Do cold air intakes really work?
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From: Central Louisiana
Do cold air intakes really work?
I have an '07 Ford Supercrew Lariat 5.4 and want to get a K&N (or comparable) cold air intake. My husband insists that installing the intake without modifying the exhaust will not improve performance. He says taking in more air means you must be able to expel more air to see any results. Is this correct? Seems like a lot of people use cold air intakes without modifying their exhaust. He has worked on Ford vehicles for over 30 years, not as a certified mechanic, but as a hobby. He does the upkeep and repair (unless under warranty) on our vehicles as well as our kids, parents and siblings. I understand what he is saying but feel like there is an explanation of how and why it will work. I need the information that will convince him. Thanks!
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Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Farmington, MO
well the intake will make a good difference if you have an aftermarket exhaust or not. dont know how to explain it well, but you will gain just as much if you have an exhaust system or the stock exhaust.
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Hi & welcome.
Well, if your hubby needs convincing, then have him do the research. Why should you do all the work?
If the exhaust is relatively unrestricted (and on the 04+'s that the case even stock) a proper aftermarket intake will help (note I don't mean K&N, I'm talking AF1). Of course, a proper catback will also help, but not to anywhere near as great a degree as the intake.
It's a complex subject - 30 years of "hobby-ism" does not prepare one for the intracacies involved in modding the intakes on 04+ F150's. Does your hubby know what a lean condition is? What a MAF transfer function is?
Point your hubby to apply the great search function here over on the Chips forum, where the best intake advice actually exists. Better yet, just have him call Troyer Performance and speak to Mike.
Meanwhile, just to get you started, here's just a sample of what you / hubby will find, if you actually want to look & learn:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...18&postcount=5
Good luck - your hubby sounds lazy to me... bet he deosn't cook either
Well, if your hubby needs convincing, then have him do the research. Why should you do all the work?
If the exhaust is relatively unrestricted (and on the 04+'s that the case even stock) a proper aftermarket intake will help (note I don't mean K&N, I'm talking AF1). Of course, a proper catback will also help, but not to anywhere near as great a degree as the intake.
It's a complex subject - 30 years of "hobby-ism" does not prepare one for the intracacies involved in modding the intakes on 04+ F150's. Does your hubby know what a lean condition is? What a MAF transfer function is?
Point your hubby to apply the great search function here over on the Chips forum, where the best intake advice actually exists. Better yet, just have him call Troyer Performance and speak to Mike.
Meanwhile, just to get you started, here's just a sample of what you / hubby will find, if you actually want to look & learn:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...18&postcount=5
Good luck - your hubby sounds lazy to me... bet he deosn't cook either
Last edited by MGDfan; Mar 25, 2007 at 01:06 PM.
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Joined: Mar 2006
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From: Longview, Texas
To finally answer your question sceintifically...
A cold air intake increases performance because it is using colder air. Stock intakes are usually right near the engine, and the temperature though not hot, could be significantly lower. The kits usually place the intake near the perimeter (or coldest part of engine cowling) of the vehicle at an area of high airflow. Colder air is more dense, which means for the same amount of volume, there is more oxygen, increasing efficiency and power because of a better burn in the cylinder. Also, aftermarket intakes have filters with less restriction, allowing the engine to breath easier. King of like try to breath through a small straw, then a big straw. The biggest thing is the temeprature of the air. The colder it is, the more dense it is, and the less moisture it can hold. Colder air is also drier.
Hope that answers your question!
PS - The volume of airflow is affected by the exhaust, but a cold air kit WILL increase performance even if you don't mess with the exhaust. Your husband is somewhat right, but the fact that the air is colder will make a difference, as well as the suction through the filter will be less restrictive. Getting both aftermarket systems will complement each other.
A cold air intake increases performance because it is using colder air. Stock intakes are usually right near the engine, and the temperature though not hot, could be significantly lower. The kits usually place the intake near the perimeter (or coldest part of engine cowling) of the vehicle at an area of high airflow. Colder air is more dense, which means for the same amount of volume, there is more oxygen, increasing efficiency and power because of a better burn in the cylinder. Also, aftermarket intakes have filters with less restriction, allowing the engine to breath easier. King of like try to breath through a small straw, then a big straw. The biggest thing is the temeprature of the air. The colder it is, the more dense it is, and the less moisture it can hold. Colder air is also drier.
Hope that answers your question!
PS - The volume of airflow is affected by the exhaust, but a cold air kit WILL increase performance even if you don't mess with the exhaust. Your husband is somewhat right, but the fact that the air is colder will make a difference, as well as the suction through the filter will be less restrictive. Getting both aftermarket systems will complement each other.
Last edited by Jszar; Mar 28, 2007 at 02:06 PM.
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Originally Posted by Jszar
To finally answer your question sceintifically...
A cold air intake increases performance because it is using colder air. Stock intakes are usually right near the engine, and the temperature though not hot, could be significantly lower. The kits usually place the intake near the perimeter (or coldest part of engine cowling) of the vehicle at an area of high airflow. Colder air is more dense, which means for the same amount of volume, there is more oxygen, increasing efficiency and power because of a better burn in the cylinder. Also, aftermarket intakes have filters with less restriction, allowing the engine to breath easier. King of like try to breath through a small straw, then a big straw. The biggest thing is the temeprature of the air. The colder it is, the more dense it is, and the less moisture it can hold. Colder air is also drier.
Hope that answers your question!
PS - The volume of airflow is affected by the exhaust, but a cold air kit WILL increase performance even if you don't mess with the exhaust. Your husband is somewhat right, but the fact that the air is colder will make a difference, as well as the suction through the filter will be less restrictive. Getting both aftermarket systems will complement each other.
A cold air intake increases performance because it is using colder air. Stock intakes are usually right near the engine, and the temperature though not hot, could be significantly lower. The kits usually place the intake near the perimeter (or coldest part of engine cowling) of the vehicle at an area of high airflow. Colder air is more dense, which means for the same amount of volume, there is more oxygen, increasing efficiency and power because of a better burn in the cylinder. Also, aftermarket intakes have filters with less restriction, allowing the engine to breath easier. King of like try to breath through a small straw, then a big straw. The biggest thing is the temeprature of the air. The colder it is, the more dense it is, and the less moisture it can hold. Colder air is also drier.
Hope that answers your question!
PS - The volume of airflow is affected by the exhaust, but a cold air kit WILL increase performance even if you don't mess with the exhaust. Your husband is somewhat right, but the fact that the air is colder will make a difference, as well as the suction through the filter will be less restrictive. Getting both aftermarket systems will complement each other.
Hi.
Sorry to burst your bubble but you are basically incorrect.
The factory intake feeds from the fender well, and can be considered a 'cooler-air' intake.
On the other hand, an AF1! for example has a minimal shroud and gets air indirectly from the hole in the 'well, as well as the engine compartment.
The AF1 still manages to blow away the factory intake (and most others, closed box or otherwise)
IAT's are misunderstood - at speed most intakes measure at or near ambient regardless of design. At Idle, they all eventally heat up - some more than others but they all do.
BTW - ever look down while the hood is open - see the ground? The engine compartment breaths quite well at speed.
So the key is flow characteristics, velocity and volume, not how cool the air actually is. It's a factor but not the predominant one.
And of paramount importance is how the intake affects the MAF.
Search & learn, young'n
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 11
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From: Longview, Texas
Originally Posted by MGDfan
Hi.
Sorry to burst your bubble but you are basically incorrect.
The factory intake feeds from the fender well, and can be considered a 'cooler-air' intake.
On the other hand, an AF1! for example has a minimal shroud and gets air indirectly from the hole in the 'well, as well as the engine compartment.
The AF1 still manages to blow away the factory intake (and most others, closed box or otherwise)
IAT's are misunderstood - at speed most intakes measure at or near ambient regardless of design. At Idle, they all eventally heat up - some more than others but they all do.
BTW - ever look down while the hood is open - see the ground? The engine compartment breaths quite well at speed.
So the key is flow characteristics, velocity and volume, not how cool the air actually is. It's a factor but not the predominant one.
And of paramount importance is how the intake affects the MAF.
Search & learn, young'n
Sorry to burst your bubble but you are basically incorrect.
The factory intake feeds from the fender well, and can be considered a 'cooler-air' intake.
On the other hand, an AF1! for example has a minimal shroud and gets air indirectly from the hole in the 'well, as well as the engine compartment.
The AF1 still manages to blow away the factory intake (and most others, closed box or otherwise)
IAT's are misunderstood - at speed most intakes measure at or near ambient regardless of design. At Idle, they all eventally heat up - some more than others but they all do.
BTW - ever look down while the hood is open - see the ground? The engine compartment breaths quite well at speed.
So the key is flow characteristics, velocity and volume, not how cool the air actually is. It's a factor but not the predominant one.
And of paramount importance is how the intake affects the MAF.
Search & learn, young'n
Temperature has as much effect as any other, though temperature might have the smaller power curve, it'd be slight. Cooling the air makes a significant difference. The velocity of the air is regulated by the speed of the engine, as well as volume. The intake provides clean air, and lowering the temperature of that air makes the combustion signficantly better. Relieving restriction aids velocity, and most intake systems can provide more than enough volume already, it's the efficiency of it that isn't designed highly. for example a thick filter and plastic ducting.
Last edited by Jszar; Mar 28, 2007 at 03:52 PM.
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Hi Jszar;
Don't take offense if someone doesn't agree with you; no offense was intended - it's the internet, after all
Actually, I think we do agree on most points. Where we differ is on intake temps & how it relates to performance on this platform.
My point being - in this (specific) truck application, air charge temp (Naturally aspirated only, okay - boost is a whole other ballgame), is simply not the primary differentiating factor to making power across all the intakes available. Design is ... from the filter to the tube cross-section, shape & material, to the MAF placement. You can pretty much throw a small blanket over the variations in IAT's for these intakes at speed.
The evidence is compelling - there are numerous documented tests already posted here showing an open-element, well designed intake ( AF1 3") producing superior results to any of 26 other intakes tested. Same vehicle same dyno, same conditions.
That's not theory - it's fact. Real-world results. How would you account for this?
I'm sure aircraft intake design follows a different set of criteria compared to an automotive application where the entire intake system lives inside the engine bay and said vehicle travels at relatively slow speeds.
Additionally, just as an example, consider the specific platform (e.g. 5.4 L 3V) - the factory intake has three different Helmholtz resonators protruding from it - each to suppress a specific offending intake frequency range, hence producing an extremely quiet intake, but at the cost of efficiency, and a very uneven power curve - only approaching ideal efficiency in a very narrow rpm range, and weak everywhere else. AF1 capitalizes on this weakness, enabling vast "under the curve" gains, as well as extending the power peak - by design. That's why the peak numbers, while real good, do not tell the whole story ...
So I do agree with you in principal, just do not agree with you in this context.
Summary:
Given sufficient access to significantly cooler air, all else being equal, the engine injesting the cooler air will produce more power.
As stated, at speed, IAT's will be a wash - only differentiator will be design.
For this specific platform, design is crucial for both power & safe a/f's.
A significant increase in flow will almost certainly require programmatic MAF transfer function corrections. ( the reason the 3" AF1 does not, but the 3.5" does)
Sitting in 100+ degree ambient, humid air in gridlock, there's no such thing as a cold air intake - 'Cold-air intake' in this context is really just a marketing term.
Okay?
Best of luck on your certification!
Don't take offense if someone doesn't agree with you; no offense was intended - it's the internet, after all
Actually, I think we do agree on most points. Where we differ is on intake temps & how it relates to performance on this platform.
My point being - in this (specific) truck application, air charge temp (Naturally aspirated only, okay - boost is a whole other ballgame), is simply not the primary differentiating factor to making power across all the intakes available. Design is ... from the filter to the tube cross-section, shape & material, to the MAF placement. You can pretty much throw a small blanket over the variations in IAT's for these intakes at speed.
The evidence is compelling - there are numerous documented tests already posted here showing an open-element, well designed intake ( AF1 3") producing superior results to any of 26 other intakes tested. Same vehicle same dyno, same conditions.
That's not theory - it's fact. Real-world results. How would you account for this?
I'm sure aircraft intake design follows a different set of criteria compared to an automotive application where the entire intake system lives inside the engine bay and said vehicle travels at relatively slow speeds.
Additionally, just as an example, consider the specific platform (e.g. 5.4 L 3V) - the factory intake has three different Helmholtz resonators protruding from it - each to suppress a specific offending intake frequency range, hence producing an extremely quiet intake, but at the cost of efficiency, and a very uneven power curve - only approaching ideal efficiency in a very narrow rpm range, and weak everywhere else. AF1 capitalizes on this weakness, enabling vast "under the curve" gains, as well as extending the power peak - by design. That's why the peak numbers, while real good, do not tell the whole story ...
So I do agree with you in principal, just do not agree with you in this context.
Summary:
Given sufficient access to significantly cooler air, all else being equal, the engine injesting the cooler air will produce more power.
As stated, at speed, IAT's will be a wash - only differentiator will be design.
For this specific platform, design is crucial for both power & safe a/f's.
A significant increase in flow will almost certainly require programmatic MAF transfer function corrections. ( the reason the 3" AF1 does not, but the 3.5" does)
Sitting in 100+ degree ambient, humid air in gridlock, there's no such thing as a cold air intake
- 'Cold-air intake' in this context is really just a marketing term.Okay?
Best of luck on your certification!
Last edited by MGDfan; Mar 29, 2007 at 11:03 AM.
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Originally Posted by GrahamC7
All theories aside, unless your truck is for racing, a CAI isn't going to provide any sort of noticeable gain for the extra greenbacks, period.
Problem is, it not theory. Not in the case of the factory intake vs an AF1.
Some of the info in the post(s) above were gleaned from R&D results reported from an independent & very highly respected shop - NOT an intake manufacturer.
The gains are real & they are noticable on this specific platform.
I agree that may not be the case on ALL platforms.
You may want to consider searching here ( both Chips & intake forums) for a lot more info on this, if you have not already become close-minded on this topic.
Last edited by MGDfan; Apr 3, 2007 at 12:09 PM.
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 774
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From: western washington
Originally Posted by MGDfan
Hi.
Sorry to burst your bubble but you are basically incorrect.
The factory intake feeds from the fender well, and can be considered a 'cooler-air' intake.
On the other hand, an AF1! for example has a minimal shroud and gets air indirectly from the hole in the 'well, as well as the engine compartment.
The AF1 still manages to blow away the factory intake (and most others, closed box or otherwise)
IAT's are misunderstood - at speed most intakes measure at or near ambient regardless of design. At Idle, they all eventally heat up - some more than others but they all do.
BTW - ever look down while the hood is open - see the ground? The engine compartment breaths quite well at speed.
So the key is flow characteristics, velocity and volume, not how cool the air actually is. It's a factor but not the predominant one.
And of paramount importance is how the intake affects the MAF.
Search & learn, young'n
Sorry to burst your bubble but you are basically incorrect.
The factory intake feeds from the fender well, and can be considered a 'cooler-air' intake.
On the other hand, an AF1! for example has a minimal shroud and gets air indirectly from the hole in the 'well, as well as the engine compartment.
The AF1 still manages to blow away the factory intake (and most others, closed box or otherwise)
IAT's are misunderstood - at speed most intakes measure at or near ambient regardless of design. At Idle, they all eventally heat up - some more than others but they all do.
BTW - ever look down while the hood is open - see the ground? The engine compartment breaths quite well at speed.
So the key is flow characteristics, velocity and volume, not how cool the air actually is. It's a factor but not the predominant one.
And of paramount importance is how the intake affects the MAF.
Search & learn, young'n
what he said.....
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Joined: Jan 2007
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Likes: 1
From: western washington
Originally Posted by Jszar
If I wasn't about to be a licensed A&P mechanic I might feel smaller after your post, however I disagree. Your points for velocity and volume are key yes, however a cold air intake got its name for a reason. I take classes everyday concerning physics and characteristics of engines at sea level and altitude for aircraft, as well as aerodynamics of airflow through intake systems. You may disagree with me, but don't undermine my opinion. Which has significant educational influence and hours of lab experience I might add.
Temperature has as much effect as any other, though temperature might have the smaller power curve, it'd be slight. Cooling the air makes a significant difference. The velocity of the air is regulated by the speed of the engine, as well as volume. The intake provides clean air, and lowering the temperature of that air makes the combustion signficantly better. Relieving restriction aids velocity, and most intake systems can provide more than enough volume already, it's the efficiency of it that isn't designed highly. for example a thick filter and plastic ducting.
Temperature has as much effect as any other, though temperature might have the smaller power curve, it'd be slight. Cooling the air makes a significant difference. The velocity of the air is regulated by the speed of the engine, as well as volume. The intake provides clean air, and lowering the temperature of that air makes the combustion signficantly better. Relieving restriction aids velocity, and most intake systems can provide more than enough volume already, it's the efficiency of it that isn't designed highly. for example a thick filter and plastic ducting.