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View Full Version : Aftermarket Cold Air Intake VS Stock Cold Air Intake



Wires
02-20-2009, 11:37 AM
Technically, they should be called "colder" air intakes, because a "cold air" intake draws ambient air from outside the car as opposed to the warmer air in the engine compartment. I'll ignore the semantics for now.

Many of us have added an aftermarket cold air intake to their Marauders, with the intent of improving performance.

The reason cited is often "because cold air is more dense, and thus if you are tuned for it you can make more power.

What I don't understand is, why is an aftermarket cold air intake so much better than the STOCK cold air intake?

With older cars, the stock air intake (I can never get used to calling the air-piping an "intake." To me, an "intake" is an intake manifold, but I digress) draws air from the engine compartment, so one could improve things by adding a "cold" air intake to draw ambient air.

However, car engineers seem to have learned this, and most cars now have a cold air intake as stock - including the Marauder.

So, what's the improvement? Is the airflow that much better? Is it all the tune improving performance anyway? Does it fool the ECU into causing a rich mixture? Wouldn't the ECU, in closed loop mode, cancel out any changes? (again, if the tune is changed, then it's the tune change that cause the increase)

Do people just like the aftermarket intake because the silencer is removed and it makes more noise?

This question isn't unique to Marauders. I've seen other car forums have great debates about aftermarket CAIs - some say it's a complete waste of money, and have dyno plots showing that the stock air piping is not a performance hindrance at all. Others argue that every little bit helps, and they like the noise.

I notice that there isn't much if any debate here, and I'm not trying to start any, but with limited financial means, one should look for maximum performance per dollar. If the stock CAI is adequate, I can look elsewhere for improvement.

SC Cheesehead
02-20-2009, 11:41 AM
I've heard that the Roush-designed OEM filter box and intake is a pretty good design, and that going to an aftermarket CAI will result in minimal perf. improvement.

I had my PHP installed at the same time I got my gears and tune, so I don't have any real benchmarks to gauge performance between the two; however, I do like the looks and sound of the aftermarket CAI.

IMO, gears and a tune will get you more bank for the buck than a CAI.

Bulten Rauder
02-20-2009, 01:39 PM
Aftermarket CAI is all about the sound and look. That's it. Period.

If your desire is more performance, I suggest putting your money into gears, tires, better fuel & Dyno tune, transmission improvements.

Krytin
02-20-2009, 05:49 PM
I had substantial improvement above 5500rpm when I changed to the JLT.
The Dyno run w/the OEM air box took a nose dive above 5500rpm - over 20 rwhp.
Aftermarket intake eliminated the drop and hp was running almost straight to redline.
Aftermarket intakes do make recordable improvements in performance.






and they are louder!

Smokie
02-20-2009, 06:44 PM
Not going to try to talk you into buying anything, these are my results when I was N/A, it is a simple dyno comparison of the OEM airbox versus a PHP airbox:

Peak Results: OEM box 283.0 hp / 295.9 tq
.......................PHP box 289.1 hp / 304.5 tq

Net Results: +6.1 hp -- +8.6 tq

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=48 84&d=1102038864

You can look at dyno chart, at about 3500 rpms the gains are actually 15 HP & 16 TQ. I think that is a little better than just aesthetics.:)

offroadkarter
02-20-2009, 06:53 PM
I had substantial improvement above 5500rpm when I changed to the JLT.



+1 on that, even without a tune my car pulled harder in the upper RPM's


and they are louder!


BIG +1 :D

CKMustangCobra
02-20-2009, 07:21 PM
An engine can only suck so much through a straw...

Which do you think will allow the engine to suck more?

http://img5.image.hotrod.com/f/9516832/p15094_large+2003_Mercury_mara uder+Engine_View.jpg

or

http://www.innovativeinterceptors.com/images/image002.jpg