K&N Cold Air Intake

I have posted several threads here before about this kit, but I think I have set my mind on this kit. There is way too many Ebay kits out there for me to look into.

For those who have purchased this kit, where did you purchase yours from?

Now if you posted an Ebay cold air intake, can you post a link to a similar auction.

Well to do that i need a year of your vehicle

I apologize for leaving out the vital information.

I have a 99 4x4 LS.

make sure if you buy one to get the carbon fiber pipe instead of the polished metal one. Problem with the metal one is when the air goes threw the pipe at high speed it makes the pipe hot and so you have hot air.

Why buy what you already have?
Actually you already have a good OEM cold air intake system.
Take a look at it it pulls true forced cold air from fender well and grille.
What more do you want or how can you improve it.
MT

I'm with MT-2500. Can someone post actual data showing before and after performance numbers with any of these aftermarket air cleaner/intake set ups? I'm mainly interested in MPG. I drive 100 miles a day and will spend some $ to save some gas. My brother put the $150 K&N setup on his new Chevy P/U and saw no real change. It does sound cool though. You guys who have done this and seen some improvement, please post the data.

Before you buy any K&N air filter read this independant test.
http://home.usadatanet.net/~jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm
It might suprise you, and change your mind

Before you buy any K&N air filter read this independant test.
http://home.usadatanet.net/~jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm
It might suprise you, and change your mind

Damn good article!! Really opens your eyes to all the B.S. these companies spew out:nono:

Well my mind has been changed after reading that.

I am glad to see you are opening your eyes on cold air intakes and filters.
K&N does have a good idea and may be a better filter than some after market filters. But they require a lot more service to keep them working and if over oiled can give a lot of problems.
Here is some thinking on aftermarket cold air intake systems.
And if you still considering one chose it well.
Good Luck MT

There are a lot of different aftermarket cold air intake systems out there.
Most claim more HP and gas mileage.
But do they really give it to you? :grinyes: :lol:
And some of them are not even true outside cold air intake systems.
For normal driving I have found it is hard to beat the OEM air intake and filter systems.
Most of which are already forced cold air intake from fender or grille area.
Some ford trucks and some cars even have a cone shaped OEM filter in them
Performance people will claim that a add on cold air intake has less restriction
that gives them a few more HP for performances, which may be true.
Different engine react different but you also have to consider that the OEM intake manifold is also restricted.
And the fact that a lot of add on air intakes pull hot air from engine compartment instead of outside air from fender and grille.
Also a lot of oiled filters require more maintenance and care to keep in working order and gives MAF sensors a fit.

...

Isnt that the purpose of a "Cold Air Intake"?

The stock air intake IS a "Cold Air Intake". The K&N installation will draw MORE hot, underhood air into the intake than the stock unit will.

Hot Air is our enemy when it comes to performance.

Plus dust and dirt is another realli big enemy when it comes to a motor lasting

What I gathered from the test is two things.

1. The OEM paper filter is way more restrictive to start than a K&N filter.
2. The OEM paper filter will stop way more dirt (size ranging from 2.5 to 80 microns) than a K&N filter.

You might to want to reread that part again. MT

What does that have to do with horse power? I still know that if I am able to get more air and/or lower temperature air into my combustion chamber consistantly, I will create more horse power.
Isnt that the purpose of a "Cold Air Intake"?

First thing the aftermarket cold air intake systems claim you will get more HP and gas mileage. Also that alee ad on TV says the old cripple lady can dance all night on a pill to.
But do they really live up to that claim?

Normal driving you engine does need or call for the full HP. Or need more air.
Wide open it can use all of the air it can get. But remember there is a intake manifold on it that the air has to go threw to. Which many are restricted and a larger or better filter or air into it is not going to help much.
And remember to get more HP you are going to have to give it more gas.
Hp is not cheap. And it is hard to get more HP and gas mileage together.
You may have to give up one to get the other.
Also take a look at the OEM air intake system that it has.
Most are already FORCED COLD AIR from grille or fender well.
Then take a look at the aftermarket air intake system.
Is it a forced air intake like forced air from grille or fender well when you are driving down the road like the oem air intake? Is it a true cold air intake? Is it really a improvement over your OEM air intake system?
MT

...

Ok, I know what a cold air intake is. Most of what is sold at Autozone and all the other auto parts stores do not fall into the category of a cold air intake. The factory intake for a blazer is set up to warm the air before you use it. There are extra areas that are located over the radiator and next to the exhaust manifold that will warm the air intake system.
Yes is does start with fresh cold air from behind the grill, but after it is combined with all the pre warmed air in your engine compartment it is not cold any more.



And my whole point is that the test shows nothing reguarding Horse power.

So if Cloud Strife wants to purchase a "cold air intake" why try to baffle him with all the BS about the difference between types of air cleaners? His question was not "Which air filter is best".

Well to prove the point about the air being cold or hot when it reaches the Just take it down the road and watch your air intake air temt sensor.
You might be supprised how it cools. :grinyes: :lol:

As to Horse Power if a filter is not to restive and is large enough to handle the volume it is not going to affect hores power.

The posted was not asking about HP he was asking about the filter.
And we were not trying to blow his mind.
We were just pointing out facts to him to help him out.
MT

Well the airbox i have now works good. I have a K&N drop in filter there and it seems to be just fine. So I may just stick with that and work on getting an exhaust eventually. I have to deal with a hub assembly that went bad again. I had it replaced in June so I still have a few months warranty left.

Again, I think MT-2500 put it best when he said that if these things were a true HP, or MPG improvement tool some manufacturer would have paid to have the testing done and would be screaming from the rooftops about his great product. I read Hot Rod every month and they roll whatever they are testing onto the dyno and check it out before the product is installed. Then they do the modification and test it again. The improvement, or lack of improvement, is there for all to see. When someone can show me this kind of test for one of these products, and show that it helps HP and MPG, then I'll buy one. Until then, this thread and the tests shown in the link, have convinced me that a cold air intake system will only make the Jimmy sound more like a 440 cop car. I'll pass on that alone. I may poke around and see if I can find some more test results for these products.

Again, I think MT-2500 put it best when he said that if these things were a true HP, or MPG improvement tool some manufacturer would have paid to have the testing done and would be screaming from the rooftops about his great product. I read Hot Rod every month and they roll whatever they are testing onto the dyno and check it out before the product is installed. Then they do the modification and test it again. The improvement, or lack of improvement, is there for all to see. When someone can show me this kind of test for one of these products, and show that it helps HP and MPG, then I'll buy one. Until then, this thread and the tests shown in the link, have convinced me that a cold air intake system will only make the Jimmy sound more like a 440 cop car. I'll pass on that alone. I may poke around and see if I can find some more test results for these products.

I did my own idependent testing of the K&N FIPK Kit.

Here were my results:

1/4 mile times before:
17.11 @ 80.2
17.11 @ 80.2
17.25 @ 79.3
17.18 @ 80.1
17.29 @ 78.9

Avg with stdev: 17.19 sec +- 0.08

1/4 mile times after:
16.45 @ 84.8
16.52 @ 84.5
16.53 @ 83.9
16.45 @ 84.9
16.59 @ 82.8

Avg with stdev: 16.51 sec +- 0.06


I improved my quarter mile times by 0.68 seconds (on average). I would say this is a significant improvement...

More info on my cardomain...
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2257682/

No disrespect here strongboy, but from your cardomain page it looks like you have been throwing lots of mods at this Blazer all at once. Are you saying you made 5 passes and then changed out the intake, and made 5 more passes immediately afterwards (same day, same temp outside, same relative humidity, same gas in car, no tweak of tuner) and showed the .68 second ET improvement? If so, that is a significant improvement.

Strongboy, Very interesting results. What was the engine coolant temperature, air temperature, track temperature, wind speed and wind direction for each of your 1/4 mile runs? This is not to be argumentative, but something as simple as a shift in wind direction could affect your results. If you have an opportunity to repeat the testing, it would be great if you could switch back to stock and run again right after the KN run.

No disrespect here strongboy, but from your cardomain page it looks like you have been throwing lots of mods at this Blazer all at once. Are you saying you made 5 passes and then changed out the intake, and made 5 more passes immediately afterwards (same day, same temp outside, same relative humidity, same gas in car, no tweak of tuner) and showed the .68 second ET improvement? If so, that is a significant improvement.
Yes I have been doing a few mods. Those times I showed (the first ones) were with the Hypertech tuning, shift points, and after a seafoam treatment. Because I didn't install the K&N straight from stock, I compare it with my numbers before the install. It was installed on a rainy day (Friday the 17th) and tested for time on the 19th (after it finally stopped raining). The first set of times were taken on a similar day, and that's the best I really can do for testing purposes.

Strongboy, Very interesting results. What was the engine coolant temperature, air temperature, track temperature, wind speed and wind direction for each of your 1/4 mile runs? This is not to be argumentative, but something as simple as a shift in wind direction could affect your results. If you have an opportunity to repeat the testing, it would be great if you could switch back to stock and run again right after the KN run.
Engine coolant temperature was approx 210 degrees, air temp 56 degrees. This test was taken by a G-tech on a country road. I try to eliminate the headwind/tailwind scenario by running down the road and up the road (in both directions). This tends to even out my average. I take all my tests the same way, using the same procedures and location every time.

I think I should also be frank about one more thing: this install was in conjuction with cleaning my MAF sensor and changing my oil to synthetic. Even then, I would still estimate the gains to be around half a second from my previous tests. Cleaning a sensor (my engine only has 25000 miles on it, so the sensor wasn't that dirty) and changing oil to synthetic (maybe 1 hp freed up?) MIGHT account for a tenth of a second or so of that improvement.

i installed an fipk on my truck a few months back. i did not really notice a mpg improvement but it it feels a tad stronger from 2500rpm and up. my factory airbox was damaged and i thought this was a nice upgrade. heres a link to a dyno sheet for this specific intake system;
http://www.kandn.com/dynocharts/57-3009.jpg

i say it depends on the vehicle and the design of the factory airbox. some vehicles may benifit from a cold air intake system, others already have a good factory system and may benefit only from a drop in.

i got my fipk from completeexhaust.com for $220. thats cheaper than ebay, summitracing, jegs.

...

Why to people need to bash on "upgrades" that others are asking about?

It seems that Strongboy2005 and ZL1power69 are happy with their CAIS.
Why isnt that enough?

Well good grief I am sorry if I hit your sore spot but.
What Bashing or baffling are you referring to there JulesWinfield?
I thought everybody was doing a good job of informing Strongboy2005 of the facts and trying to help him out.
MT

JoulesWinfield, I took a quick look and didn't see any bashing, please point it out to me.

strongboy, that's pretty intresting stuff there, I'm a little busy at the moment, but will have to take a better look at it sometime soon.

Can you possibly download some of your tests from the G-tech onto a web page and let us see what it sayes?

I got my kit off of Ebay (chrome pipe deal with a K&N cone filter). I got better gas mileage and I could feel a slightly higher kick when accelerating. I am happy with my purchase. I did keep my original box with drop in K&N filter just in case though.

I work in a manufacturing environment where we are constantly trying to improve the way we do everything. I am used to making decisions about making changes, and or keeping changes in place, based on performance data. I was asking for performance data from people who had made changes I am considering making myself. I did not bash anything that these people did, and I hope they are very happy with the products they buy. I also appreciate everyone who shares their experiences and knowledge on this site. I'm sorry if I stepped on JoulesWinfield toes, I hope he gets over it soon. Did anyone else notice that the improved, after installation, Dyno on the K&N site was run in temps about 3 degrees cooler than the before test? The drag racing gearheads at work say 3 degrees air temp difference is good for the 5% improvement shown.

[QUOTE=strongboy2005] The first set of times were taken on a similar day, and that's the best I really can do for testing purposes.
I try to eliminate the headwind/tailwind scenario by running down the road and up the road (in both directions).

I agree with Moser, by pushing other posters to clarify their data, we are helping all to understand it better. Blindly accepting 1/4 mile times without accounting for air temp, pavement temp, wind speed, wind direction is foolish and will lead you to wasting $.
Strongboy, the idea of runnning down road/ up road to eliminate wind effect is a good idea, but I would then expect to see an even number of data points instead of five that you show. Let me know if I'm missing something. And I hope you don't take this as bashing, I really appreciate getting info from guy's that are in a position to throw the buck$ at their trucks. It helps us poor folks decide where to spend ours.

...

I like this argument as long as it is toned down. Reason being is I am seeing 1/4mile times, buyer comments, etc. This is helping me out with some decision making whether it looks like it or not.

Can you possibly download some of your tests from the G-tech onto a web page and let us see what it sayes?
I did all the testing on an older G-Tech, it doesn't have that kind of capability.

I got my kit off of Ebay (chrome pipe deal with a K&N cone filter). I got better gas mileage and I could feel a slightly higher kick when accelerating. I am happy with my purchase. I did keep my original box with drop in K&N filter just in case though.
Unless you have some kind of heat shield, I'd recommend going back to stock. I bought the same kit and tested it and got awful results. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2257682/4 <--for my review on it



Strongboy, the idea of runnning down road/ up road to eliminate wind effect is a good idea, but I would then expect to see an even number of data points instead of five that you show. Let me know if I'm missing something. And I hope you don't take this as bashing, I really appreciate getting info from guy's that are in a position to throw the buck$ at their trucks. It helps us poor folks decide where to spend ours.
You have a point there. I would've given this more thought, but the times are so close together that I didn't notice a significant loss in either direction. This indicates to me that the wind may have been to one side. As you can see I have a +-0.06 sec precision. That standard deviation indicates, mathematically, that 60% of my times fall between 16.57 and 16.45 seconds. That is just mathematically speaking, of course. But my point is, if there was significant wind change in either direction, I would expect my times to have a worse stardard deviation (maybe +-0.10 or more). But my times were, on average, within 6 hundreths of a second from one another.

I took 5 runs just because it was a nice number.

I never tried to intentionally offend anyone in here.
Sorry if I have.

I have removed my comments from the thread. Please disreguard.
If the Mods want to "give me a vacation" so be it.

Im not gonna sit on some online forum and get all personnal.

you know what. K and N replacement filter There high air flow one isnt that bad. its a cheap and easy fix. i've seen a difference in acceleration to with it. i suggest it to anyone that wants quick power

Nothing wrong with K&N filters.

There are plenty of oil analysis results where there is not difference in engine wear or anything.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/S10-PICKUP-BLAZER-ZR2-4-3L-COLD-AIR-INTAKE-96-05_W0QQitemZ8041391080QQcategoryZ38634QQrdZ1QQcmdZ ViewItem

Nothing wrong with K&N filters.

There are plenty of oil analysis results where there is not difference in engine wear or anything.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/S10-PICKUP-BLAZER-ZR2-4-3L-COLD-AIR-INTAKE-96-05_W0QQitemZ8041391080QQcategoryZ38634QQrdZ1QQcmdZ ViewItem


Very true.
They are a good made filters and are reusable.
But they have to be maintained and serviced right.
Remember do not forget to keep them cleaned go easy on the oil.
Install them proper and stay with the true forced cold air air intake system and no under the hood air intake setups. Plus no air sucking leaks in the piping.
The oil in them if over done or over can be a killer to mass air flow and intake air sensors.
And if not serviced regular can become very restrictive in dusty conditions.
If your car/truck is under warranty beware because some manfactures will void the warranty if a K&N filter is installed.
And with good reason because a lot of drivability problems can be caused by a K&N filters and aftermarket cold air intake kits.
The newer the vechicle the more problems they can cause.
No 1 cause is to much K&N oil getting into the sensors and throwing off the sensor readings and making them under or over estimate air intake and fuel mix that can cause cat and engine damage.
MT

would chevrolet void mine if i installed just the replacement filter ?

would chevrolet void mine if i installed just the replacement filter ?

I understand that Some waranttys are void with K&N filters. So your best to ask the dealer before you install it.

However I don't think that they would ever have a way to prove you did the swap if you changed it back to origional

Your are right, they couldn't.

Well my kit finally came. I got the GenII FIPK and there is like a bazillion pieces to put together. So when I return from Physics class I am going to have to piece a lot of stuff together before I put it on my Blazer.

I just cut my air box in half, its friggin sweet

Cloud strife, when you get teh new intake installed can you post some pics and let us know what you think of it? Some feedback may help others out there thinking of making the change to a newer intake.

Well I will try and get this thing on tomorrow when there is no rain coming.

Right now, there isn't much difference in the looks than with stock. The inside of the tubing is very non-resistant. Very smooth finish so this should help flowrate.

Overview is that this is going to be about a 1.5 hour project. You have to take off some bolts from the throttle body and drill two places into your radiator support area. This drilling is needed to support the heat shield.

BlazerLT, my heat shield is metal also. I read a thread somewhere were someone claimed their's was otherwise.

You will need a decent amount of tools to get this done. Some rachets, screwdriver, drill, etc.

Just giving my first impressions.

Mine was metal.

Well I will try and get this thing on tomorrow when there is no rain coming.

Right now, there isn't much difference in the looks than with stock. The inside of the tubing is very non-resistant. Very smooth finish so this should help flowrate.

Overview is that this is going to be about a 1.5 hour project. You have to take off some bolts from the throttle body and drill two places into your radiator support area. This drilling is needed to support the heat shield.

BlazerLT, my heat shield is metal also. I read a thread somewhere were someone claimed their's was otherwise.

You will need a decent amount of tools to get this done. Some rachets, screwdriver, drill, etc.

Just giving my first impressions.

I am not sure what kit you have.
But remember that a cold air intake system needs to installed where the air intake pipe can get outside forced/cold air from grille or fender area.
If not orif it is just getting air from under hood it will not be a true cold air intake.
Let us know how it goes.
MT

Very true.

With the heat shield up, the intake is getting air coming in through the headlight assembly.

Works mint.