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Thread: Cold Air Intakes and Performance Chips

  1. #16
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    Fairly new to cars here, so I'm sure this is a stupid question: Do CAI's increase the ammount of air going into the engine, or does it just filter it more so that the concentration of oxygen is higher?

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by poppasmurf View Post
    Fairly new to cars here, so I'm sure this is a stupid question: Do CAI's increase the ammount of air going into the engine, or does it just filter it more so that the concentration of oxygen is higher?
    Cold air intakes are designed to help your engine breathe more efficiently by supplying it with more fresh air. You may notice a better throttle response and possibly a bit better gas mileage. The numbers that they claim on their "dyno proven" test sheets are typically only realized when the car already has other modifications done to it. A CAI by itself doesn't do a whole lot other than make your car sound a bit more aggressive because you can hear the increased air flow. All an engine is, is just a big air pump. The better it inhales and exhales, and the faster and more efficiently it can go about doing it, the better it will perform. The CAI filter itself is made to let air in easier, while still keeping the dirt out just the same as the factory air filter. They are also washable and reusable, which is directly reflected in their prices.

    edit: where are my manners?! welcome to UCP
    Last edited by DesmoRob; 04-25-2010 at 11:51 AM.

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by adambullet View Post
    hi. i came across your post because i was also researching these air intakes which my friend got online and recommended me. he says it's worth it. i have yet to see for myself though. just check it out if like.
    can you be more specific regarding your friend's experience?
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by adambullet View Post
    but that's the thing, i don't know anything either.. he just recommended it to me and i'm just doing some research on it so i decided to ask around if anyone might have some feedback. but thanks.
    OK, actually I was just checking whether you would reply. In case not I would have deleted the link, as being spam.

    But please do not post as Sullivan8 at the same time.....and as Chrishill or Michael Fox......
    Last edited by henk4; 12-02-2010 at 02:59 AM.
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  5. #20
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    People tend to when you have mods, drive it harder, therefore harming the car in that way. Cold air intake, catback exhaust will definatly help you out in performance.
    Last edited by henk4; 12-24-2010 at 12:21 AM.

  6. #21
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    Hello Sledgehammer,

    Fitting a cone filter in the engine bay as shown in the attached pictures may well lose you hp in comparison to the stock factory set-up which has some heat shielding (the box itself) and usually a pipe feeding cool air into the filter-box.

    Cone filters can be made to work quite well if they are placed for example right behind the headlight or beside the radiator where there is some airstream and then fitted with a sealable heatshield i.e. it seals to the inner wing and the top of the shield seals against the underside of the bonnet, to stop engine-bay heat being drawn into the filter/engine which will affect power (See attached thumbnail below).

    Even better is a cone filter inside an insulated box such as here on this link:-

    http://www.coldairinductions.com/ (for info only, I have no connection with the company).
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Sid447; 05-08-2011 at 10:05 AM.

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by poppasmurf View Post
    Fairly new to cars here, so I'm sure this is a stupid question: Do CAI's increase the ammount of air going into the engine, or does it just filter it more so that the concentration of oxygen is higher?
    A cold air intake does just that ..... brings colder air into your engine from outside the engine compartment instead of hotter air from under the hood.

    Colder air is denser than hotter air. The same VOLUME of air is sucked into the cylinders but there is a greater MASS of air. The larger MASS of cold air contains more oxygen by weight (mass) than a smaller mass of hot air from under the hood. More oxygen plus more fuel equals more power.

    The concentration of oxygen is the same, 21%, since it all comes from the same atmosphere.

  8. #23
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    Save your money

    Most modern cars already have a cold air intake built into them.

    The air intake through the stock air filter box draws air from someplace which is located out from under the hood - typically behind the grill and in front of the radiator, maybe near a head light.

    Even my 1972 Volvo 1800E coupe has a cold air intake as stock equipment.

  9. #24
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    Can anyone recommend a performance chip for the Toyota Celica VVTi?

    Mercedes Service
    Car Service
    Last edited by zabelta; 09-06-2012 at 05:16 AM. Reason: removed spam link

  10. #25
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    Oh these two... Let's see...

    CAI : Simply a tube that is bent towards the bottom of the car away from the engine bay. The theory here is that cold air is denser than hot air; which it is. In practice, a normal stock air box will pick up atmospheric air, except it'll be right next to your engine. Which is hot. So air pressure here can drop by as much as 1-2 PSI! So let's say you have a 100 HP engine with the decrease of 1 PSI due to engine heat. So 100 HP at 13.7 PSI. Now let's drop in the CAI and get that perfect sea-level 14.7 PSI. So 14.7/13.7 = 107%; which will show that with the CAI you will get a whole 7 HP more because 107% of 100 HP = 107 HP. The thing is, the intake still isnt 100% 14,7 PSI because near the end of the intake near the engine is STILL hot! Energy and density in the air will be stripped away by heat which will drop PSI... So the gains are there, they just arent big. And they're not worth the cost in my opinion. Oh, and may I add, that cold-air intakes are usually better for low-end torque because of their long-tube design which promotes low-RPM scavenging. The opposite is true for Short Ram Intakes because of their short-tube design. This is NOT always true because tube diameter also comes into account, but let's say that the diameter is universal; so the tube length would be true for the differences in power. Also, a badly designed CAI may lose power if they're made of metal because metal is a good conductor of heat; so effectively you may actually LOSE pressure because instead of just a normal short air box getting x amount of heat in metal, you now increased the surface area of metal, making the area of heat longer; meaning the air will be subjected to more heat over time; therefore lowering pressure even more. Some CAIs are just plainly stupid and don't go far from the engine at all and instead "wrap around" the engine... Which is just plain bad.

    TL;DR : A well designed CAI is good for power, but make sure it isnt metal and it's well designed.

    Power Chips : It'd be EXTREMELY hard to explain this as thoroughly and directly as I did CAI, so let's just imagine that our engine is a bank with three accounts; one labelled performance, one labelled MPG, and one labelled reliability. The manufacturer's have 100$. Depending on whether it's a sports car or an economy car, they allocated their dollars differently. For simplicity sake, lets say they put 40$ into performance, 30$ into MPG, and 30$ into reliability... So maybe it's a sporty japanese coupe? A performance chip would take money from maybe MPG or reliability and throw it into performance. How they do this? Running the engine lean (ensuring full combustion), advancing or retarding ignition timing, or engaging VTEC or VVTi early (if the car has something like this). There's some other bits and bobs the chip can do, but those are the main three powers it has over engine performance.

    TL;DR - Power Chips take from MPG and reliability to increase performance. They can or cant be worth it depending on how they're programmed.

    TL;DR of All : Check dyno sheets before buying stuff and make sure what you buy is manufactured well.

  11. #26
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    May 2012
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    Wow thanks for the info man

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