Hey all, just wanted to say hi and thank you all on the forums here. Found your forums back when i was looking up hid's. Well I have a 2011 ran 4x4 with the hemi. After 3 long years of working my butt off, the truck I am happy to say will be paid in full on the 16th of this month. I've never owned a vech with a cai (cold air intake). All the guys at work have been telling me to get one, but i didn't want to add any money into something I didn't own yet. I was rebuilding my credit so needless to say it's a base model, single exhaust and whatnot. Well Ive been reading they add hp and maby 1-2 mpg. In short is it worth it. So far all i was thinking of doing was window/rain guards, get rid of the factory 1single exhaust (staying with 1 but lager pipe and muff), cai and maby a throttle body spacer???

In terms of the cai, do you HAVE to go Mopar for the warranty issues on the truck? Just asking as i don't want to void my warranty if I don't have to, truck only has 34,000km

Edit: Sorry thought of another question, Im in northern Canada, If i got a cai would I have to switch it out durning the winter months? We can get a butt load of snowfall up here.

 

Nope - pretty much useless in all regards

 

Their are quite a few threads on this site as well as around the internet in regards to CAI systems pointing out why they are in most cases (not all) a waste of time and money.

They make claims to do two things:

Claim #1, they flow more air then a stock setup.

If you put one of these aftermarket system on a flowbench, they likely would flow much more then a stock intake system. But what people fail to realize is no matter how much air an aftermarket CAI can flow, it cannot deliver more air past the throttle body then IT can flow nor can it flow more air then the engine exhausts.

An Engines throttle body, intake manifold, cylinder heads, intake and exhaust valves, headers, cats, and the entire exhaust system have a maximum flow rate. And no matter how big an intake tube you install or how freely a filter flows you are not going to magically get more air (and in turn more power) out of an engine. Our trucks in the stock form are not being held back in any way by the CFM's our stock air filter or the intake tube can flow. So unless you start doing major mods to your intake and exhaust system (Headers, free flow exhaust, larger throttle body, head porting, etc) you will not see any noticeable HP gain on your truck whatsoever. And an increase in MPG? Not a chance. And to add, the 2011 Ram's have a very large factory intake tube as it is without much of any restrictions. So for our trucks it is really not necessary unless you do major mods.

And lastly, claim #2. A CAI flows cooler air which is more dense and in turn means more power

First and foremost being that unless the CAI system you buy is actually drawing air from OUTSIDE the engine compartment it is not a true CAI. I see far too many manufacturers market a system that is nothing more then a free flow tube and a large free flow air filter that replaces the stock setup as a CAI. But the filter is still in the engine compartment sucking in HOT air. Some use a baffle with a rubber "gasket" on top that is designed to keep the hot air away from the intake but it's not a good enough seal to make a real difference. And steer clear of any of these systems that use metal tubing. Metal conducts heat far better then plastic and rubber so the metal tube will heat up from the radiant heat in the engine compartment and further heat the intake air, even if you are routing the air from outside the engine compartment.

I did a bunch of tests on my 06' Ram using an IAT gauge (Inlet air temp) and saw temp INCREASES over the stock setup when using one of these systems.

As for throttle body spacers? Snake Oil my friend. They do NOTHING. If simply adding an inch more material behind a throttle body actually improved performance, engine builders would make them standard.

At one time when most intake manifolds were made of metal they had a purpose. Plastic throttle body spacers were popular to keep the throttle body cool (and in turn, the intake air cooler) by acting as an insulator. But now the whole intake manifold is plastic. So their is no need for them.

And before you even ask, i would steer clear of K&N or any other type of high flow filter. Aside from the proven fact they allow more dirt past then a paper air filter which in turn leads to more engine wear. They also are not necessary because once again, on a stock truck, you are not losing power by using a paper air filter. The stock system right from Dodge flows more air then the engine can use.

I personally am more then happy with the power and acceleration of my truck. The idea of spending a few hundred dollars to even attempt to squeeze 1-2 HP (which you would never even feel) to me is ridiculous. If anybody INSISTS to you that they saw noticeable HP gains by adding a CAI to an 11' Ram ask them to run it on a chassis dyno with and without the system.

IF i was craving more power (which i'm not in any way) i would go with a programmer. It is by far the easiest and fastest way to get more power. You will see instant HP gains with no tools or any real effort.

 

And as information, i posted my opinion on the subject based on my own and others experiences. If anybody who owns a 4th Gen Ram that is stock with the exception of a "CAI" with an engine compartment mounted air filter can provide dyno test proof of an actual HP gain using a CAI on a stock truck i would LOVE to see it.

"I CAN FEEL THE DIFFERENCE!" really means nothing. Most people who claim they can feel a difference are simply hearing a difference. The engine sounds louder so their brain tricks them into thinking it's faster. This too is a proven fact.

A couple of buddies of mine at the Firehouse still laugh at another buddy we tried this theory on. He was jumping for joy when we told him we did a high flow fuel injector swap, raised his fuel pressure and ported his Throttle body on his Camaro. He had left his car with one of us who also worked at a service station so we could do these actual mods for him. But we told him the mods were all done when in fact none of them were. After a week we finally broke the news to him. He did not even believe us that we didn't do the work until we showed him the parts still in the box from Summit. He was convinced his car was MUCH faster. All because he thought their were mods done.

 

You'll waste a lot of money just to hear more noise coming from under the hood, don't drink the cai kool-aid.

 

Ask your self how far the cost of a cai will get you vers the amount of gas you could buy, also ambiant air temp cant be made colder and why is dodge, ford GM adding thease kits directly from factory? To get free HP?

Dual ex, cai, and a tuner will incrase mpg and performace, but one upgrade by its self will only make you feel good because you spent $$$$ you could have use for gas..

 

One of those deals where if you have one they're worth it, if you don't they're not..

 

NO...the *** DYNO will not be able to notice the .15% HP increase if it's purely a stock truck.

 

WOW, thanks for the input. I have to admit i was not expecting that. I'll take your advice though and just tweek the exhaust and i'll use the money that was for the cai for a aftermarket deck i suppose. Thanks again all.

 

I will agree with what everyone is saying. I bought a cai I did nothing but make it loud. Hated it. Than I find a Vararam intake. Now this is a true cai. Now if ur not doing any mods it's not worth it. I did a ported tb, took out the restrictive y-pipe, cat-back exhaust. Plus doing a custom tune now. Hearder are in the future. If ur not ready to start doing this. Than save ur money on a cai. IMO