CAI's

[jomulk56]

What do you have? How do you like it? Is it worth the money? Did you get a good power gain from it?

 

[Shaggy]

I really don't know much about cold air intakes. What do they do for you?

 

[jomulk56]

They get colder air into the engine. With colder air you get more horsepower, and more fun driving.

 

[Shaggy]

They get colder air into the engine. With colder air you get more horsepower, and more fun driving.

Never really messed with them. I guess I need to look into that

 

[shsportsfan12]

Honestly, I've never found an CAI to be worth the amount of money. Granted, I have had one every vehicle I've had, for the same amount of money you can get a custom tune and see better results. If you're looking to improve MPG's, I did notice it did help. Clocked a consecutive 1mpg gain in the same driving conditions. As far as power goes, I noticed nothing really. The stock intake box flows quite well, the only thing you might want to get rid of due to visual appearance would be the tube w/ resonator on it. You can literally make your own from Home Depot supplies for around $30 and get the same results as an aftermarket intake.

 

[jomulk56]

I've actually been thinking about making my own tube. What do you need from Hoe Depot to make it?

 

[shsportsfan12]

Not sure how this will relate to anything but a NNBS but here's a how to for an intake:

Stock intake

New Intake:

List of things used
4" 90* elbow with a male/female end
2' of 4" black PVC pipe
2' of 1/4" flex fuel line
4" to 3" coupling
4" coupling
1/4" to 5/8" barbed fitting
1/4" hose clamp

 

[jomulk56]

I assumed you used PVC pipes, just wanted to make sure

 

[TheFuzz]

Actually that looks like black ABS tubing...but same difference, it just looks better under the hood because it's black, and not white lol.

I put a K&N FIPK on my '99 Envoy hoping to see a gain, but it actually decreased my mileage. That was back when I was young and MAF-retarded though - I probably added too much oil which more than likely found it's way onto the MAF element, causing a bad reading, which lowered my mileage. Not sure though.

I did a homemade FWI (fenderwell intake) for my 02 GTP, and that thing worked great...the supercharger SCREAMED when I got on it. Scared the little ricers in my neighborhood, lol.

I wish that I had enough room on my Yukon to do the same thing as pictured above, but because of the mechanical fan being placed so close to the intake tube, there is not enough room to use ABS tubing since it's substantially bulkier and the bend isn't as tight.

The AEM Brute Force intake is actually an excellent design, and you can get knockoff kits on ebay for under $100 if you look hard enough...filter and heat shield included. They flow just as well from what I've heard. Thats what I'll be doing, especially givin the problems with my stock intake (see my tuning thread).

 

[Toadster]

looks to me that the cheapest way to dress up the engine compartment AND have good-enough airflow would be to get the following parts:

Airaid 200-912 MIT (Modular Intake Tube) for $110
Air Hog washable oiled-gauze filter for $9

you can buy the whole Airaid Jr. setup for $150 - but you're paying $40 for a $9 filter at this point

so for $119 - you get a little more intake sound at the best price possible which also improves power (most likely sub 10hp) and mileage...

in my case - just the airfilter (and a new fuel filter) increased my MPG by 1.1MPG, next step is to add the $109 tube from Amazon

 

[shsportsfan12]

looks to me that the cheapest way to dress up the engine compartment AND have good-enough airflow would be to get the following parts:

Airaid 200-912 MIT (Modular Intake Tube) for $110
Air Hog washable oiled-gauze filter for $9

you can buy the whole Airaid Jr. setup for $150 - but you're paying $40 for a $9 filter at this point

so for $119 - you get a little more intake sound at the best price possible which also improves power (most likely sub 10hp) and mileage...

in my case - just the airfilter (and a new fuel filter) increased my MPG by 1.1MPG, next step is to add the $109 tube from Amazon

You really are ******* the SHIT out that Fram filter...which is a P.O.S. For the price it may be worth it but you shouldn't run an oiled filter. It can mess with your MAF. If you can, try and run only dry filters.

I assumed you used PVC pipes, just wanted to make sure

See below

Actually that looks like black ABS tubing...but same difference, it just looks better under the hood because it's black, and not white lol.

I put a K&N FIPK on my '99 Envoy hoping to see a gain, but it actually decreased my mileage. That was back when I was young and MAF-retarded though - I probably added too much oil which more than likely found it's way onto the MAF element, causing a bad reading, which lowered my mileage. Not sure though.

I did a homemade FWI (fenderwell intake) for my 02 GTP, and that thing worked great...the supercharger SCREAMED when I got on it. Scared the little ricers in my neighborhood, lol.

I wish that I had enough room on my Yukon to do the same thing as pictured above, but because of the mechanical fan being placed so close to the intake tube, there is not enough room to use ABS tubing since it's substantially bulkier and the bend isn't as tight.

The AEM Brute Force intake is actually an excellent design, and you can get knockoff kits on ebay for under $100 if you look hard enough...filter and heat shield included. They flow just as well from what I've heard. Thats what I'll be doing, especially givin the problems with my stock intake (see my tuning thread).

Airraide makes just the tube for around $90 that is essentially the same thing as making your own. You use your stock box (which again, flows just as well) and put the tube on for a much cleaner work. I put one on a friends truck and instantly saw a 1mpg gain. Interesting how just in the tube you can gain that.

 

[Toadster]

You really are ******* the SHIT out that Fram filter...which is a P.O.S. For the price it may be worth it but you shouldn't run an oiled filter. It can mess with your MAF. If you can, try and run only dry filters.

See below

Airraide makes just the tube for around $90 that is essentially the same thing as making your own. You use your stock box (which again, flows just as well) and put the tube on for a much cleaner work. I put one on a friends truck and instantly saw a 1mpg gain. Interesting how just in the tube you can gain that.

oiled filters aren't bad if you use them/clean them properly - they flow much more than a paper filter (they also let in a little more dirt)

for $9 - it's cheaper than a stock paper filter - but identical to a K&N or Airaid filter (which cost $40-$50 more)

I have had an oiled gauze filter on 4 vehicles over the past 12 years - and NEVER have had an issues with any of them in over 250K miles

 

[shsportsfan12]

oiled filters aren't bad if you use them/clean them properly - they flow much more than a paper filter (they also let in a little more dirt)

for $9 - it's cheaper than a stock paper filter - but identical to a K&N or Airaid filter (which cost $40-$50 more)

I have had an oiled gauze filter on 4 vehicles over the past 12 years - and NEVER have had an issues with any of them in over 250K miles

They are identical, and much cheaper then a OEM filter...however, I have heard/seen many people that have had issues running an oiled filter. Gunking up the MAF is definitely something that was fairly common. If you clean it regularly correctly, you shouldn't run into any issues. Then again, how many people are actually willing to take the time to do all of that? Most I know are lazy these days and want to just throw something in and leave it.

 

[Toadster]

They are identical, and much cheaper then a OEM filter...however, I have heard/seen many people that have had issues running an oiled filter. Gunking up the MAF is definitely something that was fairly common. If you clean it regularly correctly, you shouldn't run into any issues. Then again, how many people are actually willing to take the time to do all of that? Most I know are lazy these days and want to just throw something in and leave it.

good to know, do you have links to people who've had issues with oiling up their MAF?

honestly - I've never seen it... or known anyone to do it either.

it's amazing that there are tons of people willing to swap out plugs (or even have spare plugs for testing) yet they don't know how to properly oil an air filter...

 

[shsportsfan12]

No I don't have links, as it happened to 2 buddies.

However, this thread inspired me to disassemble my intake and clean it out. What a mess that was. I'm thinking I could easily gain a mpg now...caked mud and sand all over the filter...and yet NOTHING in the tube

 

[JennaBear]

The biggest issue in the stock intake is the tube, check out the restrictions when you look through it! In just swapping the tube out, you are already making your engine more breathable.

 

[DarkTahoe00]

I made my own as well I used the AEM BruteForce design and bought 4'' thin wall pvc tube and started to form it the to exact shape as the AEM and this is what I ended up with after a few trial and errors but I very proud of it!

 

[Rivieraracing]

Looks great, nice work!!

 

[JennaBear]

The problem with the homemade systems (as some members here have found out) is that the fitment is not exact, thus exposing many leaks.

For anyone running a CAI, we encourage that you check your fittings every couple hundred miles.

 

[DarkTahoe00]

That is true! I've had no problems with mine thou! But thats not to say everyone will every case is different! And Thanks Rivieraracing!