer program to 'adjust' results for weather conditions.
All this type of MPG test is doing is applying the same standards to MPG
that is expected when someone brags about their vehicle's ET or MPH in the
quartermile.
By doing a test this way you are doing a simplified version of a
SAE/TMC Type IV fuel economy test RP 1109.
Here the SAE stands for Society of Automotive Engineers and
TMC stands for Truck Maintenance Council which is a group
of professional 18 wheel truckers who have banded together to share
information. RP stands for recommended procedure.
Credit for inventing a 'reliable' MPG test like this goes to many, but
especially Claude Travis, known to his peers at TMC as "Mr. MPG,"
who has spent 37 years managing the operation, maintenance and testing
of heavy-duty, on-highway vehicles. Highly regarded for his exhaustive
research in the field of heavy-vehicle fuel-economy, he is principal of
Claude Travis and Associates, Fleet Consultants, Grand Rapids, Mich.
In the actual SAE/TMC type IV test they also take the temperature of the
fuel both before and after, because a gallon of fuel coming out of an
underground tank at 57 degrees F will expand/contract several percent
as it approaches that day's air temperature.
If you are interested in learning more about this
there are also SAE/TMC tests I, II and III
and no doubt someday an even better test V will be invented.
#16
08-13-2006 | 02:50 PM
Banned
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,739
Likes: 7
From: MD
RE: who makes the best air intake system
ORIGINAL: lil
I've had K&N and Airaid both are California legal....buy the way the SRT-10 might have fun on the salt flats but the record is held by the Banks Dakota, 222.139 mph.....bigger is not aways faster
PS, The addition of the Airaid CAI and Flowmaster 40 got me to 20.8MPG hwy ( 3 more miles per gallon) so you tell me if that is a waste of money at over $3.00's a gallon for fuel
I've had K&N and Airaid both are California legal....buy the way the SRT-10 might have fun on the salt flats but the record is held by the Banks Dakota, 222.139 mph.....bigger is not aways faster
PS, The addition of the Airaid CAI and Flowmaster 40 got me to 20.8MPG hwy ( 3 more miles per gallon) so you tell me if that is a waste of money at over $3.00's a gallon for fuel
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/
More like an El Camino, but the Aussie blasted to 168.66 mph (271.44 km/h) average both directions.
#18
08-14-2006 | 04:08 AM
Professional
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 146
Likes: 0
From:
RE: who makes the best air intake system
AIRRAM is my choice, not only does it have the largest inner diameter of 4" comparing to other aftermarket CAI's, but it is insulated and it is positioned precisly where the COLDEST part of the engine bay is and it has out performed every CAI that it has "competed" against in dyno and track runs... and not only that, he is a MEMBER of this site and can answer any questions you have on it.
I have talked to him via e-mail, phone, private messaging on the forum, this forum, and another forum, and he is VERY knowledgeable in the 3gen ram subject and will help you with any questions you may have about the CAI.
I hope this helps...
-David
I have talked to him via e-mail, phone, private messaging on the forum, this forum, and another forum, and he is VERY knowledgeable in the 3gen ram subject and will help you with any questions you may have about the CAI.
I hope this helps...
-David
#19
08-15-2006 | 10:13 AM
Champion
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,313
Likes: 8
RE: who makes the best air intake system
After carefully looking over the Dodge Ram SRT10 air intake system
before spending any money on an aftermarket air intake
an owner ought to get a 'Second Opinion'
by carefully looking over the air intake system
on a 5L BMW V10 engine in one of the M5/M6 cars:
this BMW intake absolutely is designed
like airplane 'Ram Air' systems of World War II piston fighter aircraft
including the all-important 'Stagnation Plenum' chambers
in order to pick up the gains of a vehicle travelling at high speeds.
Air_Ram designs his aftermarket system completely at odds with the above BMW system
even though he uses a name intended to trick 'joe average' into thinking some ramming is
taking place.
If Air_Ram is correct
the BMW engineers are idiots who don't know what they are doing
before spending any money on an aftermarket air intake
an owner ought to get a 'Second Opinion'
by carefully looking over the air intake system
on a 5L BMW V10 engine in one of the M5/M6 cars:
this BMW intake absolutely is designed
like airplane 'Ram Air' systems of World War II piston fighter aircraft
including the all-important 'Stagnation Plenum' chambers
in order to pick up the gains of a vehicle travelling at high speeds.
Air_Ram designs his aftermarket system completely at odds with the above BMW system
even though he uses a name intended to trick 'joe average' into thinking some ramming is
taking place.
If Air_Ram is correct
the BMW engineers are idiots who don't know what they are doing
#20
08-15-2006 | 10:29 PM
All Star
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 752
Likes: 0
From: Tracy, CA
RE: who makes the best air intake system
..I went with a homemade CAI replacing the resonator with 4" piping (like air rams)...but im still using my stock air box but drilled 5 1" dia holes on the bottom of it to allow more airflow.... I love listenin to the naysayers...as im passin them on the road...keep talkin and don't buy one...I love drivin ahead of you.... all these years, hankL...is still hankL ...keep everything in your truck stock..i like it that way...