Maybe Trucks Tv on TNN www.truckstv.com could do a test on thier show.

 

Maybe Trucks Tv on TNN www.truckstv.com could do a test on thier show.

 

RAND
Come on now. If you can't convince them with facts, scare them with conspiracy theorys. We are only talking about filter chargers. Look, if you don't like your Filter charger then just sell it in the classified section of this site. I'm sure it will go fast. If you are making all these claims about a drop in filter then you don't know what you are talking about. You are still using the inefficient factory plumbing. Either way I'm out of here. Have fun with the posts. Oh yea, don't forget about the aliens...

------------------
Black 1997 F-150 Supercab Flairside. 4.6L with Jocobs DIS, K&N Generation II, Cat back Exhaust (my own, nice rumble). 17" Off Road wheel pkg. Lots of body mods. 4 yrs old and still turns heads...

 

I have just bought a 2000 F-150 Supercab 4x4 with the 5.4liter engine. I have owned six mustangs and everyone of them have an air silencer stuck in the fender. We chuck those in the garbage right away. Do I have one as well in my truck? please email me, thanx

 

WLF -

I did post a fact. I said I could NOT feel any difference between the stock filter and the K&N. THATS A FACT! Many others have said the same. If YOU and anyone thinks that the filter alone is giving 10-15 HP gains, you've been smokin WAY too much crack!

Like I said, I COULD notice 10-15 HP claims by March Pulley's. Very noticeable! There's the FACT!

And WHAT are your facts/proof again?
Oh, "K&N says so, therefore I should believe..."

MOST of what we read in here is speculation and I think 10-15 HP is speculation for our 5.4/4.6.
-----------------------------------------
Oh, and about the aliens.... Have you ever heard of the "Drake Equation"?

Look it up on the web. Its an equation that calculates the probability of other intelligent life within the universe.
Dont tell me your one of the narrow minded people who's so arrogant to believe we're the only intelligent life in the entire universe?

My great Grandfather (1897-1988) used to tell me that in the early 1900's you would be wrapped in a white jacket if you walked around talking about how people would one day fly!

:0

Lets not even go there in this Forum! I could argue this point till I was blue!

 

Returning the discussion to trucks - Before I put in an Airaid I had a K&N air filter element. As Rand says, there was no noticeable increase in power.

Then I added the Airaid (which has a K&N element) and there was a noticieable increase in high rpm power, even though it is sucking in 'hot air'. Obviously, the Airaid has less restriction than the stock plumbing. Mike T. at Superchips says their dyno shows an 8-10 hp increase for the 4.2 with the Airaid.

 

 

After trying the k&n filter and the recently discussed airbox mods, I felt no power increase. I did suffer from a loss of low speed torque.

I purchased a k&n genII hi flow unit and it made all the difference in the world. As a 40 year old racer I can remember what it was like to use a tuned velocity stack pokin thru the hood of a cleveland powered mustang. Ice buckets on fuel line coils, heat sheilds under the carb, and cool fresh ram air could knock off seconds from 1/4 mile times. Some things never change.

Lower engine temps, real ram air without the restriction of a 2 or 3 inch sewer pipe, or a big *** intercooler built by westinghouse is whats gonna make the difference. 1 HP for every 11 degrees in temo up, is something I can live with.

Of course thats just my opnion.




------------------
Terry Deaton
99 F150 XLT 4.6 S/C
96 SVT COBRA
98 AERO
Speed Kills, drive a Chevy and live forever.

 

As a fairly new 5.4 SuperCrew owner, I have been looking for ways to improve HP & MPG and making the best return on my investment dollars to get there. I have read numerous postings abouth the pro's and con's of adding after-market filter/air intake systems, modifying existing air boxes, cold-air implications, ram-air, etc. As a result, I was then thoroughly confused and undecided on what upgrade I should make to my 5.4 engine.
As a retired appliance repairman, I decided to dust off my old Robertshaw pyrometer (used to calibrate oven thermostats and to check boiler temps) to measure the under-hood temperatures at varying conditions on my 2001 F-150. I attached the sensor of the pyrometer to the factory compression ring that holds both halves of the factory filter housing together (on the firewall side). I thought this would be a good place to measure air temperature being that this spot would be very near the open filter intake.

Surprisingly, I found under-hood temperature readings are not significantly higher than ambient outside air temperature as I first thought. I truly thought that the air temps had to be as high as 150+ degrees after an engine has been running for some time.

Here's some temperature readings and existing conditions that I just made this afternoon:

Condition - Cold start, hood down, heater off, engine at idle (warming up)
2:00 pm
Ambient outside air temp: 60 degrees (F)

2:10 pm
After 10 minutes, underhood temp increased to 80 degrees. Engine at normal op temp.

2:15 pm
Drove at 25-35 mph for 5 minutes, temp dropped to 70 degrees and remained stable.

2:21 pm (ambient air temp dropped to 57 degrees)
Drove on freeway at 65 mph and underhood temperature dropped to 66 degrees and remained stable.

2:25 pm (ambient air temp dropped to 56 degrees)
Reduced speed to 50 and underhood temp dropped to 62 degrees and remained stable.

2:31 pm (ambient air temp at 55 degrees)
Parked and left idling for 2 minutes. Underhood temp peaked out at 90 degrees and remained stable after 1 minute.

2:33 pm (ambient air temp same - 55 degrees)
Shut engine off. Underhood temp peaked and stabilized at 120 degrees after 6 minutes.

Recap:
I wanted to know the temperature differential between ambient outside air and underhood temps to see the impact. . .

25-35 mph / temp differential +10D (33.3%)
50 mph / temp differential +6D (10.7%)
65 mph / temp differential +9D (15.8%)

Conclusion:
If 1 horsepower is lost for every 11 degree increase of intake air, then the horsepower lost by using underhood air is less than 1 horsepower at speeds from 25-65 mph with ambient air temps ranging from 56-60 degrees.
Also, the engine compartment appears to have enough free air flow to keep temperature differentials down when moving.

Modification to make:
After increasing the inlet outside duct from the fender to 3", I felt no significant performance difference. I will now modify for underhood air "VOLUME". I will eliminate the upstream half of the factory airbox to expose my existing K&N Filtercharger (and nothing else!). Then replace the restrictive 2" downstream factory ducting to the throttle body with a 3" ducting.
This seems to be the best change to make at this time and hopefully, the best return for my money. (Estimate of modification: $10-$15 max.)

When the temperature warms up here in Southern California in a few months, I'll conduct another test with the higher ambient temperature at or about 95 degrees, with longer drive times. I know that latent heat build-up under the hood after driving for longer periods, in much hotter weather, is a possibility and could result in greater temperature differentials between underhood and outside ambient air than the test conditions/results today.

I hope this has been enough "hot air" for those who've wondered. Check back in a few months and I'll post the next "hot weather" test results and conclusions.



------------------
2001 F-150 SuperCrew Lariat
Black w/gray leather
4x2
5.4L

Modifications:
Gibson SideSwept Performance Exhaust
K&N filter w/modified cold air box
******* lid

 

Good post!! I didn't think the under temps could really be as high as some have thought....I feel better having someone who actually tested the temps,,,,,,98

------------------
98 F-150 4.6 Litre XLT2wd Ext. cab
Yokahama AVS/ST's
prarie tan/tan int.
K/N gen.II fipk
custom dual exh/gibson rectangle tips/rear exiting.
color matched snuglid
Superchip!!!
Clear front corners
Stillen Quad light air dam,Sweet!!
Euro taillights
Cobra 75WXST cb w/weather alert
[b]Kenwood cd w/Radio Shack speakers,don't laugh it sounds pretty good
Viper alarm
On the way/wheels,tires, etc..etc.......
the monochromatic boogie is done,cool!.
Come see my new pictures@ www.my-f150.com

officialtomwaits.com
reverendhortonheat.com

WOW,what a cool site!

FENDER GUITARS ROCK!!!

 

So we all know from basic Thermodynamics in the second year of engineering school that the following items hold true for the ideal Otto Cycle in Spark Ignition engines...

-The thermal efficiency depends on the compression ratio - compression in most SI cycles is between 8 and 12. higher compression ratios tend to cause autoignition (or knock) and this gives us an upper limit on the compression ratio.

-Thermal efficiency also depends on the specific heat ratio of the working fluid (air has a specific heat ratio k=1.4 at room temp). The specific heat ratio decreases with temperature. Some quick calcs show that a SI motor will produce approximately 12% less Mean Effective Pressure (basically horsepower) at 150F than at 100F intake temp.

Now if the intake is or exhaust is restricted, that is a completely different deal - the engine has to work harder to *pull* air in and *push* air out, and this has nothing at all to do with the Otto cycle. *This* is where you will get 90% of your improvements in a SI or a compression (diesel) engine. Forced induction or improved air flow is totally the key.

Rather than fixate on intake air temp (which is generally at or close to ambient no matter where it is pulled from), just remember that the engine is a big glorified air pump. All you have to do is use good fluid flow principles (constant fluid velocities, gradual transitions, rounded inlets and outlets, etc) and your motor will make some serious horsepower.

After all that, I would like to add that I bought a WMS Velocity Tube because it was a cold air intake! Even though I get cool fender air, I'm not sure that makes any difference at all once the vehicle is moving.
------------------
Howie's Effie
Amazon Green 2000 F150 XLT 5.4L 4x4 ORP Supercab Flareside
Captains Chairs, Electronic Shift, Rear Slider, Keyless Entry, Cab Steps, 3.55 L/S
Mods: Superchip, WMS Velocity Tube, Flowmaster Force II, Scorpion Spray in Liner, fogs + hibeams (thanks FedExPilot)

[This message has been edited by Howies_effie (edited 03-12-2001).]

 

This all sounds great but can someone tell me why my mileage goes from 17 in summer to 12 in winter when it is 30 below zero. Is it all the extra horsepower? Shouldn't the cold help, or is it just the extra resistance with cold rear end oil, wheel berings, tranny fluid etc?

 

mr. wizards,
don't make me bust out my thermo skills on you guys.

i think you guys are digging a little too far into this one, but i must admit it was a good attempt.
here my simple $.02:

-the air intake is larger, so the engine is less restricted. this = more power.

-the hot air theory is true, but only under static conditions. when the truck is moving at a reasonable speed, it doesn't heat up the air that much as it passes through the radiator. (now that i think about it, i think i know why my truck has less low end w/ an FIPK. at a dead stop the truck sucks in the stagnet heated air which makes less power)

-when the truck is moving there is an air pressure increase under the hood(ram air effect). it also benenfits form the slightly heated FRESH air rushing in.

-so yes it does make more power, but 10-15 hp is a drop in the bucket when you're talking about a 5000+ lbs rig. we need TORQUE!!!

OK, now you guys can beat-up on me!


------------------
98' 4x4 S/C F-150 Flaireside, ORP, K&N FIPK

 

That makes sense, thanks. I hope they stop putting in the winter additives soon.

 

Thad- The most likely culprit of the reduced gas mileage during winter is the reformulated gas that all of the gas companies circulate through the entire country during winter. Reformulated gas=less energy content=less power and mileage.

------------------
2000 F-150SC 5.4L 4X4ORP
DEEP WEDGEWOOD BLUE
AUTO, 3.55LS, TOW PKG.
RAVIN Z-55 DUAL EXHAUST
CAPTAIN'S CHAIRS,
REMOTE KEYLESS ENTRY
REAR SLIDER
PREMIUM SOUND w/ CD
RHINO LINER
STATE ISSUED UNIV.OF GA. PLATE.
UGA RECEIVER COVER
UGA LICENSE PLATE(FRONT)

WISH LIST:
AIRAID FIPK
SUPERCHIP
TINTED WINDOWS
HOOD DEFLECTOR(PAINTED)

A NATIONAL TITLE FOR UGA(FOOTBALL)
Then maybe when I get more money:

3" BODY LIFT KIT
BIGGER TIRES

etc., etc., etc.