Cold Air Intake??

[My04isnice]

I was just wondering if a cold air intake should come before or after a tune... and i saw some people on here a while back saying how they tweaked the xcal2 tune and made it better... is this true?

One final thing... is it better to do a chip tune n your own or to take it to a performance shop? Or does it matter?

[Raudermaster]

Most of the vendors on here are really involved with the MM's and most of us don't trust any average "Joe" tuner with our cars. Some say a JLT will benefit with a tune before hand, I, however didn't notice any "sluggish" performance when I had the JLT before my tune. I think a lot of guys go with the K&N because of the name, but I'm very happy with my JLT and wouldn't have it any other way.

[My04isnice]

ok... so i will get the CAI before my tune... is there a noticeable gain in hp?

[Raudermaster]

The car feels a bit quicker. No compare to the tune though.

[VAmarauder03]

I love my JLT, then again I love my tune, and my gears...ahh screw it I love my car:D

[freakstatus]

The last time I vouched for the K&N I got my a$$ shredded for not supporting a site vendor so...gonna keep my mouth shut on this one.

[RF Overlord]

freakstatus, I don't see why you can't mention K&N. Lidio sells them and he's a vendor here...

[Marauderjack]

CAI's will give you a bunch of induction noise which most equate to more power but in reality you will get very little power gain from just a CAI......a reputable tune will give you much more and I believe most tuners have a "Shelf Tune" for additional air with a CAI??:confused::beer:

Good Luck and .......get a blower for REAL POWER!!!!:bows::D

Marauderjack:burnout:

[Local Boy]

My JLT works great...

I encourage you to get it...Great Product...Great Customer Service!

ALOHA

[GrazniM]

IMO

K&N with Steeda GT500 (Inverted Cone cap) Filter Element as per FordNut thread.
:cool:
CAI then tune.

[FastMerc]

I have the Metco setup and it works well and after the tune it really woke up the car.

[fastblackmerc]

The JLT works for me.

[GreekGod]

I wasn't convinced a CAI was worth it, but after observing intake air temps with a ScanGauge, I'm now sure there is a HP increase from them.

In the real world (street driving), the gain is very small. At a drag-strip, it should be quantifiable.

[finster101]

My personal experience, however limited it may be. If money is an issue and you can only do one thing at a time do the "tune" first. The transmission management alone is worth the cost. Plain and simply a tune makes the car more enjoyable to drive. You will not get that with a CAI. If you have cubic dollars then do both at the same time or say to hell with and get boost. I don't have cubic dollars so I do a lot of reading and see what works for the majority of people. Remember opinions are like azzholes everyone has one.














'

[racorcey]

CAI's will give you a bunch of induction noise which most equate to more power but in reality you will get very little power gain from just a CAI......a reputable tune will give you much more and I believe most tuners have a "Shelf Tune" for additional air with a CAI??:confused:
Marauderjack:burnout:

MJ - does this equate with the 5hp gain from each sticker or accessory added to the vehicle?;)

While most of my CAI dyno and strip testing was done with '94 to '96 Impalas SS's - and I must have gone through at least 10 of them - you are basically correct in what you say above. A lot of noise.

While it is true that the Impala has a much more restrictive stock air inlet system than the MM to begin with, the CAI, when tested at dyno level, generally yields very little addition hp/tq. Where it really shows up is on the road or track. The best system available, for the Impala SS anyway, was a very neat system that basically was an underhood ram funnel that took air from the grille, and then relocated the MAF to work with it. On the dyno there was essentially no gain. At the track, it resulted in .3 seconds less and about 2 mph more in the 1/4 mile. That equates to a 30 hp increase - a very impressive gain for about $125.00

Unfortunately, there is no way to make an equivalent item for the MM due to the car's underhood construction. But I did think about it.:)

I didn't do any specific searches here for before and after track vrs. butt-o-meter CAI comparisons, but I would still be curious if anyone has done a good track before and after comparison. Based on the fact that the MM has a special low restriction filter from the factory, and the low air requirements for the stock motor, I, personally, don't see much gain to be had for stock applications using a CAI, other than supplying a bit more of a cooler air charge under some conditions. I say this without having had the experience of testing any CAI's with my MM.

I do agree that the tune I got from Lonnie Doll has been the biggest wake-up item for my MM, along with the change in plugs and 'stat. My butt-o-meter tells me an easy .4 second time change at the track with this tune.

I'm sure that some of the other posters here can supply some good, factual data regarding the CAI for stock applications - I hope.

- Randy

[racorcey]

I wasn't convinced a CAI was worth it, but after observing intake air temps with a ScanGauge, I'm now sure there is a HP increase from them.

Greek - I was rather delightfully surprised that with the stock airbox setup, I was able to see both the IAT and the outside ambients were within a few degrees of one another, at least while driving. When the ambient temps reached closer to 90 degrees, then the IAT delta was higher.

In my experiences with my '96 Impala SS, due to its stock IA plumbing, the differences were much higher, and the cars responded very nicely with any decent CAI system.

Again, I wish I had the time to "scientifically" evaluate some MM CAI's, but I can't. As in my post above, I hope someone else has.

- Randy

[GreekGod]

...Again, I wish I had the time to "scientifically" evaluate some MM CAI's, but I can't. As in my post above, I hope someone else has....- Randy

I ran quicker when I removed the left headlight assembly, but I had far too few runs to establish a definite difference.

My opinion is, a scoop is needed to direct a ram air effect to the CAI area. It looks like a possible intake would be below & behind the bumper...almost directly under the CAI area...maybe extended in front of the bumper, if there is a good hi-pressure area present. Oldsmobile had such a dual system around '68-70 (with the W30?).

I'm surprised someone hasn't already come up with one. It should be called Big-Mouth, for it's wide oval inlet: (________)

[Local Boy]

I'm working on a prototype just for that area (ram air). I'm using the diesel system (Banks) as an example...

Right now it is being designed to fit behind the lower grill (driver side), and funnel air (via flex tubing) to the air filter...

As most of you know, there is a bracket there that is a challenge to get around...

Will let you guys see the finished design, when done and installed...

ALOHA

[racorcey]

I'm working on a prototype just for that area (ram air). I'm using the diesel system (Banks) as an example...

Right now it is being designed to fit behind the lower grill (driver side), and funnel air (via flex tubing) to the air filter...

As most of you know, there is a bracket there that is a challenge to get around...

Will let you guys see the finished design, when done and installed...

ALOHA

Sounds like a plan! Not knowing exactly how low you want to go, do be careful. The last person to try this on the '94-'96 Impala SS wound up replacing a few motors for people. He had the pickup tube just below the bumper valance, and thought he had licked a potential water ingress problem. And he did - except for several instances where people were running through rather deep puddles unintentionally (mostly in TX and down South). Water literally "rammed" its way through a K&N filter, up two feet of tubing, through the MAF and TB, right into the motor. Very ugly.

- Randy

[racorcey]

I ran quicker when I removed the left headlight assembly, but I had far too few runs to establish a definite difference.

My opinion is, a scoop is needed to direct a ram air effect to the CAI area. It looks like a possible intake would be below & behind the bumper...almost directly under the CAI area...maybe extended in front of the bumper, if there is a good hi-pressure area present. Oldsmobile had such a dual system around '68-70 (with the W30?).

I'm surprised someone hasn't already come up with one. It should be called Big-Mouth, for it's wide oval inlet: (________)


I have seen some references on this forum to the left headlight removal. Sounds like it couldn't hurt. But as you infer, it would be nice to quantitize it.

With respect to the Olds, being age 58, I am familar with your description. Don't forget, one of the reasons for the dual input had to do with the size of the motors at the time - 430 and 455 c.i. Those monsters, even in stock form, could easily gulp 850 to 1000 cfm at WOT.

Actually, Chevy had the right idea in 1970. For those of you old enough to remember, that year only, the Chevelle could be ordered with a Cowl Induction System on any 396 or 454 motor. That system really did help. With stock track times in the 13's (396), I experimented then with the cowl access door. It made as much as a .4 to .5 second difference, or about 40 hp, and about a 3 to 4 mph change at the end of the 1/4 mile. Again, nothing you could see on the dyno. Cowl pressure is one of the greatest sources of free air ramming known to the racing folks. It's just not always practical to harness.

Of course, back then, the carbs and air filters were in the right place to take advantage of such an induction system. With our TB and MAF systems today, they just aren't mechanically set up to take advantage of much anything related to good air flow. So we do what we can.:D

- Randy

[Local Boy]

Thanks for the tip racorcey...Maybe a snorkel could work...LOL

ALOHA

[Richy04]

it should be quantifiable.


And that ladies and gentlemen should be todays three dollar word. It should be used in all of your posts to this board today!! :)