Automobile industry is a continuous research industry and the consumers always want better performance from their vehicles comparative to what they are getting at the moment. The fuel consumption, better speed and torque are some of the biggest concerns of people all the time.
There are always works going on how to improve these parameters and get more of the performance from the engine. One of the things that can help you in this case is Cold Air Intakes. Many people have used the additional aftermarket assembly and got themselves benefited.
This Best Cold Air Intakes review will be a discussion on some of the most popular and recommended items, based on their features and the benefits along with lacking.
What is a Cold Air Intake?
A Cold Air Intake (CIA) system is a complete assembly that is added to the cars to help increase the performance of the car. A cold air intake system is used to the car in order to get relatively cold air to the engine.
This system has its own air filter, heat shield and tubes that supply fresh air directly to the engine.
Why is a Cold Air Intake Used?
A Cold Air Intake system is used to bring the air filter of the engine out of the engine compartment, by that way the filter is kept at a distance from the heat of the engine directly. This lets the engine get some cooler air through the filter.
As cold air has relatively higher oxygen concentration, the engine gets benefited by having more oxygen for combustion.
Best Cold Air Intakes Review
There are many options of cold air intakes available in the market, some of the best models will be reviewed here:
1. Spectre Performance Cold Air Intake
This product comes from the brand Spectre Performance having a model number SPE-9900. The weight of this product is 10 pounds. The product comes having a red Spectre air filter, a powder-coated heat shield and high quality polished Aluminium tubes.
Features and benefits
The polished Aluminium tubes and powder coated heat shield of this cold air intake help it to work under heavy load of air inflow, regardless of the rise in air temperature caused by high air pressure.
The polished Aluminium tubes guarantees longevity of the product under regular use and heavy load. So the owner of the truck does not need to worry about reliability or life time of the product.
The kit is designed to manage increase in horsepower and torque of the engine, which increases the overall performance of the vehicle. This item is a great fit for GM trucks manufactured between 1999 and 2007. It is easy to install and a ready go product for those models of GM trucks
Cons of the product
This product is not suitable for car models and suits best with GM brand’s trucks only.
2. K&N 57 Series FIPK Air Intake
This product from the brand K&N and has the model number 57-3070. It has a weight of 13.2 pounds.
Features and benefits
This item can be used as a complete replacement of factory products to improve throttle response and engine sound as well as increasing the engine horsepower. The kit has K&N filter charger cotton-gauge air filter, which is washable and reusable for lifetime. This indicates the saving of money for the owner due to the longevity of the product.
The air intake tube is crosslinked and custom-molded which causes cooler air delivery comparative to metal tubes. The diverter chamber of this kit is parabolic, which results in increased air velocity and smooth air flow. The total installation of this kit takes less than 90 minutes, which makes it quick to replace the old air intake system of your car easily.
Cons of the product
The kit has some additional weight compared to its peer products.
3. Volant Cold Air Intakes
This cold air intake kit is a high performance product from the manufacturer Volant. The product can be availed for trucks, cars and SUVs.
Features and benefits
This kit is available custom designed for the given specific cars, trucks or SUV models by the company. It guarantees a ready fit for the vehicle in which the system will be used. This model boosts the horsepower, torque and even MPG (Mile Per Gallon) of the car by its use.
This makes it a worthy product as overall fuel consumption is reduced by using this cold air intake. The kit is designed with easy open box lids to provide quick access to the filter. The ducts are made of molded polyethylene which allows a clean and cool air passage to the engine.
It takes less than one hour to install this cold air intake system that makes the replacement quick. Volant offers a 1 year warranty on the intake parts and 100,000 miles warranty for the air filter.
Cons of the product
The user has to pre-order this product from the company by giving all the details before using it.
4. Cold Air Inductions Intake System
This product comes from Cold Air Inductions Inc. having a model number 501-1099-10. The item has a weight of 9.55 pounds.
Features and benefits
This item is a ready fit product for the Chevrolet Camaro 6.2L. It is quick to install and adjusts to the car perfectly. The easy install product increases overall engine performance by improving the throttle response, torque and horsepower of the engine.
The kit has inner thermal coating on the intake tubes with an enclosed and insulated air box, which keeps the filter protected from heat. Use of this product reduces the fuel consumption of the vehicle and makes the use of the vehicle less costly.
Cons of the product
This cold air intake kit cannot be used with many of the car models available in the market, which reduces its worth to most of the vehicle owners.
5. Airaid MXP Series Cold Air Dam Intake System
Manufacturer of this equipment is Airaid and model number is AIR-521-284. This product has a weight of 11.5 pounds. The system consists of high density polyethylene tubing with a one-piece roto-modeled air box.
Features and benefits
This kit is easy to install and can be used as a replacement to the factory fitted air intake system without any recalibration. This saves a lot of work needed from the mechanic. The filter used in this system is washable and reusable, which provides long service life of the filter.
The system is designed to improve horsepower and torque of the engine, which indeed improves the overall performance of it. This model is a ready fit for Infinity QX56 and many Nissan car models.
Cons of the product
This product cannot be used with many of the car models and trucks.
6. K&N 69 Series Typhoon Air Intake System
This is another popular model from K&N which uses oiled type filter with Aluminium tube material. The product is used for cold air intake and short ram intake to increase the performance of the engine.
Features and benefits
This is a ready to install product with less than 90 minutes installation time. It is one of the best products for sport compact performance. The product comes with a warranty period of 1 million miles, which backs up for the risk of its failure over a long time.
The kit comes with an optimum fit and performance for the specified vehicles. The kit uses K&N Xtream Airflow Cotton-gauge filter which is washable and reusable. The nature of the filter provides longer life to the filter.
The product comes in a variety of finishes depending on the application requirements and can add up to 15 horsepower to the engine output, which provides more power for a sports compact ride.
Cons of the product
The product does not increase throttle response or torque considerably, so it is not a good choice for heavy duty vehicles. Also this product does not fit for the trucks.
7. Injen Air Intake System
This product from Injen has the model number PF5013P. The weight of this item is 9.9 pounds.
Features and benefits
This system uses a webbed Nano-fiber dry filter for the purpose of accelerating airflow to the engine. This also filters the contaminants of air to improve the performance of the engine.
The manufacturer provides truly customized products for the drivetrain of the specific vehicle based on its make year and model. It uses Mega Ram (MR) technology, a sophisticated tuning process that is used to tweak the diameter and shape of the intake pipes for the purpose of getting the maximum horsepower and torque gains.
Before installation, each vehicle has to go through a thorough dyno-testing process, which ensures the best performance and fit of the product with your vehicle. The tuned tube is wrought from aerospace-grade, lightweight, anti-corrosive T-6 aluminum, which ensures long and reliable service life.
The installation of this product is simple bolt type and no drillings will be required. This amazing product is backed by a lifetime warranty by the manufacturer Injen.
Cons of the product
The dyno-testing process and the tuning process of this product may need some additional time before installation.
8. AEM Polished Short Ram Intake System
The product is from AEM having a model number 22-503P. It has a mere weight of 6.6 pounds only.
Features and benefits
This product includes a DRYFLOW synthetic air filter, which covers the lifetime of the vehicle providing exceptional filtration for so long. The filter is washable and thus can be washed and cleaned without the need of replacement over its lifetime. The system includes powder coated heat shields and mandrel-bent Aluminium intake tubes to boost up the performance.
The system is designed to reduce air restriction and improve the airflow, torque and horsepower of your vehicle. This in turn improves the overall performance of your car considerably. The system is a best fit for most Honda Civic models.
Cons of the product
The product is made of precision materials that increase its costs. Also, the product cannot be fitted with trucks or SUVs.
How to Recognize the Best Cold Air Intake?
In this section, we will discuss how a user will be able to choose and buy the suitable Cold Air Intake system. The cold air intake systems are generally manufactured by the companies for particular vehicles and are not universal models in most of the cases.
This narrows down the available choices for the user. Rest of the things the user should be concerned are the follows:
Compatibility: The system should be fully compatible with the vehicle. Data regarding the compatibility of the Cold Air Intake with your vehicle should be available on the websites of these products.
A proper thermal barrier: The main purpose to use Cold Air Intake is to get cooler air to the engine. The cooler the air, the performance of the engine will get better with that. The material of the intake system should be heat resistant to keep the air cool.
Also, there should be heat resistant shield that could protect the Cold Air Intake from getting heated by engine temperature.
Weight of the system: If there are multiple options available for the Cold Air Intake of a vehicle, then the user should choose the one that weighs less comparative to the others. The greater the weight of the device, it will create more load on the engine and may harm the vehicle’s performance to some extent.
The air filter: The air filter of cold air intake is the most important part of it. For the best cold air intake, the air filter should be a reusable and washable one. The filter should also be precision to arrest the dirt and debris effectively to provide only clean air to the engine.
The filter should also be easily accessible to the user for routine checking and maintenance.
Air pressure: The pressure of the air supplied to the engine by the cold air intake system should always be in the working range of the engine. Any reduction in the pressure will hamper the performance of the vehicle.
The tubes used in the system should be designed in such a way that it should not create any decrease in the pressure and no resistance to the incoming air should be there.
Price: The product should be economically feasible to the user. But the user should also keep in mind that it is not a good idea to opt for a cheap system that has low quality.
Some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q. Does Cold Air Intakes benefit and increase engine performance?
Ans: Cold Air Intakes let the engine have some cooler air. The cooler the air, the more oxygen concentration it has. So the combustion process gets benefited and more output can be availed from the engine.
However, the degree of the benefit will not be the same for all the engines. But in some cases, truck drivers have claimed to have up to 15 horsepower increase having the system installed.
Q. Can Cold Air Intake systems be universal model?
Ans: One particular Cold Air Intake system in some cases may be fit in a few car models, but these assemblies are not universal in general. You cannot have the same Cold Air Intake fitted in different cars if the models of the cars are not the same.
In some cases, the same model cars may need to tune a Cold Air Intake system before use, even if it is from the other car of the same model.
Q. Can Cold Air Intakes decrease fuel consumption?
Ans: Cold Air Intakes may decrease fuel consumptions to some extent, but expecting a drastic decrease in fuel consumption will not be wise.
Q. Does Cold Air Intake damage engine?
Ans: No, they do not cause any harm to the engine. Some people think cold air is not good for the engine, but actually, that is not the case.
Conclusion
Cold Air Intakes will benefit the engine of your vehicle in all the ways. It will definitely bring better results than the factory assembly. But it should be kept in mind that any dramatic change in the fuel consumption, horsepower, and torque of the car or anything similar should not be expected.
If the proper model which suits best to the vehicle can be properly used, then satisfactory outcome may be observed. The user must choose the best model for his beloved vehicle to get the maximum benefit.
Here in this Best Cold Air Intakes review article, the discussion should help every user to find the best-suited model to be used for their vehicle.
Hi, it’s Bucky Balls
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