How to shop for an intake

[JennaBear]

There are three different types of intakes:

Closed Box (ie. Volant, Outlaw)
Open Element (ie. AEM, K&N FIPK)
Drop In filter (ie. K&N)

When looking at manufacturers claims, one shouldn't just look at the HP numbers:

You need to look at the highest average airflow which is directly related to torque (subsequently HP).

Manifold pressure (MAP) is a measurement of restriction, the higher the number the less restriction, so this is another big point.

IAT (Intake Air Temp) recovery is another big factor in narrowing down a good intake.

Closed box intakes do better at lower speeds as there won't be as much of a heat soak issue. The open elements use metal shields which absorbs heat (heat soak).

The open element intakes drop temperatures a lot quicker at higher speeds which in turn creates denser air. The denser air allows for more airflow, which then of course makes more power.

This all being said, intakes (as well as exhausts) are a matter of personal preference, just taking off the stock tube takes off a lot of restriction. Realistically, the differences between intakes (ie. open vs. open and closed vs. closed) will be minimal. One thing I do encourage anyone who purchases an aftermarket unit to do, is check the fitment every couple hundred miles, these things find a way to wiggle loose and can cause a drop in performance as well as MPG.

[Rollin Thunder]

didnt you say the AEM brute force showed the highest increase?

[Sepiroth]

I think Jenna typed it perfectly. It really, in the end, tends to come down to personal preference.

[tybardy]

yes, personal preference... yessssss....

JK also has an off brand intake that Justin said performed VERY well... I have a makeshit setup using an aftermarket intake tube, drop in filter and some extra holes drilled... this was the cheap route for me and based on the numbers i have seen in the past was enough performance for me and saved me well into the $150 range.

I will say the fitment is an issue, i believe it is STILL an issue with my airraid tube fitting properly, Justin found an "issue" at my throttle body that we never hammered down and i believe it was the intake tube not adhearing well to the TB...

[blueflamed03]

good post Jenna, love my AEM.........

[Volant1]

Outlaw is no longer around but S&B offers a closed box system and AFE and even K&N are starting to close up the filters hmmmm I wonder who started that trend lol good right up

There are three different types of intakes:

Closed Box (ie. Volant, Outlaw)
Open Element (ie. AEM, K&N FIPK)
Drop In filter (ie. K&N)

When looking at manufacturers claims, one shouldn't just look at the HP numbers:

You need to look at the highest average airflow which is directly related to torque (subsequently HP).

Manifold pressure (MAP) is a measurement of restriction, the higher the number the less restriction, so this is another big point.

IAT (Intake Air Temp) recovery is another big factor in narrowing down a good intake.

Closed box intakes do better at lower speeds as there won't be as much of a heat soak issue. The open elements use metal shields which absorbs heat (heat soak).

The open element intakes drop temperatures a lot quicker at higher speeds which in turn creates denser air. The denser air allows for more airflow, which then of course makes more power.

This all being said, intakes (as well as exhausts) are a matter of personal preference, just taking off the stock tube takes off a lot of restriction. Realistically, the differences between intakes (ie. open vs. open and closed vs. closed) will be minimal. One thing I do encourage anyone who purchases an aftermarket unit to do, is check the fitment every couple hundred miles, these things find a way to wiggle loose and can cause a drop in performance as well as MPG.

[Denali---LQ]

i like my volant ... i was not expecting the sound to be as loud as it was ... but still a great system

[jmildoc]

i do agree about fitment, i have had to tighten mine down a couple times. but it seems to be fitting better an better as the rubber just forms the way it needs to... I wouldnt have had it any other way. plus i saved $240 and still gained a little pep and a little over 1mpg... Cant beat that!!!!!!!!!

[OKLAGMCRUISER]

i still have UPD lid and tube that works great and looks great too.

[Yuke2K]

I'm just got a hold of Max today and told him to put me down for an AEM Brute Force - I'll be picking it up on Tuesday :D.

Too bad AEM got bought out by K&N...Max's price on the intakes have gone up quite a bit. BUT, that being said, he still gives a hell of a discount to us. His price, even with the increase, is still about $50-$60 cheaper than the closest competitor.

I'm putting it on as soon as I pick it up Tuesday, then on Friday we're driving to CA from Denver. I'll be interested to see what kind of seat of the pants gains I get with it since I already have my tune done. Hopefully I'll get a little bump in fuel mileage too. Best I've gotten so far is 18.8mpg on an otherwise stock truck thats leveled front and rear running 285s. Pretty impressive in and of itself, but I'll keep everyone posted. If I can squeak closer to the coveted 20mpg mark, I'll be thrilled.

[coopiesb]

just got my aem the other day but its sitting it in a box in my living room.... mom is making an appointment to go get it installed

[tybardy]

just got my aem the other day but its sitting it in a box in my living room.... mom is making an appointment to go get it installed

If you have a flathead screw driver and a few other basics, you can do this job yourself in 30 minutes!

[coopiesb]

If you have a flathead screw driver and a few other basics, you can do this job yourself in 30 minutes!


yeah ive installed a couple of them but hard to do when im 20 miles south of baghdad in iraq hahahah

[OKLAGMCRUISER]

yeah ive installed a couple of them but hard to do when im 20 miles south of baghdad in iraq hahahah

man i hope she's not paying anyone to do that install. you're like a little kid in a candy store...lol. just can't wait til ya get home to install it...lol! I'm lovin it! Hopefully she tells the installer it's for an away active duty personnel and they just throw it on for you at no charge!

[coopiesb]

hahahah yeah i cant stand stuff just sitting there its killing me......well the first place i went to was going to charge me 100 so were trying another place... i still got lowering kit, double din, corvette servo, efans, and theres something else i think

[OKLAGMCRUISER]

save the money and just put the cai on yourself...just hate to see someone rob you for a c note for a cai.

[tybardy]

yea no shit! thats over $200 an hour for the work

[coopiesb]

yeah i know but its like eating me inside to have it sitting in the box in the living room...... my mom did put on my shortie anteana so thats a plus i thought she could handle it..

[Max]

Love my aem, showed lower iats than my buddy's afe on his 03 tahoe when we datalogged.

[Modded]

I'm torn b/w then Volant intake and the AfE 2 CX kit for my 07.
The problem here is neither have confirmed HP gains, so I want to makesure it atleast sounds good so I don't feel like I was ripped off if power expectations are not quite as stated.
The AfE kit I think is an exposed filter so it may be louder??
Can anyone help, JennaBear?

[JennaBear]

I know from first hand experience than open element filters give a pretty decent growl. I was very happy with my AEM Brute Force.

[Max]

I'm torn b/w then Volant intake and the AfE 2 CX kit for my 07.
The problem here is neither have confirmed HP gains, so I want to makesure it atleast sounds good so I don't feel like I was ripped off if power expectations are not quite as stated.
The AfE kit I think is an exposed filter so it may be louder??
Can anyone help, JennaBear?

AEM ftw :cheers:

[Yuke2K]

I know from first hand experience than open element filters give a pretty decent growl. I was very happy with my AEM Brute Force.

Thats what I like about open-element intakes. The intake combined with some mild exhaust work sounds really awesome...without being obnoxious.

[Modded]

I think AEM is cool but I don;t think they have dry filters and I do now want to cake my MAF sensor with oil on accident, do they?
So I guess it the AFE Pro Dry S intake it is!:Handshake:
Thanks for the help, though I ma yhave to wait for a BB tue first to be able to ta full advantage of everything.

[Max]

Dude AEM makes the best dry filter, the president of AFE informed me their pro dry s didn't come close to the aem and they released it to fill a dry filter gap. Their oiled filter are great, dry just doesn't cut it.

[Modded]

Oh for real?
Let me go and look for it, can you get me one?

[Yuke2K]

Just look for the AEM Brute Force intake, they all use dry filters - the best ones on the market, as Max said.

[Robert.K]

Is theAEM brute force better then K&N open air CAI? Think I need to make the switch but is it really worth it?

[JennaBear]

You won't see too much of a difference. If you have the K&N 77 Series, stick with it.

[tybardy]

if i remember correctly, the IAT's were the biggest difference... do i remember correctly?

I think the 77 series had a bit higher IAT's

[JennaBear]

Ever so slight, the AEM and 77series were neck and neck essentially.

[Yuke2K]

K&N makes a good product - if you have one now an it's working for you, stick with it. You more than likely wont see any further gains from switching to an AEM. The only thing I don't like about the K&N setup is the oiled filter. Back when I was younger and didn't know any better, I used to add waaaay to much oil to them, and on several vehicles I saw a dramatic loss of gas mileage. Presumably due to fouling of the MAF sensor. Obviously thats not the fault of the system itself, but left a bad taste in my mouth for oiled filter setups.

I like dry filters because of the simplicity - they are pretty much idiot proof. Unless you put them back on soaking wet after cleaning them, there really isn't anything to screw up.

[JennaBear]

Here are the results of the test-

From top to bottom on the horsepower curve on the graph is:
AEM no filter
KNN
AEM
Stock with KNN drop in filter
Outlaw
GMPP
Stock with Fram airhog

http://www.silveradoss.com/forums/uploads//1248208118/gallery_4677_321_28637.jpg

http://www.silveradoss.com/forums/uploads//1248208118/gallery_4677_321_87485.jpg

[tybardy]

i have been waiting a long time for that beautiful sheet of paper! Thanks a lot Jenna, does outlaw still make intakes? I thought that company is gone

[JennaBear]

No they do not.

[wmgood64]

How about the closed box volant optional power tube that also gets more air through the tow hook opening?

[tybardy]

if im not mistaken, the outlaw is very very very similar to the Volant setup, so the numbers would most likely be similar... don't quote me on that though

[Modded]

So basically the stock intake with a K&N filter got one of the top HP gains on the dyno?
What is the stock HP on the SS?
I'm confused....

[JennaBear]

Basically the test said AEM was best, then the K&N, then the stock box with K&N filter. The stock HP doesn't matter, especially since they all had gains.

[Modded]

Oh ok, looks like I will only get an MIT tube then.

[tybardy]

Basically the test said AEM was best, then the K&N, then the stock box with K&N filter. The stock HP doesn't matter, especially since they all had gains.

hey jenna, correct me if I'm reading the data wrong, but it looks like the K&N is the best, then the AEM (unless the AEM without filter counts, but i wouln't run my intake without a filter)

[JennaBear]

Re-read my first post in this thread regarding the numbers posted. You can't just go off of HP, IATs and MAF reading counts too.

[tybardy]

Re-read my first post in this thread regarding the numbers posted. You can't just go off of HP, IATs and MAF reading counts too.

for sure, i wasnt solely basing my assesment on the HP... there are a couple numbers on that data sheet that i am not familiar with though. Thats why i asked the question because you are more educated on the data then me...

[JennaBear]

The AEM has the highest average airflow which is what you really want out of these things. It also has the highest average peak, and the least amount of restriction as shown by the MAP value of 97.

[tybardy]

if you dont mind me asking Jenna, why is HP not the bottom line? Of course I ask because HP is what everyone wants... however, I want whats best for my truck, hence the question

[JennaBear]

Peak HP is not the most important thing. Although the K&N shows the highest peak, not all the other numbers correspond to that, so one could assume that it was possibly fluctuations in the dyno.

Realistically what you should take away from this test/thread, is that the open systems perform better than the closed box. You have 2 open elements and 4 closed box intakes being compared.

[tybardy]

im with you there, i just like to understand the numbers... I love seeing data like that because my mind functions with numbers. I just want to learn what the numbers all mean...

As far as intakes go, I am completely satisfied with my setup and wouldn't even think about selling it and buying something else for 2HP... NOT WORTH IT...

just like understanding the data.

hey jenna, do you remember that IceMan intake from about 10 years ago? it was an intake setup that you were supposed to pul dry ice in to cool the incoming air... hahahaha. always wondered if those things actually worked

[JennaBear]

im with you there, i just like to understand the numbers... I love seeing data like that because my mind functions with numbers. I just want to learn what the numbers all mean...

As far as intakes go, I am completely satisfied with my setup and wouldn't even think about selling it and buying something else for 2HP... NOT WORTH IT...

just like understanding the data.

hey jenna, do you remember that IceMan intake from about 10 years ago? it was an intake setup that you were supposed to pul dry ice in to cool the incoming air... hahahaha. always wondered if those things actually worked


Never heard about that intake.... :ehcapt:

[tybardy]

it was popular with the ricer crown about 10 years ago or so. It had a box right after the filter that you would load dry ice into so the air was cooler.... hahahaha hilarious!

[JennaBear]

Nice!! Just as good as having a HUGE blow off valve to make your turbo sound that much bigger.

[Volant1]

The owner of Volant use to be the tool guy for iceman intakes, they are set up just like the AEM kit long and short rams, Ice around the intakes is still around today same as CO2 spray, It all started from racing just like everything else

it was popular with the ricer crown about 10 years ago or so. It had a box right after the filter that you would load dry ice into so the air was cooler.... hahahaha hilarious!

[BOSS]

it was popular with the ricer crown about 10 years ago or so. It had a box right after the filter that you would load dry ice into so the air was cooler.... hahahaha hilarious!

I read somewhere that guys at the track will use that ice trick...can't remember if it was trying to cool the engine inbetween runs or what.

B

[Volant1]

Horsepower on spike showed a clip of a intake on a mustang with a ice box last weekend, they use ice to cool the AIT the cooler the air the more hp

[Max]

I've been cooling heat exchangers and intercoolers with nitrous, compressed co2, or a fire extinguisher for years. Works quite well on boosted applications, not so much on n/a engines.

[coopiesb]

had a nitrious express spray bar on my intercooler in my civic made a huge differnce

[tybardy]

ooooohhhhhhh another mu-fuka said NITRIOUS!!!

[Max]

But did he drop his truck on himself?

[tybardy]

:flipthebird:

[BlueTahoe2001]

:emotions122:

[JennaBear]

Anyone now the chemical structure of nitrous?

[tybardy]

ummm.... one part nitrogen two parts oxygen???

[JennaBear]

Covalent or ionic bonds?

PS: I will let you slide on the fact that it is two parts N and one part O

[tybardy]

i suppose i skipped chemistry that day :)

that being said, i know nothing... even worse, i dont even know why it matters.

[JennaBear]

It matters a ton when it comes to combustion!!

[tybardy]

I hate not knowin stuff... I want all the answers to everything!

which is better for optimum combustion?

[JennaBear]

They are covalent, which is why the structure dissociates at a lower temp. This allows for the structure to spit out the oxygen molecule which is what then reacts with your fuel.

This then brings you to the issue of having too much N2O, you can cause premature detonation (explosion) which can make the oxygen attack and corrode the engine metal. This is why installation and usage are a huge factor!

[Max]

I posted a thread in the tech forum

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3106

[JennaBear]

My post was shorter :crazy:

[tybardy]

I posted a thread in the tech forum

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3106

prime example of why i should use the "search" tool.... nice write up mang, glad i found it

[Max]

My post was shorter :crazy:

Mine was copied, nobody wants to hear an engineering major drone on and on about chemistry when you could be out drinking beer.

[JennaBear]

Glad I was just a Bio major, just enough Chemistry courses to put me into a daze but not make me want to quit school! :emotions122:

[Volant1]

ust a heads up for the guys still shopping for a CAI, trueflow went BK on thursday