Charlie207
Full Access Member
NM, just bought the Speed-Engineering CAI. I saw that I had $60 in credit card rewards, so after shipping it's like $80 for a shiny new CAI.... for science, right?
Entry Level Performance Mods
- Thread starter BoutDrama
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Sparksalot
Supporting Member
I’m curious about these as well.
Charlie207
Full Access Member
Group project/Show & Tell when it arrives.
iamdub brought up some good points in post #29 about heat, so I may just line the inside/outside with some metallic tape for a made up R-Value of 2.2, and call it a day. As mentioned earlier, I live up in NH, and it never gets that hot here for more than a couple weeks a year.
(actually the other problem, it gets cold... to the point several years ago the oil gelled in my 2004 Xterra. I had to get a chicken coop heater attached to my oil pan for a day before I could drain and flush the coagulated oil out. It was a couple weeks of -10, or colder.)
Edit: Upon further research it's probably more like an R-value of 0.02
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iamdub
Full Access Member
I agree with the sound muffling. That's all those seemingly pointless tubes on the intake tube are for. Without them, the sound is very similar to the growl of a nice performance muffler.
I'm a huge fan of the AEM DryFlow drop-in filter. I've had one for over 50K miles and have checked/cleaned it twice at ~20K mile intervals. Both times, the intake tube was SPOTLESS. Nothing wiped up on a paper towel and no smear mark on the plastic where I wiped it. The filter works very well. I have no personal data on the airflow being increased, but it surely can't be worse than stock. Besides, the total area of that filter is WAY larger than the area of the throttle body. It's not a restriction. As for hard data on air flow and filtration efficiency, years ago, I read up on a test that included the DryFlow and a few other popular filter medias and the DryFlow stomped them all. My personal experiences with the DryFlow and other filters concurs with that test.
It's not the environmental heat, it's the heat from the engine. Particularly the hot air from the exhaust manifold that's less than 2' away from the intake box and trapped under the hood. Insulating the intake tubing or the filter box doesn't do much of anything since the air passing through it isn't in there long enough to be heated, nor are there any good elements to transfer the heat. What you need is the air going into the filter box to be isolated from the engine bay heat. This is exactly what the factory box does. It's weak point is the foam seal between the box and the fender. It's a thin foam that usually falls in when the adhesive fails from age, exposing the inlet to the hot underhood air. Replace this seal with something more robust, drop in a good filter (such as that AEM) and replace the tube from the filter box to the throttle body with a smooth path and you will have done all you can do.
Examples:
Growing up doesn't have to suck
... Did all that to make way for these: Shipping might would've been a little cheaper had they not included the duplicate bag of hardware.:rolleyes: I guess my Tahoe is now officially for track duty only: Long tubes? Short tubes? My answer: Neither! Tri-Y tubes! I don't know...
www.tahoeyukonforum.com
Growing up doesn't have to suck
... Did all that to make way for these: Shipping might would've been a little cheaper had they not included the duplicate bag of hardware.:rolleyes: I guess my Tahoe is now officially for track duty only: Long tubes? Short tubes? My answer: Neither! Tri-Y tubes! I don't know...
www.tahoeyukonforum.com
gooffeyguy
Tom
I like the AEM Dryflow filters, I have them one 3 of my vehicles
iamdub
Full Access Member
I wish I could find that test I was talking about earlier, but it was years ago and I probably read it in a Super Street or Sport Compact magazine or something. But, they tested the various filter medias with a tube (shop vac?) and something like a paper towel on the "clean side" of the media to see what the filter let pass. IIRC, they also tested volume (restriction) somehow.
More recent testing (although kinda lame and it's not the panel style we have):
www.motortrend.com
More recent testing (although kinda lame and it's not the panel style we have):
AEM Dryflow Synthetic Air Filters - Tech - Sport Truck Magazine
Read about the Dryflow Air Filter element built by Advanced Engine Management, AEM, in Sport Truck Magazine.
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Charlie207
Full Access Member
I appreciate your breakdowns, but I already ordered a CAI. I'm interested to see what changes there'll be. I'm guessing it'll just be increased induction noise.I wish I could find that test I was talking about earlier, but it was years ago and I probably read it in a Super Street or Sport Compact magazine or something. But, they tested the various filter medias with a tube (shop vac?) and something like a paper towel on the "clean side" of the media to see what the filter let pass. IIRC, they also tested volume (restriction) somehow.
More recent testing (although kinda lame and it's not the panel style we have):
AEM Dryflow Synthetic Air Filters - Tech - Sport Truck Magazine
Read about the Dryflow Air Filter element built by Advanced Engine Management, AEM, in Sport Truck Magazine.
iamdub
Full Access Member
I saw you had ordered one. I was just adding to/completing what I had already posted.
Which intake did you get?
Charlie207
Full Access Member
iamdub
Full Access Member
If you find a light coat of dust in that tube at your next oil change and/or it seems to feel weaker after it's warmed up or when sitting in traffic, you might be able to attach that tube to the factory box. Being $30 cheaper than the MIT, it could be an "MIT hack" for someone looking to get an intake.
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