K&N Intake Performance

[loueradun]

Hi everyone, my first post (not including my introduction). I just got my Camaro this past Saturday, and of course I discovered the wonderful community here and have been shopping around for mods/tweaks that I can use to gain a bit more power and gas mileage for the new car.

I picked up a new K&N air intake for the car (please don't flame, I got a really good deal on it, less than $200 with overnight delivery). I know it probably isn't the best intake for my car, but I would like to do some true comparisons between the stock intake and the K&N intake for the purpose of sharing my results with others who may be thinking about going the cheaper route.

I have an OBDII reader that syncs via Bluetooth with my Android. It's a pretty awesome piece of equipment that I have been using for a couple years now, and it has access to just about every bit of data about the car. I would like to do some data logging before and after the intake install, for my benefit, as well as all of you on here, so I figured I'd get some input on what sort of things I should be logging before I do my install.

Off the top of my head I was thinking about logging:
Ambient Temp
Intake Temp
A/F ratio
Timing Advance

And I would probably do a couple logs, some at maybe 40, 50, and 60 MPH on a consistently flat surface.

What other pertinent values do you guys think I should be logging, or do you have any other suggestions about how I could verify the difference between the stock and K&N intake?

[Chris14RS]

I'm guessing you did not research before buying?

[DSX_Camaro]

Well, if you're logging timing advance you should probably run 91 or 93 octane for max power and have an 87 octane run to compare to.

K&N isn't bad. It isn't as good as the other intakes because it doesn't seal off the upper area in the engine bay, but all of the testing done was without an intake air scoop (moves washer bottle). But then, the injen long tube was also tested (which would have very similar function, being fed cooler air since it is in the fender well) and had the greatest gains.

If you're going to stick with the K&N like I am, do these tests and then invest in the air scoop and do them again. That should end the argument, because the results will either be "K&N is low grade" or "K&N's deficiency can be fixed".

[loueradun]

Originally Posted by Chris14RS

I'm guessing you did not research before buying?

I did plenty of research before buying, and found that there isn't much information on the K&N intake short of it not being the best available. I have used the K&N intakes before, and have noticed the difference in performance.

Yes I understand that I can spend $400 on a CAI Cold Air Intake, and get the best money can buy, however the purpose of this mod is to save me gas money, and with an initial cost of $200, I can make that back much sooner at the pump.

Here I am trying to get some solid numbers on how the K&N intake performs, and provide this information to other forum members and I'm getting flamed right out the gate... I have 30 days to return, I can always return it if it doesn't perform well at all.

[loueradun]

Originally Posted by DSX_Camaro

Well, if you're logging timing advance you should probably run 91 or 93 octane for max power and have an 87 octane run to compare to.

K&N isn't bad. It isn't as good as the other intakes because it doesn't seal off the upper area in the engine bay, but all of the testing done was without an intake air scoop (moves washer bottle). But then, the injen long tube was also tested (which would have very similar function, being fed cooler air since it is in the fender well) and had the greatest gains.

If you're going to stick with the K&N like I am, do these tests and then invest in the air scoop and do them again. That should end the argument, because the results will either be "K&N is low grade" or "K&N's deficiency can be fixed".

Thanks for the informative reply.

Do you think I should log any other variables from the computer that you think would be useful, or do you have any other suggestions for how I should run the car through the logging session?

[6bangerBOOM]

Other than not having a top section to fully seal off the intake, the K&N intake is the same as the others (a big tube roughly the same diameter as the throttle body that allows air to flow in a less turbulent path into the intake). It's fine. It'll give you the same acoustic improvements as well.

[19car69]

I had the K&N and recently went to the CAI intake. I ran the K&N with and without the Apex scoop and water bottle relocation. Then I installed the CAI with the scoop already in place.

Initially the K&N was noticeable improvement over the stock intake. Then the scoop improved that even more. With the CAI the improved got a little better, but not a huge jump over the K&N.

Sound is better than stock with both intakes, but the K&N sounded more aggressive. I think that is probably because there is no lid so more sound gets out, but that is just my guess.

Looks, which is obviously just opinion, the CAI wins. The finished box just looks nice if you are doing under hood cosmetics.

I think someone that is looking for every last bit of performance they can would go with the CAI, but I honestly can't say it is making enough of a difference in the performance department to matter for 99% of the drivers out there. I know I am not good enough to take any real advantage from the improvement it offers over the K&N.

Now back to the original topic. I would definitely be interested in seeing your results with the K&N over Stock and then with and without the scoop if you end up doing that too. I don't recall ever seeing those numbers done. Just butt dyno like I did.

[DSX_Camaro]

Originally Posted by loueradun

I did plenty of research before buying, and found that there isn't much information on the K&N intake short of it not being the best available. I have used the K&N intakes before, and have noticed the difference in performance.

Yes I understand that I can spend $400 on a CAI Cold Air Intake, and get the best money can buy, however the purpose of this mod is to save me gas money, and with an initial cost of $200, I can make that back much sooner at the pump.

Here I am trying to get some solid numbers on how the K&N intake performs, and provide this information to other forum members and I'm getting flamed right out the gate... I have 30 days to return, I can always return it if it doesn't perform well at all.

If you want a flame shield... look at this and then brush everything else off (which is ironic because this is what spawns K&N flaming). https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...mc&hl=en#gid=0

I mean, no one can honestly look someone else in the eye and say "K&N is worse". It simply has the worst peak gains, and even then it's only 4 intakes. And it's the Aircharger, not the Typhoon, which K&N states is the lower model... there's a lot going on here.

[KaBoom1701]

Don't go cheap and get the CAI one...you'll thank me latter.

[DSX_Camaro]

He already said he bought the K&N lol. And an extra $200 for 4whp at peak at best is insane...

[911medic]

Originally Posted by DSX_Camaro

If you want a flame shield... look at this and then brush everything else off (which is ironic because this is what spawns K&N flaming). https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...mc&hl=en#gid=0

I mean, no one can honestly look someone else in the eye and say "K&N is worse". It simply has the worst peak gains, and even then it's only 4 intakes. And it's the Aircharger, not the Typhoon, which K&N states is the lower model... there's a lot going on here.

Well, it's not only that test that caused negative K&N opinions around here, IMO.

It's the occasional "I installed a K&N intake and now I have a CEL" thread that pops up here. You just don't see those with the other intakes.

[Airmaster]

I'm running a K&N with no problems. I added my own insulation that I had laying around and made sure there was a good seal from the engine bay. I CAI'd it on the go. Never have had any problems with my K&N.

Good luck with tracking those figures OP. Let us know how it goes.

[loueradun]

So I got the new intake installed today. Sorry it took so long, I've been pretty busy and it's been raining a lot.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way it looks, and even happier with how it sounds. She has a real nice roar that she didn't have before. Unfortunately when I did my test in the morning the humidity was close to 0. After I got it installed the humidity was near 100% as it was just getting ready to rain. That said, the performance numbers were actually worse after installing the intake, but I'm pretty sure that was all weather related. Hoping to do the same trip tomorrow and log some better numbers for my post-install. Hopefully I'll have some numbers for everyone tomorrow. My trip is about a half hour, and produced a 4 MB CSV file with all the data, so I'll have a lot of data to parse through.

Here is a pic of the K&N installed.


P.S. Airmaster, what sort of insulation did you use to seal the extra spaces between the shield and the engine bay?

[Airmaster]

It was general reflective insulation padding. Has an aluminum like reflective coating on each side and yellow fiber like material on the inside. Here is the website page of the product I bought.... http://www.thermotec.com/products/14...ol-it-mat.html

Here is the thread where I posted it up http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286343

You can add more to seal the spaces by just laying it up over the spaces (in the corners where there are openings) and using aluminum tape to keep it in place.