Originally Posted by HotWires

Sorry, your IAT will go up with an open element filter installed. The coolest IATs I have seen are with the stock air box.

Originally Posted by Superchips_Distributor

... in short, what we found is that no matter what type of system you use, below a threshold speed of about 30-35 mph, you are going into heat soak - period. By that I simply mean that IAT's actually entering the engine will start to creep above ambient. Now above that speed, the IAT's, with a good intake kit, will drop to within a coupla-few degrees of ambient. So this is a lower-speed issue that we have seen nothing short of spraying really do anything about, despite all the various mfg.'s claims.

This whole myth of breathing "hot underhood air" is just that - a myth - we clearly found that in our data. The air filter elements on virtually all intake kits in the aftermarket are WELL away from direct heat rise from the motor, exhaust manifolds, etc. So it really doesn't matter even if a heat shield is used in most cases, or whether it's sealed to the hood, etc. - that is primarily marketing. The other thing is that the claims that the typical black phenolic-resin based plastic intake kits provided colder IAT's was also false. The only material we found deleterious to IAT's was aluminum as it took on heat quicker and shed it slower. See, this thought pattern really dates back to the days of carburetors, when the air filter element was right on top of the engine - but that does not happen with intake kits today, they virtually all have the filter element well away from any direct heat rise from the motor - so then it simply becomes a matter of underhood air circulation, and thus at what point do you hit the threshold of enough air circulation under the hood to overcome the natural heat soak of low speed/stationary - and we do not see scoops, etc making any significant change to that, especially in sumer with hot pavement temps! Not when you actually do proper IAT datalogging & true controlled testing of this - which is not easy to do - heck, it took us the better part of 2 years to really get data I considered to be good, as we had to duplicate ambient temps & humidity levels, etc., so it was quite a challenge.

Sooo - where does this all leave us? I prefer no scoops, etc., just use the AF1's aircraft grade T304 S/S that is mirror polished on the outside ONLY, as that is what is showing us the best power gains and lowest overall IAT's - yes, even though it is "metal." It's a matter of heat rejection/shedding in the real world, not some lab materials analysis - at least, that is what our data showed us, and why several intake manufacturers have had us help them do their kit design, and also why a few of them absolute hate us, too.

For example, we tested the stock intake and the AF1 on a 2004 5.4 3V idling in summer **for an hour with hood down** with both intakes - and the AF1 gave us 6-8 degrees colder IAT's - and no, I'm not saying that all others are "bad" kits, that was just the data we got.

Originally Posted by Lost Pup

Return Label received 7/17/2006 ( 2 Day UPS : Thanks Rob )
Mailed back on 7/18/2006
Received by edge on 7/20/2006

Originally Posted by R1Jester

At idle maybe, but at speed, I've seen IAT's at ambient