What do you look for in a Cold Air Intake.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Originally Posted by acammer

Bingo - it's the cross section, and not the length. 5" intakes are great for flow, but the airspeed is so low at idle that tuning becomes challenging with an MAF. Speed density tuning solves for that, but many tuners are not going to take the extra steps to do that. Not all setups really justify the need for a 5" intake either. A really hot NA combo, or a PD blower certainly can see the benefit, but your run of the mill bolt on or cammed setup doesn't stand to pick up a whole bunch on a 5" intake vs. a good quality 4" setup.

Well put Andrew. I saw this and was trying to figure out how to word it about the 5" diameter tubing, because one of our other forum members was having the same issue, until he went back down to the 4" tubing. He just couldn't get the engine to run correctly. You da man !!

[acammer]

Originally Posted by 1JEWLDSSRS

Well put Andrew. I saw this and was trying to figure out how to word it about the 5" diameter tubing, because one of our other forum members was having the same issue, until he went back down to the 4" tubing. He just couldn't get the engine to run correctly. You da man !!

It's all about velocity - and bigger is not always better. Imagine you're putting out a fire and you've got a garden hose spigot, but it's attached to a 3" fire hose... you're not going to have any velocity at all! Conversely, if you have a garden hose on a fire hydrant, you've have all the velocity, but you're really limiting what you can flow.

When building something like an intake, or a port for a cylinder head, there is a sweet spot where you can maximize the velocity at a given volume of air by modulating the cross-sectional area. 5" may be more optimal at wide open throttle for an air intake. But, the trade-off is that the volume of air flowing changes, a lot, and the 5" intake gets the velocity so slow at low flow (fire hose on a garden hose spigot) that it's just dribbling through there. That's harder for the MAF to interpret with accuracy, and can lead to some definite tuning challenges.

If you really want to get in the weeds, check out some design work around variable length and volume intake manifolds. There are a lot of ways this has been attempted, but the goal is to modulate those variables (volume, and length) to optimize, or tune the intake manifold for a broader variety of operating conditions. Length is another whole conversation, there are some amazing things that happen with resonance in an intake manifold that really helps it come alive at certain points - which is why a short runner intake like you're LOD wants to make max power in the 7500-8500rpm with it's super short runners, where-as a factory intake wants to make max power 1000-1500rpm lower!

[rdavis]

Originally Posted by Moto-Mojo

I know I'm in the minority around these parts but aside from perhaps a little added expense, a GM product essentially designed for the hood / location, and the 'Z/28' unit was a no brainer. Had it on about 6 years. Never looked back. Do y'all carry it?

Attachment 1138208

I guess I am a minority too. I like the factory look of the Z/28 cai. Looks like the car came with it from the factory. 5 years now & no issues at all.

[RupertPupkin]

Spending 3/4/500$ on a CAI is crazy. For my C6Z, I based it off of price. Spectre CAI FTW! I bought an intake tube on eBay, and just upgraded the filter for my Camaro when I was putting in a cam etc.....100$ total.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Originally Posted by acammer

It's all about velocity - and bigger is not always better. Imagine you're putting out a fire and you've got a garden hose spigot, but it's attached to a 3" fire hose... you're not going to have any velocity at all! Conversely, if you have a garden hose on a fire hydrant, you've have all the velocity, but you're really limiting what you can flow.

When building something like an intake, or a port for a cylinder head, there is a sweet spot where you can maximize the velocity at a given volume of air by modulating the cross-sectional area. 5" may be more optimal at wide open throttle for an air intake. But, the trade-off is that the volume of air flowing changes, a lot, and the 5" intake gets the velocity so slow at low flow (fire hose on a garden hose spigot) that it's just dribbling through there. That's harder for the MAF to interpret with accuracy, and can lead to some definite tuning challenges.

If you really want to get in the weeds, check out some design work around variable length and volume intake manifolds. There are a lot of ways this has been attempted, but the goal is to modulate those variables (volume, and length) to optimize, or tune the intake manifold for a broader variety of operating conditions. Length is another whole conversation, there are some amazing things that happen with resonance in an intake manifold that really helps it come alive at certain points - which is why a short runner intake like you're LOD wants to make max power in the 7500-8500rpm with it's super short runners, where-as a factory intake wants to make max power 1000-1500rpm lower!

As always, awesome info Andrew!! You are "The Man"!! Thanks..

[Sales@Phastek]

Originally Posted by hesster

I have a 2010 SS with a Whipple and Blower Cam, and "assorted performance items". Tuned by T. Jannety - and it is nasty.

My Set - Up is a CAI with the Washer Bottle relocate and optional Air Duct Option, all from Phastek of course, and the Whipple Blower pipe interconnect kit.
It is a great set-up, I recommend you take it further and seal off everything that the kit dosen't. By that I mean any gap you can see at every point of any external intake air path not sealed off.
Mine has LEDs mounted internally, which is some nice bling at car shows.

The CAI Intake System, to me, is the best choice out there.

Your Camaro is really super clean under the hood. Very nice build.