CAI vs. hot air intake

[2003 Cobra]

I have had a K&N FIPK cone filter that is made for a 2001 Cobra on for almost 6 months. The K&N filter came with a cheap piece of sheetmetal for use as a heat shield that would not block out any heat so I never installed it. Yesterday, I received my Steeda CAI and installed it on my car. Yes, I put the Steeda unit on with the heat shield. I drove around for over two hours and could feel absolutely no difference between the K&N hot air intake I had and the Steeda CAI. The outside temperature was about 80* and I drove in all types of traffic conditions. Stop and go as well as freeway driving and some 6,000 rpm blasts. This is of course no scientific test, just my own seat of the pants feeling.

As a side note, I did feel a gain every time I did other mods to this car. The x-pipe and cat-back brought on power as well as changing the pulley to 3.2" pulley.

Maybe a dyno can see the difference in a few horsepower at an extremely high rpm but I surely could not feel any difference whatsoever.

 

[Ghoust]

im in the same boat...maybe im just not used to detecting hp gains but my densecharger intake seems to just make the car louder...now on the other hand, i seem to loose traction easier so im guessing that there is definately al power increase, but I really can't tell.

 

[SolidSnake]

I like the filter on the Steeda CAI, but the "heat shield" to me seems like a magnet for heat...I mean, it's metal right? I have the Amazon CAI coming to my house today, so I think I will use the open ended conical filter from Steeda with the MAF flange and heat shield from the Amazon kit and make me a STEEDAZON kit!!!

 

[Jim Vaccaro]

Removing heat shield on dyno adds a few ponies..Going up the track who knows..I don't see Pete or other real fast Cobra's useing heat shields..


jim v.

 

[jshen]

Steeda

I have the Steeda CAI and have noticed the metal shield does get a little hot. Have thought of using a layer of Thermo-Tech heat shield to keep things a bit cooler.....Any thoughts?

 

[Cobra'03]

Re: Steeda

Originally posted by jshen
I have the Steeda CAI and have noticed the metal shield does get a little hot. Have thought of using a layer of Thermo-Tech heat shield to keep things a bit cooler.....Any thoughts?

Yes, that would likely be a complete waste of time - the amount of heat conducted into the air from the shield is tiny compared to the volume of air moving past it - the heat transfer functions are area and air velocity sensitive. I doubt it would make a fraction of a degree difference in worst case heat conditions. Not worth the hassle, my man.

 

[2003 Cobra]

I agree with Cobra "03 If the hot air in the engine compartment is not completely sealed off from the air filter then your engine is essentially sucking hot air. The factory air box seems to have the right concept where they completely seal off the hot air from engine by drawing air in from the fenderwell area. The underhood heat from our engines is extreme and the aftermarket loose fitting, not fully sealed, home made plastic and sheetmetal heat shields are a joke.

 

[flyn high again]

I think air flow is more important than air temp. If you are flowing enough air, then worry about the temp. More air=more power. I took the cold air ducts off my LX after getting snow up it and didn't notice any difference with the K+N sucking air in the engine bay.

 

[Pyro]

Try getting 3" ducting and connect it to the hole next to the driver side fog/driving light and lead it to about 2" from the K&N. I'm confident you will feel a SOTP difference at speed. It's similar to the JLP Ram Air unit.

 

[sambandit]

I agree with Jim. Time and time again, the fastest 03's are running the open powerstack K&N Filter seup. Nitrous Pete, Jim D'Amore, all those fast guys use this design and pull their headlight at the track. Call Terry at sfphq and he can explain this to you! I think I'll stay with my setup, sfphq even includes a bracket that holds the filter in place.

 

[Grey03]

Pulling the headlight works. At the track with no cool down I was running consistent 111 mph. I took out the headlight and ran 114mph. My car was hot so the cool air coming in helped.

 

[sonic cobra]

I was at petes shop 3 weeks ago and when he popped the hood on his cobra he had a jlp unit in there

 

[94SVT Coupe]

Originally posted by flyn high again
I think air flow is more important than air temp. If you are flowing enough air, then worry about the temp. More air=more power. I took the cold air ducts off my LX after getting snow up it and didn't notice any difference with the K+N sucking air in the engine bay.

I argued this for pages and pages months ago. Everyone was high on the DC and UPR parts at the time. Now, it seems people have realized the straight shot big cones are the way to go.

The water/air intercooler is what makes this car different from a n/a car. Hell, the s/c gets too hot to even touch in a short period of time. I doubut a little hotter intake air will kill performance. Cooler would be better, but no bends and large amounts of air is more important.


Here is what I consider to be the best right now..
http://www.morpheusperformance.com/

Sucks cold air AND no bend in front of the meter. The way it should be.

 

[Video]

Steeda CAI sure looks nice though...;-)

 

[CobraBob]

Originally posted by Video
Steeda CAI sure looks nice though...;-)

Ditto! How sweet it is!
:burnout: