Cold Air Intake Comparisons?

[RCMUSTANG]

I prefer the design where the inlet is at the bottom so if water does get in it's not shooting directly at the air filter. When I will be offroad I run a pre-filter to keep any super fine dust out and it's hydrophobic too.

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[port43]

I liked the design the best too and the price is great at 299.

Wow that came quick!!! 1.5 days to get to my door.

Pug approved!

 

[RangerFitz]

Got the AirRaid installed tonight! I'm impressed with the quality, but its kind of rough around the edges. A few of the holes has burrs around the edges so bolts couldn't go all the way through. The scoop/inlet has a little extra material around the lip, almost looks like a leftover from a 3d printing process. I could definitely open the mouth a bit more with a dremel. Overall I am very pleased and the design is awesome including the velocity stack! I also have never had a company provide a dyno before which is cool. The 8 hp gain is great, but the 19tq gain @ 3300rpm has my attention!! It would be really cool to see the dyno graph of the k&n intake if they provide it. Ill take some videos and more pictures later and make a full post/review. One more thing, im not excited when it comes time to clean the filter there will be a fair amount of disassembly!

 

[RangerFitz]

Found the k&n intake dyno for comparison.

 

[Bsenecal]

Found the k&n intake dyno for comparison.

I wonder why the K&N makes 6 plus more hours? The torque numbers are similar.
Brian

 

[RangerFitz]

I wonder why the K&N makes 6 plus more hours? The torque numbers are similar.
Brian

Assuming its not just because it was a different day, variation in the dyno, or the superior flow of that sweet-sweet k&n filter... I think there is a little extra material around the inlet mouth on the airaid compared to the K&N. I'm curious if I opened it up with a dremel if it might help it flow better up top ?

 

[importfighter01]

Assuming its not just because it was a different day, variation in the dyno, or the superior flow of that sweet-sweet k&n filter... I think there is a little extra material around the inlet mouth on the airaid compared to the K&N. I'm curious if I opened it up with a dremel if it might help it flow better up top ?

Do it! Should be easy to remove and can only help...

 

[importfighter01]

Just found this:

https://www.aftermarketnews.com/kn-engineering-buys-airaid/

So looks like in this case the Airaid intake is a cheaper to make option of the K&N intake sharing design similarities. Upon examining the instructions for both there are differences like the snorkel of the K&N needing to be bolted on due to design vs the molded in snorkel on the Airaid. Also the hard injection molded intake elbow on the K&N vs the silicone elbow on the Airaid.

As far as the HP differences, I’m sure the traditional K&N element flows more than the dry element of the Airaid, the inlet on the K&N snorkel looks to be taller to allow more airflow, and the airbox itself of the K&N has more volume in looking at the pictures too.

I would compare this to the Airaid being the Toyota option while the K&N is the Lexus option. Both get the job done, one being more refined than the other and in this case that means some extra ponies for $50 more due to some more refined design.

 

[TORQUERULES]

For $50 more the K&N looks worth it, plus I have used their intakes in the past and they work well. The bellmouth/velocity stack they bolt their filter to really helps with flow.

Compared to the Airaid the K&N looks to have a larger volume box, a better designed snorkel, and the oiled filter will flow more. The Airaid is a more reasonable price though. Cold air intakes and catbacks have become ridiculously expensive in the last 10 years.

 

[Big Blue]

No horse in this race! I find it interesting that K&Ns baseline run is significantly lower than AiraIds. Makes K&Ns gains look better. Also does it strike anyone that both vehicles are 2019 with 2100 miles? And, both graphs are formated exactly the same .

In my opinion the gains with a CAI, anybodys, are minimal except maybe bragging rights. Maybe with significant other performance modifications, pipes, exhaust, intercooler, tune, ect. It would be hard to qualify what actual gains came from what. At least not without extensive testing.

IMHO, buy the one you like and makes you feel the best. Difference in performance gains per dollar less than minimal.

 

[TORQUERULES]

No horse in this race! I find it interesting that K&Ns baseline run is significantly lower than AiraIds. Makes K&Ns gains look better. Also does it strike anyone that both vehicles are 2019 with 2100 miles? And, both graphs are formated exactly the same .

In my opinion the gains with a CAI, anybodys, are minimal except maybe bragging rights. Maybe with significant other performance modifications, pipes, exhaust, intercooler, tune, ect. It would be hard to qualify what actual gains came from what. At least not without extensive testing.

IMHO, buy the one you like and makes you feel the best. Difference in performance gains per dollar less than minimal.

True. I think they all give about the same gains, plus or minus a couple HP/TQ here or there, so it is just a question of which design you like and the cost. Honestly, like you said, the conditions are optimized for these advertised HP/TQ gains and they often cherry-pick parts of the dyno graph that show the best gains. Tuners do this too, that is why I like to look at customer testimonials and dyno runs first.

These things are way too damn expensive for what they are IMHO.

I'd love to see a dyno with just a filter change in the stock box. Would be interesting.

 

[Big Blue]

True. I think they all give about the same gains, plus or minus a couple HP/TQ here or there, so it is just a question of which design you like and the cost. Honestly, like you said, the conditions are optimized for these advertised HP/TQ gains and they often cherry-pick parts of the dyno graph that show the best gains. Tuners do this too, that is why I like to look at customer testimonials and dyno runs first.

These things are way too damn expensive for what they are IMHO.

I'd love to see a dyno with just a filter change in the stock box. Would be interesting.

Probably still a tight horse race on a stock truck. There are way more restrictive parts of the intake/exhaust path than the stock filter box.

 

[TORQUERULES]

Probably still a tight horse race on a stock truck. There are way more restrictive parts of the intake/exhaust path than the stock filter box.

I wish someone would make a replacement for the turbo inlet pipe (not the charge pipe, although the turbo side on those is restrictive as well). That inlet pipe is a piece of s**t. On my Mazdaspeed I gained a lot from a better inlet pipe, even stock sized. It is now a 4" pipe, but even stock sized it really helped.

 

[RangerFitz]

FYI the airaid does offer Dry and oiled filter options. It does look like the K&n baseline dyno is a little lower than the airaids. Looking at the pictures and formating they used the same test vehicle for both intakes. I likely would have went with the K&N if it were ever in stock!

 

[importfighter01]

FYI the airaid does offer Dry and oiled filter options. It does look like the K&n baseline dyno is a little lower than the airaids. Looking at the pictures and formating they used the same test vehicle for both intakes. I likely would have went with the K&N if it were ever in stock!

I think you made a solid purchase. I emailed K&N and their intake is supposed to be ready to ship on 2/6.

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