Cold air intake

[Miller2623]

Finally decided what I wanted and bought used instead of new. I got a 2009 sierra 1500 slt. I have heard from a few friends that installing a cold air intake into my truck would add atleast 2 or 3 mpg to my truck. Is this true or is it just another gimmick to get people to try and buy something else. Ive done a little research and everything seems to say it will help a little and that they are very good for your engine. Just wondering what someone that actually has one in there truck thinks or has expierenced. Thanks in advance

 

[Z15]

There is no manufacturer of a cold air intake for a gas engine claiming it increases mileage because they know its not possible. Its urban legend spread by many who don't even know how to compute miles per gallon.


Read this and see how the manuf. dances all around the subject of increase mpg more or less saying, hey if you want to believe it who are we to say no. BUT we make no claim because we know it not to be true. Just because some of your friends say so, does not make it true. Its BS.


Look up the meaning of theory and theoretical and you will find its a pipe dream.

1.How will a K&N filter affect my vehicle's fuel economy?

There is a relationship between air filter restriction and mileage. The theory behind this is simple, the harder an engine has to work to suck air through the intake tubes and air filter, the more gas gets wasted in the process. Many K&N users report an increase in their fuel economy after beginning to use our air filters, as noted on our testimonial page. However, these experiences do not mean you will also experience a change in your mileage. We certainly understand why it is theoretically possible for a consumer to experience a mileage increase after installing a K&N air filter or intake system, however, we do not go so far as to make a general claim that our air filters and intake systems will provide an increase in mileage.

It is virtually impossible to make sweeping and general claims about mileage. Even the EPA fuel rating numbers for new cars are often not representative of the mileage you actually experience. There are many variables that affect mileage such as: tire inflation, the type of fuel, weather, elevation, the speed at which you drive, the gear in which you drive, the speed with which you accelerate, engine maintenance, excessive idling, cruise control, the grade of motor oil you use, and of course, the condition of your air filter. In short, mileage is complicated.

K&N filters are less restrictive than disposable paper or synthetic air filters and K&N Intake Systems are less restrictive than the factory installed air path. So K&N filter technology could be an important tool, when combined with other elements, to help keep mileage as high as possible.

Oh yeah, there's one more limitation imposed by science. If you take advantage of added power by driving more aggressively, you will reduce mileage. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.

Ps - I had one on one of my trucks for over 30,000 miles and 3 yrs and the mileage never changed. All is did was make more noise which gave you the impression of more power. That's another marketing gimmick, create a lot of noise and people think its more powerful. I read where one car company did that and they found that it increased sales because people equated more noise with more power. In other words, noise sells to the high performance buyer. Look at who many tear off a perfectly good oem exhaust and put on something that makes noise, proof that noise sells and buyers equate it will more power....

I know its seems I am a little wound up on this and for good reason. A close relative spent a lot of money to buy these gimmicks for his vehicle (CAI, Exhaust, tires etc) and as a matter of fact it getting worse mpg than when it was stock. Wouldn't listen to reason and spent $ on this crap.

 

[andymclain09]

It looks like the "bash" article you've provided from K&N is referring to an air FILTER. Of course a filter doesn't do anything for fuel economy or horse power. An entire new intake SYSTEM, starting from the throttle body out to the air filter is what creates the horsepower gains and better fuel economy. The intake tube is less restrictive by not taking so many "detours" out to the filter. The filter is larger and more efficiently designed to pull in more air, faster.

If you allow your engine to breath more efficiently by installing a high-flow air intake system, your engine is producing power more efficiently. Meaning, more for less, for anyone who didn't major in Economics.

So, how do we relate back to the idea that a new air intake SYSTEM increases power and fuel economy. Well, it does in fact produce more horsepower, as minimal as it might be and it also increases fuel economy. However, I think that the gain in fuel economy is so little, that the math wizzes calculating their fuel economy don't notice it and there are too many other variables between each tank fill-up that cover up the increase.

The lesson to be learned.....buy the air intake system for the horsepower gain and not to add to your fuel economy. There are other things you can do to your truck to get better fuel economy that actually produce noticeable results. Besides, did we all buy trucks with V8 engines because of the great fuel economy they get??? Buy a civic if you're concerned

 

[Popgun05]

Nope! Put a K&N cold air intake on my 2011 Sierra, no change in HP or MPG, but sure sounds better when you put the pedal to the floor!!!

 

[Z15]

fyi


Effect of Intake Air Filter Condition on Vehicle Fuel Economy

Prepared by
OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6283
managed by
UT-BATTELLE, LLC
for the
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725

4.1 CONCLUSIONS
The goal of this study was to explore the effects of a clogged air filter on the fuel economy of vehicles operating over prescribed test cycles. Three newer vehicles (a 2007 Buick Lucerne, a 2006 Dodge Charger, and a 2003 Toyota Camry) and an older carbureted vehicle were tested.

Results show that clogging the air filter has no significant effect on the fuel economy of the newer vehicles (all fuel injected with closed-loop control and one equipped with MDS). The engine control systems were able to maintain the desired AFR regardless of intake restrictions, and therefore fuel consumption was not increased. The carbureted engine did show a decrease in fuel economy with increasing restriction. However, the level of restriction required to cause a substantial (10–15%) decrease in fuel economy (such as that cited in the literature3,4) was so severe that the vehicle was almost undrivable. Acceleration performance on all vehicles was improved with a clean air filter.

Once it was determined how severe the restriction had to be to affect the carbureted vehicle fuel economy, the 2007 Buick Lucerne was retested in a similar manner. We were not able to achieve the level of restriction that was achieved with the 1972 Pontiac with the Lucerne. The Lucerne’s air filter box would not hold the filter in place under such severe conditions. (It is believed that this testing exceeded the design limits of the air box.) Tests were conducted at a lower restriction level (although still considerably more severe than the initial clogged filter testing), allowing the air filter to stay seated in the air box, and no significant change was observed in the Lucerne’s fuel economy or the AFR over the HFET cycle.

Closed-loop control in modern fuel injected vehicle applications is sophisticated enough to keep a clogged air filter from affecting the vehicle fuel economy. However for older, open-loop, carbureted vehicles, a clogged air filter can affect the fuel economy. For the vehicle tested, the fuel economy with a new air filter improved as much as 14% over that with a severely clogged filter (in which the filter was so clogged that drivability was impacted). Under a more typical state of clog, the improvement with a new filter ranged from 2 to 6%.

So, if testing shows that a clogged filter does not affect fuel economy how can changing a new filter to another new type of filter get you 2 mpg better mileage? It can't. The powertrain control module (PCM) and the computer program running keeps the same 14.7 lbs air to 1 lb of fuel a/fuel ratio no matter how much air in coming in. Give it more air, the pcm gives it more fuel. The only way to save fuel is to reprogram the PCM to give it less fuel to air and then you will likely lean out the motor and blow it up. Air filter, cold air intake same thing, not going to give you better mileage, if it did they would be standard equipment because the oem will do anything to gain 0.1 mpg increase and if was that easy, they would be on there. Truth is, the air box that is on them is the most efficient design but it is not shinny or a bight color to show off.

 

[dirtclod]

I'm thinking a 14.7/1 air fuel ratio is parts (volume). Like 14.7 cubic inches of air to 1 cubic inch of fuel. Z15, you stated it as lbs. To me, volume and pounds are dissimilar. Can you clarify this, simply (because I'm not an engineer)? This is just a question.

 

[Z15]

Air-fuel ratio (AFR) is the mass ratio of air to fuel present in an internal combustion engine.

The difference between mass and weight causes a lot of confusion amongst a lot of people. Put simply, weight is a measure of gravity's effect on something. Mass is the amount of matter in an object. Move to a different planet and an object's weight will change, but its mass will be the same.

 

[painthorseowner]

I don't know as far as helping, but I assume with an 09 you have factory warranty time left, be careful doing any kind of modification making sure it won't void the warranty.....they'll shaft you out of it if they can.
good luck, and congrats!

 

[armyman89]

It looks like the "bash" article you've provided from K&N is referring to an air FILTER. Of course a filter doesn't do anything for fuel economy or horse power. An entire new intake SYSTEM, starting from the throttle body out to the air filter is what creates the horsepower gains and better fuel economy. The intake tube is less restrictive by not taking so many "detours" out to the filter. The filter is larger and more efficiently designed to pull in more air, faster.

If you allow your engine to breath more efficiently by installing a high-flow air intake system, your engine is producing power more efficiently. Meaning, more for less, for anyone who didn't major in Economics.

So, how do we relate back to the idea that a new air intake SYSTEM increases power and fuel economy. Well, it does in fact produce more horsepower, as minimal as it might be and it also increases fuel economy. However, I think that the gain in fuel economy is so little, that the math wizzes calculating their fuel economy don't notice it and there are too many other variables between each tank fill-up that cover up the increase.

The lesson to be learned.....buy the air intake system for the horsepower gain and not to add to your fuel economy. There are other things you can do to your truck to get better fuel economy that actually produce noticeable results. Besides, did we all buy trucks with V8 engines because of the great fuel economy they get??? Buy a civic if you're concerned

first off no no no. the factory designed the entire intake system to be as efficent as any KN setup. all KN is doing is getting a shinny tube that attracts your attention and a big air filter that pulls hot air in from the engine bay. it has NO horsepower increase and NO miles per gallon gains.
in order to gain power with a cold air intake you would need a tuner,aftermarket exhaust,some type of engine mod. and maybe you would be able to tell that your cold air intake was doing something.
but your stock air box is pulling more than enough air for your engine. i would put money down to say that any off the shelf air filter would flow just as good as a KN.
what does economics have to do with air filters and how they work???? heres the thing look at your engine like a triangle at one corner you need spark the other fuel the last is air.if any one of those gets out of balance it can cause problems like running to lean,or pre detanation or to rich.
nowadays our computers in our trucks control everything from seat belts to controling rpms if you slap on KN filter with one of their shinny tubes your compter is only going to let tht filter take in so much air. even though the company says that the system will flow Xamount of air your computer in the truck will only allow Zamount of air. now on cars from like the early 90s and later on yea i can see a KN working because the computers are so basic compared to ours they do not control as much.

 

[boltazar]

My 2 cents late in this thread. Cold air is more dence than hot air. If your compressing thicker air the same as hot air you'll get a little more bang for your buck with cold air.

Has anyone noticed how engines run slightly stronger (more powerful) in damp or rainy weather than dry hot days. Adding a bubbler will accomplish this, ya just have to fill it up all the time.

Anyone experiment with HHO, Browns gas?

 

[happy 2011]

ok so lets say cold air intake works for a min. So with the new intake were does the air enter the system? Do you think your old intake system gets it air from the radiator. If left stock you will find you air is already coming from the same place your new 300 dollars in take system is.
Good luck with that