Full 3" air intake makes... NO GAIN!

[Guv]

Copied from a Facebook group. Originally posted by the Owner of BCRaceworks, Jeff Callaway.


Results are in! Full 3" air intake kit.

This is on a factory tune with NO changes. We made about 10 pulls in factory form to get a good solid base line number. While still on the dyno we installed our prototype 3" intake. We then proceeded to make another 10 dyno runs with the intake.

Would you believe just like we suspected, NO GAIN was to be had!

That means in factory form an air intake is no more than a show piece (which is fine for some). Don't go believing the hype from others.

Factory air box - 224whp/280tq
3" air intake - 223whp/274tq

The TQ variation can be attributed to how quickly the throttle was applied.

We will still be offering this intake for those interested though we will be advertising it appropriately.
#Bcraceworks

Not surprised, most manufacturers have air cleaners with more than enough air flow capacity already.
Been proven many times on the drag strip by Coyote Mustangs.

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[IconicSilverMaverick]

I would place my bets on a "warm air intake" Maverick with a tune over a stock intake Maverick with a tune.

 

[Guv]

I would place my bets on a "warm air intake" Maverick with a tune over a stock intake Maverick with a tune.

You’d loose.

 

[Redd]

I would place my bets on a "warm air intake" Maverick with a tune over a stock intake Maverick with a tune.

I wouldn't. The Ecoboost's factory intake (like more and more intakes on performance-oriented and turbocharged/supercharged applications) is actually quite solid. I'm absolutely for anyone who wants to mod their intake (I've modified the intake of pretty much every vehicle I've owned) but, on this platform, even a well designed cold air intake would likely yield marginal benefits at best. The factory intake is just not enough of a restriction.

Now once you get into more heavily modified territory (tune, fmic, beefier turbo, 3" turboback, etc), an aftermarket/custom intake would be more liable to provide appreciable gains, as the engine's overall demands elevate.

But with just a tune and an otherwise stock Maverick, I don't think the choice of intake is going to matter very much at all, apart from aesthetics and sound, which is a perfectly valid enough reason to upgrade if that tickles the fancy.

 

[Hardening2753]

I’ve always done KN drop-ins in all my cars. I like the ease of cleaning, not wasting money and material on replacing every 10k, and idea of a slight power and fuel efficiency gain.

Is this worth it in the hybrid? Will it gain MPG’s or help power?

I used a KN on a different economy vehicle and saw a 2 MPG boost

 

[Montana]

I used a KN on a different economy vehicle and saw a 2 MPG boost

Your engine was probably feasting on the bugs that K&N was letting through the filter. More protein beefing it up. Maybe it liked the extra dirt too

 

[Guv]

I used a KN on a different economy vehicle and saw a 2 MPG boost

So if the factory filter was a restriction, you must have been driving your other economy car very hard. Because maximum air flow conditions (high load) would have been the only time an air flow restriction might have affected the engines efficiency.

 

[Decayed]

It has a turbo and everything is computer controlled. The turbo already gets as much air as it wants via the existing intake. It's literally designed for it. Without a tune you aren't going anywhere and you would have to upgrade the turbo to increase the amount of air it can get.

 

[Senior Master Ford Guy]

It is, however, logical...

 

[Hardening2753]

So if the factory filter was a restriction, you must have been driving your other economy car very hard. Because maximum air flow conditions (high load) would have been the only time an air flow restriction might have affected the engines efficiency.

Na I drive it easy. The car MSRPed for like 15k so everything is lowest cost. Adding anything aftermarket increased MPG a bit

 

[Guv]

Na I drive it easy. The car MSRPed for like 15k so everything is lowest cost. Adding anything aftermarket increased MPG a bit

 

[Driver_86]

I'm from a JDM background and have put CAI's on many cars, including DIY setups that yielded several HP over what a $350 K&N Typhoon setup probably costs. With that said, #1, I got myself into a sketchy situation off-road with a friend, where I went through a mud bog too quickly and hit a pulse wave that went slightly over the edge of the hood for a second, no submersion though. Factory intake worked great bc of it's design, by being elevated over the airbox. #2, the factory intake IS a CAI, same as my old '87 300ZX turbo. The fact that an aftermarket intake shows no real gains over stock does not surprise me, as it's design is better than any heat-shielded short-ram intakes I've seen for these things. As @Decayed just said as well, without a tune, the computer is going to compensate regardless. But, lol...my whole point was that the factory CAI setup is pretty damn decent compared to most of the overpriced crap I'm seeing.

 

[Cherokee]

the tube from the air inlet above the radiator to the air filter looks tiny.

It’s shaped like that so the inbound air is squeezed for higher pressure and that means more velocity and that means more air.

Don’t try and beat the FoMoCo R&D they got deep pockets to research every detail.

A Tune would be wise.

 

[sanford12]

It's been proven for years that cold air intakes do not produce horsepower and often times lose horsepower. They are a waste of money. When having my 2002 VW Passat chipped asked the installer what cold air intake I should buy. Installer said VW knew what they were doing when they designed theirs and a cold air intake wouldn't do a thing. This was a guy who modded cars for a living and could've made a ton of money off a sucker's like me selling them a cold air intake. If you like something you think is pretty that doesn't do a thing hides under your hood 99.9 percent of the time and might even lessen your horsepower , have at it. Believe me the guys trying to sell these on YouTube know they don't do a thing.

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