CAI Help / Learning lesson

[ttyler333]

I am new to the world of modding my car. I have been reading up on the CAI and it makes a lot of sense to me. I was looking at vararam. My friend had suggested just to build my own and call it a day for a lot cheaper than the vararam.


I am ready for the lesson. The CAI takes in "cold" air.. So would I be correct in assuming the colder the air the better? Around what temp is idea. 0°F, 15°F, 30°F, 45°F, 50°F, 60°F...

As well, if your CAI had a fan/blower on the end to force air into the engine or atleast accomidate for a larger airflow, is this beneficial as well or not recommended.

[TOYMARO]

Colder the better. (colder = more dense = more air in the cylinder)

Just get a "scoop" (adm) that mounts in the front fascia. They sell them all over on here. The scoop will redirect air right onto the area around the filter. Most places here offer a "package" that includes a CAI, scoop, and washer bottle relocate kit (bottle is in way of "scooped air".)

Hope this helps

[ttyler333]

Toymaro, that is not the intent i have planned. I am asking because as a true DIYer I'd like to ask and figure things out. You said the colder the better but surely theres a point when the air is too cold and performance is hindered.


Thanks thought and i did look at a scoop some of them look fairly nice. At the moment it is out of the question though. Thanks

[TOYMARO]

Hmmmmm. I dont know then. I would think the colder the better. I mean really. You could run -20^f air into a motor and i would think it would be like running FI, lol.

You listed 0-60 above? I mean motors run -100^f right? IF you can start them. If you could run air at -20^f on a 70^f day.....it would be like an FI motor

Are you wanting to run cold air somehow? I dont know man. Energy wasted not enough to offset power made. Put a blower on

Thats all i got

[DSX_Camaro]

"Cold air" intake is a bit of a misnomer. It should be "high volume" - "Cold" is inaccurate, because the air that gets ingested is slightly cooler than ambient, but (obviously) the intake doesn't magically make the air cooler.

The reason it's called a "cold air" intake is because cooler gases are denser, so if you have cooler air then there is more oxygen to be burned. And no, I don't believe there's a point where air can be "too cold" where you actually find diminishing returns.

[scrming]

air can't be too cold... but cold air means cold pavement which means reduced traction...

[Sales @ CAI Inc]

OP - Your idea of a Cold Air Intake (CAI) cooling the air is not really correct. A good CAI will help your intake air temp (IAT) be the lowest it can possibly be. Its not as if its an air conditioner, so its not going to produce cooler air. What it should be doing is ingesting the coolest air available, which comes from the cooler ambient air outside of the vehicle as opposed to the hot air found in the engine bay. It should then be getting that cooler air to your engine in the least restrictive way possible, while maintaining the IAT as best it can without it increasing in temperature from heat soak due to the heat found in the engine bay. This is why we seal off and insulate our CAI, to reduce heat soak. Low IAT, Reduced restriction, and superior filtration is what a good CAI will give you.

As far as the whole fan thing, I'm not really going to get into that discussion, but no you cant just add a fan on the end of a CAI to push air in, there's much more that goes on with a modern EFI system than just adding a fan to blow more air in and calling it a day. If you want to force more air into your engine there are Superchargers and Turbo Chargers that will do that for you correctly.

I am pretty confident in saying that we have sold more 5th gen Camaro CAI's than any other company, and we have a huge following with thousands of happy customers, as well as hundreds of respected speed shops that sell and install our CAI. We spend a lot of time and money on research and testing our product to ensure its going to give you maximum gains without requiring tuning to your vehicles computer, and more importantly that its safe for your vehicle and will not cause any issues and throw a CEL. We design and manufacturer our CAI 100% right here in the USA, and offer a lifetime warranty.

If you have any questions let me know, I would be happy to help.

[ttyler333]

Thanks for the many great replies. I was just thinking about ways you can manipulate 100F outside air temp down to say 60f or even colder. I was pondering the thought to see If its even worth the time or effort to remotely make a demo. It seems to fan part of the idea is no longer a thought.

[DSX_Camaro]

The fan will draw enormous quantities of power to even be able to be run - however (and I am 100% serious on this) if you slap a gas powered leaf blower to your intake, you will realize more gains than an electric-based fan.

If you were drag racing, you could make a sort of intercooler (like the bricks that the LS9 or LF3 have) that cools the incoming air via a reservoir of ice / water that you refill occasionally. It would only be good for a few passes but it would make a difference. Just food for thought.

[Sales @ CAI Inc]

Originally Posted by ttyler333

Thanks for the many great replies. I was just thinking about ways you can manipulate 100F outside air temp down to say 60f or even colder. I was pondering the thought to see If its even worth the time or effort to remotely make a demo. It seems to fan part of the idea is no longer a thought.

Manipulating is not a great idea. Brief example:

Its 85 degrees outside and you are pulling in 85 degree intake air. You come up with a way to have your IAT read as a lower temperature, lets say 50 degrees. In theory, you think hey the engine thinks I have cooler air which is denser, so I'm going to get more fuel and more combustion. Well your computer adds more fuel, and the intake air enters the combustion chamber, but guess what, that air is not really 50 degrees like the computer believed, its actually 85 degrees or hotter. The chemical reaction that takes place is completely different than the temperature of air actually taken in compared to what you computer adjusted for, and you actual mass of air is different to, and you now have a rich condition.

Telling your computer you have cooler or greater air is not going to be beneficial or safe if you are not actually bringing in a cooler or greater air mass. If cars could safely make more HP with a cheap little fix or invention like this, the companies like us in the aftermarket with the testing equipment, engineering capability, machining ability, etc. would be all over it. Usually things that seem to good to be true or to easy like this, are a really bad idea in the long run. Again, Superchargers, Turbo Chargers and Intercoolers accomplish these things. If you want to make it rich, come up with a safe, reliable, attractive, and performance proven Supercharger for half the current market price

[Jason@JacFab]

Originally Posted by Sales @ CAI Inc

Manipulating is not a great idea. Brief example:

Its 85 degrees outside and you are pulling in 85 degree intake air. You come up with a way to have your IAT read as a lower temperature, lets say 50 degrees. In theory, you think hey the engine thinks I have cooler air which is denser, so I'm going to get more fuel and more combustion. Well your computer adds more fuel, and the intake air enters the combustion chamber, but guess what, that air is not really 50 degrees like the computer believed, its actually 85 degrees or hotter. The chemical reaction that takes place is completely different than the temperature of air actually taken in compared to what you computer adjusted for, and you actual mass of air is different to, and you now have a rich condition.

Telling your computer you have cooler or greater air is not going to be beneficial or safe if you are not actually bringing in a cooler or greater air mass. If cars could safely make more HP with a cheap little fix or invention like this, the companies like us in the aftermarket with the testing equipment, engineering capability, machining ability, etc. would be all over it. Usually things that seem to good to be true or to easy like this, are a really bad idea in the long run. Again, Superchargers, Turbo Chargers and Intercoolers accomplish these things. If you want to make it rich, come up with a safe, reliable, attractive, and performance proven Supercharger for half the current market price

There's a difference between manipulating the car to THINK it's getting colder and and actually GIVING it colder air...

http://www.designengineering.com/cat...yo2-air-intake

If a product such as the DEI CryO2 air intake charge cooler were used before the ambient air hits the MAF sensor (which has the IAT sensor built in), it would actually BE cooler air (if this product actually works) which may increase power.

The biggest problem I see with this product is that trying to use it with a stock intake would be difficult because the MAF sensor is so close to the air inlet to the tube on the top of the box. It would be a little easier to install with an aftermarket intake, but obviously some modifications would be required.

In the long run, it's still probably more trouble than it's worth. OP, you might as well just buy a Cold Air Inductions intake and call it a day

[Sales @ CAI Inc]

Originally Posted by RacnJsn95

There's a difference between manipulating the car to THINK it's getting colder and and actually GIVING it colder air...

In the long run, it's still probably more trouble than it's worth. OP, you might as well just buy a Cold Air Inductions intake and call it a day

^^ Exactly. If the MAF is reading certain data and making adjustments based on that data, then what the MAF is reading is what you should be delivering.

[ttyler333]

See i was thinking of the air actually being colder.. not actually tricking the IAT, Anyways I think i've seen enough to theorize and improve a quick idea.

Thank you guys.

[TOYMARO]

oh god....your gonna try and use the a/c.