dumb, but a thought occurred to me. I don't know a lot about the CAI except what I have read on here. I put an air raid on my 06' screw 4.6 a couple of months back. Seems to work ok but I live in south mississippi where it is always HOT. However, the other day, the weather got really bad and the air got cooler outside as the rain and storm moved in. I was driving my truck and it seemed to have more power and was more peppy than normal. That's when this thought occurred to me. So here goes my question. Since a CAI supposedly sucks in cooler air, which is more dense, etc. etc. Does the CAI cause your engine to perform better when the temperature is lower outside as opposed to when it is hot????

If this is common knowledge, forgive me.
Thanks. If this is the case, I can't wait for winter.

 

It performs better year round.....whatever the temp of the air outside is CAI will provide cooler air.....will be Better in the winter..IMO yes

 

Yes cooler air will make the truck run better.

 

I think the term 'cooler, denser' should be applied here.

The only way to have denser air is to have a higher relative humidity.
If its just plain fridgid outside, the air cant hold much humidity.

60 degrees seems to be a sweetspot, so says my motorcycle.

 

That statement is just wrong. While you're right that cooler air is denser, that has nothing to do with the humidity level. There are the same number of molecules in a given volume of air at 100 degrees at 100% humidity as there are at 100 degrees and no humidity. Anyone with any thermodynamic experience can tell you that. For a layman's explanation this should do fine:

Density is essentially how many atoms or molecules of a substance are present in a given volume. Humidity is the amount of WATER molecules mixed up among the molecules of AIR, however, WATER vapor is not AIR and therefore it has no affect on the density of the AIR.

So, yes, if you had a box filled with air at 100 degrees at 100% humidity, what’s in the box would weigh more than the same box filled with air at 100 degrees and 0% humidity. However, saying that the AIR was denser in the first box would be wrong. The mass of the air and the mass the water vapor are two distinct and separate values.

If you want to get really technical you can discuss how the water vapor affects engine performance, but that starts getting ugly.

So long story short:
Colder air has more molecules per given volume (say the volume of the cylinder in your engine) than warmer air. So with more air molecules in your cylinder, more fuel can be burned. That is why you have more power when your intake air is colder.

- NCSU

PS: Sorry for bringing out the engineer in me!

 

...thank you for clarification on this issue.

As a project leader, I have no fear in making statements that are wrong, or false...all statements are a process of elimination.

My ultimate goal is to get direction, towards a solution.

Myth....BUSTED!