I just got done taking the cone off of my stock intake and i am trying to figure out why it takes air from above the wheel well

 

To prevent it from pulling hot air out of the engine compartment

 

Is the hot air bad??

Also, while we are on the subject, has anyone ever re-routed the air intake to force more air in? Like ram air? I did a similiar mod on my old Alero and surprisingly, it helped with flow.

 

Hot air equals less oxygen in the air, therefore, there is less oxygen available for combustion.

 

Isn't cold air denser, which is how you achieve more oxygen for the combustion process? I do believe denser. Wow... why can't i remember these things? But yeah, the cooler air provides more molecules, and you get a cleaner, more efficient burn, which produces more power. So in theory, every degree lowered would yield better results. But if you check intake air temps, they don't change as much as you would think with a "cold" air intake. The power is usually more a result of higher flow combined with slightly cooler temps. Correct me here if im wrong guys, but using an Edge and charting IAT, the difference wasn't huge.

 

cold air=more horsepower and torque

 

to a point. At -20 F my truck doesn't really do so well had the throttle freeze open once, had so much power i had to hold the brake down to hit 30 mph

 

IF your truck can function, the colder denser air will perform better, but the trucks don't really like super low temps. If the icinig didn't occur, there would be no limit to how cold the air would be before performance was lost, thats a little more clear.