If cold air intakes really work!? Then Y not in stock vehicles?

Question

Yes, how come there just not in stock vehicles? Why pay extra for after market?

Answer 1

You are mistaken. GM has been installing cold air intake at the factory for a great many years. Even my 1988 Chevy C1500 pickup has factory cold air intake. My 1988 C1500 draws air from between the passenger side fender and fender liner. There are just a great many young people who are too naive to know that and so, because of all the Injen and K&N cold air intake hype, they rip out the well engineered and perfectly functional factory cold air duct and install overpriced aftermarket crap, some of which does not even draw air from outside the engine compartment as the factory cold air duct does.

Answer 2

When car makers mass produce a car, they have to build it for everyone. In other words, even a grandma has to be able to get into a new Corvette and drive away.

Plus there bound by the EPA. Not just on tailpipe emissions but also on 'Noise levels'. Cold air intakes raises the noise level the car makes. Plus, 80% of the buying public doesn't want a noisy car.

The aftermarket is a multi billion dollar a year industry. There's an organization called the "Specialty Equipment Market Association", or SEMA, that helps protect ones freedom to personalize there car within the law. SEMA is the one who go's to federal court to fight ridiculous bill's such as banning car's over 20 year's old, or when Ford says using anything but Motor-craft oil in there diesel trucks will void the warranty. SEMA is the one who fought that and won and nobody even knows.

Or when the EPA say's you can't put a cold air intake on your car and SEMA steps in and say's yes you can because it doesn't effect tailpipe emission's etc.



Here's there websit---> http://www.sema.org/

Here's some recent legislation---> http://www.sema.org/government-affairs

Answer 3

If you think about it, the stock intake on most vehicles is actually cold air intake. Where draws air in from outside the engine compartment. The aftermarket intakes are counter productive, as they are drawing air from inside the engine compartment, which is actually hot air from all the heat around the engine.

Answer 4

I think a couple of the responses are accurate in saying that cold air intakes are on stock vehicles, and that they do work. However, here's a twist - how is it that you can replace a stock cold air intake with an aftermarket and gain power?



It is true that the manufacturer does make compromises on vehicles for both noise and emissions; however what they also do is manufacture parts that fit well at a minimum price. As such they will leave a certain degree of free-flow behind when they manufacture the parts - first with inexpensive filters, second with air boxes CAD designed to fit within a certain constrained spot, and third with air ducting that uses corrugated-type plastic.



Quality aftermarket CAI's spend extra time and expense in using higher flow/performance filters, locations that best draw cold air with no under-hood air mixing with the cold ducted air, and they custom fit smooth finished piping to optimize the air flow. This is why they can find a few hp here and there.



The same can be said about exhaust headers and cat back systems - essentially any company willing to search for those shortcuts and eliminate them will gain power; power the manufacturer leaves behind when they design for fit and cost.

Answer 5

Well, they do!. The factory has been doing some type of cold air intake or ram air setup since the 1960's



Most younger people don't know enough yet about cars and engines to notice it. They think for it to be a cold air intake it has to be a shiny 3" or larger pipe with a cone style filter hanging on the end of it, inside the front wheel well.



Guess what? Those most of the times hurt power over the stock cold air setups. The factory used alot more R&D, wind tunnels, etc to find the high and low air pressure zones on the car.





1968 firebird trans am.. "Ram Air" option was also available in 1968, providing functional hood scoops, higher flow heads with stronger valve springs, and a different camshaft. Power for the Ram Air package was the same as the conventional 400 H.O., but the engine peaked at a higher RPM.



1967 GTO ram air, 70 GTO judge.



1970 chevelle SS cowl induction which had a sealed air cleaner to the cowl hood scoop pulling cold air in from the base of windsheld



The 1967 and 1968 Z/28s did not have the cowl induction hood, optional on the 1969 Z/28s though. The 1967 Z28 received air from an open element air cleaner or from an optional cowl plenum duct attached to the side of the air cleaner that ran to the firewall and got air from the cowl vents.



1979 and 80 camaro Z28's The Z28 hood included a rear-pointing raised scoop ( air induction) with a solenoid operated flap which opened at full throttle, allowing the engine to breathe cooler air.



1982 camaro... All Z28s came with lightweight fiberglass SMC hoods with functional hood air induction flaps on RPO LU5 cars.





Or what about the 1983-85 camaro z28 and irocz with the dual snorkel intake system on the 305 H.O engines. It was an air filter housing with two black platic "pipes" that ran from housing up to front of car and picks up cold air from the air dam/core support area.



All of the 80's GM cars had atleast 1 plastic "pipe" going from an enclosed filter housing to a cooler air source.



My g/f's 1988 burb has a sealed air filter housing with a retangle plastic duct running from pass side of housing over head, next to battery and stuck in a hole cut from factory in core support right behind the big front grill



My buddy's '87 3/4 ton chevy truck was same way.



Look at the 4th gen ram air trans ams with the ram air hood, it had the filters placed in a box that would seal to the openings in hood.



The mid 1980's mustangs had the dual snorkel air induction



So yes, factory does do cold air. Its just not a "pretty" style pipe with an open coned filter stuck in a place that has turbulent air (like the wheel well) or in a place that can suck in/draw in water if your run throttle a puddle



Most of the aftermarket junk is just that.. Junk. It screws up the air flow, moves filter into very turbulent low pressure air.



Your wanting your cooler inlet air source to be at a high pressure zone on car. The base of the winsheld is a very high pressure zone just due to aero flow and how the air comes up under the hood and hits windsheild and trys to do down from there.. If theres a scoop opening (cowl induction) that air is now forced into the opening.



The front top of hood, the grill, bumper are other high pressure zones..



A neat little test is to cut a bunch of 3-4" long pc. on yarn and tape them to your car.. Your hood in many diff places, bumper, base of windsheild, etc..



Then go drive the car at say 65 mph and watch and through windsheild and even have a buddy record it from the side of the road.. Watch the way the yarn moves.. This will tell you high and low pressure zones.. Some of the yarn will lay down foward on hood, some will stabd straight up and some will lay down rearwards on hood

Answer 6

because they dont work. they are a waste of money