Do cold air intake filters work ?

[oldbandnerd]

My local mega chain auto parts store guy wanted to sell me one of these for my 2006 F 150 to help increase my horse power. I use this truck primarily for pulling my travel trailer and am really pushing the towing limit of my 4.6 V8. He reccomended this $350 aftermarket upgrade to help my engine work more efficiently and increase horsepower.
I am skeptical . Espically at that price. I have researched this on the internet and most information agrees with what he told. I would like to hear from people who have experience with these. Is it worth the cost? Will the extra 8 to 10 horsepower really make that much difference?

[Mark]

And the honest truth is that these benefits are in torque and rpm ranges that you just do not use on a Jeep. Ever.

Except a Grand Cherokee SRT.

[Mark]

And the honest truth is that these benefits are in torque and rpm ranges that you just do not use on a Jeep. Ever.

Except a Grand Cherokee SRT.

HAHAHA!!! Excellent! Why would anyone buy a ZJ SRT? That would be like a GMC Suburban SRT or a Bluebird school bus funny car. Okay, I have seen the bus thing, but the GC? I am cracking up at the thought!

Nothing SRT-ified will ever see mud pits or will do much with the transfer case. I wonder what the crawl ratio would be on an SRT GC? 1:1? I will keep my 2.72:1 and skip the CAI. Mine came with one, actually. I gained performance by sticking a stock air intake back in the bay. It is a lot cleaner now, too.

Yes, but will your jeep do 4.4 sec to 60 mph?

FWIW, I don't have an SRT. I did look at them when I bought my 5.7L Hemi Grand Cherokee. You're right that the SRT loses most of it's off-road capability.

[huskerdooo]

The effectiveness of adding a cold air intake varies per vehicle. Some higher performance vehicles will not see an improvement in performance because the manufacturer has done a proper intake design. If I were to get one, I would research whether the device was effective on the same spec motor and I would want to see what dyno improvement was gained/claimed. There could be more cost effective measures to boost ($/gain) if the improvement is marginal.

[oldbandnerd]

I want to thank everyone ,especially Wade for their responses. Wade those articles are very interesting to say the least. I read them as best I can but they are way too "inside baseball" ,very long and boring. I just don't have the attention or the time to fully digest them. I did scan them to try to get the gest of what was being written and got some good information from them.
I think what was missed here is I'm looking for a simple answer to a simple question. I know that it isn't really as simple as that by looking at what testing has been by those articles that Wade referenced but sometimes anecdotal responses are just as good as scientific research.
My truck is used primarily to haul my travel trailer and is not used much during the week. My desire is to get a little more power out of a engine that is being pushed dangerously close to its towing capacity. Common sense tells me that a high air flow air filter might also let in more dirt and I am inclined to agree with that particular article that made that point. But, as it isn't used that much I'm not too worried about that.
Scouring the internet and looking at truck related forums there seems to be an overwhelming consensus that these things work. While they may not be best for the smaller engines used in Jeep products big V8 Ford engines are a totally different beast. I have always heard that Ford chokes its engines for air . The reasons as to why are debatable. I don't know why. I do know that on my own F150 the throttle body has an almost 3" inside diameter that ultimately try's to draw air through a 1 1/2 " hole. Opening that hole up and giving it a chance to breathe just seems to make sense.
I asked the question here because I trust the people who frequent THE TUBENET. There seems be a lot very educated and experienced folks on here. But, I was really looking for a more simple answer. There are a lot of long words in there,I'm but a humble service tech.... ( that's a Pirates of the Caribbean movie reference).
I have found a lot of talk about a "Gotts Mod" ( http://www.fordf150.net/articles/idx.ph ... ation.html" target="_blank ). It's cheap, reversible and doesn't seem to cause any real problems by trying it out. I'm going to do this first just to see what happens.

[Donn]

But, I was really looking for a more simple answer.

They sell because they work well - but only on certain blocks and for certain use conditions. And a gain of 8-10 BHP is flat out BS. No way. Maybe 2-3, and you have to be using it under the conditions that allow the system to do this. Towing is not really one of them, despite what the slick ad copy (hilariously called "research" by folks at K&N and such) might want you to believe. These are for hard running race cars.

Simpler than that? If I'd been thinking about putting one of these (whatever it is) on my '73 Volvo 1800ES (in 1972 Volvo went from the P1800 coupe model line to the 1800ES "sport wagon") ... after reading this, I'd be thinking about the kudzu system instead. You got a very clear answer there, supported by considerable explanation that I found pretty illuminating even though it would probably take me a minute to even find the air filter in my car. I think it might be worth reading again. If you disagree with parts of it, I imagine he'd love to discuss that, but it seems like it would be kind of discouraging to write all that and then get "well, OK, but I need more power for towing my trailer and the guys all say this thing works."

[tofu]

Simple answer to your question "is this worth doing for your application" - no.

If you have enough torque to get your rig easily going & up to speed then you are in pretty good shape. A few extra horsepower won't do you much good even at highway speeds in passing situations. I don't know about you, but when I'm pulling my 24 foot show car trailer down a two lane highway the last thing I'm going to do is a high speed in and out pass where maybe 10-15 extra horsepower might do you a little bit of good. I'd be surprised if you get 2-3 extra hp from CAI in your app.

Remember also that manufacturer limits have a built in safety margin - if you are pulling below their max then I wouldn't worry about it unless you really feel you are having issues out on real world roads. To me torque is more important in trailering then horsepower - people get to preoccupied with the horsepower alone.

[MartyNeilan]

I put one in on my 96 Roadmaster Wagon along with removing many of the other restrictive doo-dads under the hood in the name of "silencing" and found a noticeable improvement in MPG. Also got a nice growl under acceleration and supposedly more top end power. If the air has to flow through a tight snake and some very confusing large random boxes and baffles vs. a straight wide tube direct into the throttle body, which is going to be better?
I have removed quite a few "Rube Goldberg" parts from different areas of the Roadmaster, from a complicated and heavy mechanical fan pulley system to a restrictive exhaust including "resonators" that just stop up the opposite end of airflow to an air compressor and level sensor controlled rear suspension to many other unnecessary underhood gadgets (many no longer deemed necessary by GM to meet emissions per factory TSB's).
The more open (aka freeblowing) you can make the intake and exhaust sides of the engine, the greater the efficiency and the more ultimate power potential. That coupled with weight reduction yields real-word results.
Marty "who now rides the 150cc scooter whenever kids or tubas are not required for even greater fuel savings"

[tbn.al]

How do you get it to pass emissions?

[davidgilbreath]

If Marty isn't in one the seven counties requiring emissions testing, then he's home free. Robertson and Cheatham are the two counties bordering Davidson that aren't required to test.

[MartyNeilan]

Both sets of cats are still there. The only emissions equipment disconnected is that specified by a GM technical service bulletin (the smog pump and all associated plumbing that only runs at startup, and can potentially draw water into the engine.)
Nothing illegal about removing a bunch of curly cues and installing a CARB approved straight shot into the intake and a free flowing cat back true dual exhaust. If anything, since I picked up 1-2 MPG, I am actually producing less emissions.
I have had the car inspects twice and encountered no issues at all - the OBDII is clean.
The majority of intake restrictions were engineered for sound suppression and not emissions. There is a much crisper, more instantaneous throttle response without them.
Of course, my ride home on the scooter at legal (more or less) speeds in the 40's and 50's after a 13 hour day at work was probably much more fun than almost any 4 wheeled vehicle at similar speed.

[Carroll]

Wade,
What effect does more-than-9-oz-of-kudzu in an air intake have on acceleration vs. top-end in a 1973 Volvo P-1800 ?

It sucks harder.

Theoretically impossible.

[NCSUSousa]

.

[ken k]

Wade,
What effect does more-than-9-oz-of-kudzu in an air intake have on acceleration vs. top-end in a 1973 Volvo P-1800 ?

would love a P 1800 (preferably with out the kudzu in the air intake...) beautiful cars, I especially like the wagon version with the glass hatch

[Donn]

Same here, really. I'm not crying about mine:


... but the older wagon is all classic design


Though with these light color schemes, including the mysterious pale key lime pie green that's common around here, they can quickly start to look like a pile of junk when the door lines get more conspicuous for one reason or another.

[oldbandnerd]

After scouring the internet and talking to some knowledgeable people I can confirm that what "the elephant " and "NCSUSousa" have reported here are correct. The CAI filter is great for top end speed but does nothing for torque. Since pulling power (torque) is what I need I'm going to keep my $350 in the bank and not piss it away on this thing.
I did however do a GOTTS MOD ( you can read about it here : http://www.fordf150.net/articles/idx.ph ... ation.html" target="_blank ) because it was cheap and easily reversible . I did It just to see what would happen. I can confirm my truck has had a modest increase power and it accelerates much more smoothly and quickly .... without the trailer. With the trailer it makes little or no difference. I'm going to keep it on because I like the way runs now.
Many thanks to everyone who posted here. It is much appreciated and very helpful.

[MartyNeilan]

After scouring the internet and talking to some knowledgeable people I can confirm that what "the elephant " and "NCSUSousa" have reported here are correct. The CAI filter is great for top end speed but does nothing for torque. Since pulling power (torque) is what I need I'm going to keep my $350 in the bank and not piss it away on this thing.
I did however do a GOTTS MOD ( you can read about it here : http://www.fordf150.net/articles/idx.ph ... ation.html" target="_blank" target="_blank ) because it was cheap and easily reversible . I did It just to see what would happen. I can confirm my truck has had a modest increase power and it accelerates much more smoothly and quickly .... without the trailer. With the trailer it makes little or no difference. I'm going to keep it on because I like the way runs now.
Many thanks to everyone who posted here. It is much appreciated and very helpful.

That mod is similar to much of what I have done - replace unnecessary restrictions done for sound or whatever with a much smoother, straighter intake (and a fraction of the cost of what you mentioned above). As far as the benefits of "cold" air vs air from under the hood, I am sure that is minimal.