Or is it about a smoother intake area with a fatter pipe, freer flowing filter, etc? It seems to me that since you guys talk about the better growl from the CAI, it must be more about freer flowing air than temp? Granted, colder air is better for performance...

Edit: spelled growl with an "n".

[ 07-19-2001: Message edited by: autox-CL-er ]

 

all of the above. Free flowing (less turbulance), less heated air etc., It all helps

 

10+ hp. CAI best bang for your buck!

 

All of the above. The air under the hood will always be warmer than outside. The smooth piping also helps.

 

The cold air is only one part of the equation. One of the reasons why CAI is great, has to do with the length of the tubing. Aside from the benefit of mandrel bent tubing for a smoother flow, the length of the tubing will allow a resonance effect, that produces a jump in HP in the mid to high range rpm. It's almost like a supercharging effect.

If you look at dynos comparing CAI with short ram type of intakes, you'll notice that most of the HP is in the middle to high rpm for the CAI, and mostly high RPM for the "short ram intake", if any. The difference is due to the fact that with a longer tubing, the natural resonace effect occurs at a lower rpm range than the shorter tubing. In some cases, a poorly design short ram will not make any HP at all since it's resonance threshold may be well above the redline of the engine.

 

Now THAT was one helluvan answer! Good job, Frank! That's the kind of answer I was looking for.

 

Frank is quite right -- the power in the "dyno" tests that show 6-10 hp are just showing the increase from a "gas flow" perspective.

The cold air that you get when driving adds 6% more power for every 40 degrees drop in air temp.

So, if the engine air was around 100 degrees F and the outside "cool" air was around 60 F, you would get about 12 more hp to the wheels!