[baby-vortec2900]

I drive a Colorado with the Vortec 2900 which is a solid motor but as most are, I am always after more power. I have seen a lot of cars with the K&N performance parts so I got to looking on the website for engine specific parts for the Colorado. I found a high flow intake that promises around 9 more horsepower with a slight mileage gain. Its not out of reach for me price wise but it does cost enough that I want to make sure that it will really work. I know that some of you have K&N products on your cars and trucks or know somebody who does and can give me some feedback. I am simply looking to get the most bang for my buck as far as cheap power boost without having to re-do the whole truck which runs into some money.

Thanks

 

[E. Haskell]

Waste of money.

 

[baloo]

I drive a Colorado with the Vortec 2900 which is a solid motor but as most are, I am always after more power. I have seen a lot of cars with the K&N performance parts so I got to looking on the website for engine specific parts for the Colorado. I found a high flow intake that promises around 9 more horsepower with a slight mileage gain. Its not out of reach for me price wise but it does cost enough that I want to make sure that it will really work. I know that some of you have K&N products on your cars and trucks or know somebody who does and can give me some feedback. I am simply looking to get the most bang for my buck as far as cheap power boost without having to re-do the whole truck which runs into some money.

Thanks

Here's a very thorough test of different air filters:
http://home.stny.rr.com/jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm

The bottom line is, the initial pressure drop of the K&N was 0.4% lower compared to the stock filter, which would be worth ~0.8 hp in your vehicle.

However, it got clogged up in less than half the time and allowed 1800% more dirt into the engine. Which means normalized for time it allows like 50 times more dirt into the engine.

 

[Shotgun]

A K&N filter is perfectly fine if used correctly. It depends on whether or not you want the added expense initially plus the 'recharge' cost. If you plan on recharging it about every 10,000 miles it'd be fine. But I wouldn't put it in and try to go 50,000 like they say.

I tried one in my Sierra and Yukon, and the difference in power and fuel efficiency wasn't noticeable.

 

[Shotgun]

Here's a very thorough test of different air filters:
http://home.stny.rr.com/jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm

The bottom line is, the initial pressure drop of the K&N was 0.4% lower compared to the stock filter, which would be worth ~0.8 hp in your vehicle.

However, it got clogged up in less than half the time and allowed 1800% more dirt into the engine. Which means normalized for time it allows like 50 times more dirt into the engine.

Did you notice the AC Delco ratings? It's a wonder air even passes through after a while. No mention of that, though! LOL! So, it's looks like your engine is gonna either eats dirt or starve for air!

Other than my Sierra, I use NAPA Gold.

 

[baloo]

Did you notice the AC Delco ratings? It's a wonder air even passes through after a while. No mention of that, though! LOL! So, it's looks like your engine is gonna either eats dirt or starve for air!

Other than my Sierra, I use NAPA Gold.

I think you read that wrong. The difference in pressure drop between the K&N and AC Delco is just 0.061 psi, which means ~0.8% less power.

Those are the initial values, after a rather short while the AC Delco actually makes more power than the K&N, because the K&N clogs up so fast.

 

[AndrewGS]

You won't notice a difference without adding a source of air that's outside of the hot engine compartment. A filter swap might help your throttle response and a warm air intake might help your mileage, but a true cold air intake will help make more power, but don't expect to really feel it. A ram-air intake will help at speed, but only if you've got proper air flow through the tubing. Most of the time to see the benefits of an intake you need to open up the exhaust and retune the ECM to take advantage of the extra air flow.

Filters on open intakes do get dirty quicker, but you shouldn't have any problems as long as you clean the filter every 10,000-15,000 miles and do not over oil the filter. Over oiling can lead to a dirty MAF sensor.

I've got a ram air intake with a cat-back exhaust on my stock tune Silverado and I noticed a little increase over stock in the throttle response, higher-end power and fuel economy departments.

 

[tom3]

Son put one on his Silverado along with a Flowmaster ex. Actually gets less mpg now since he's always into the throttle heavier. Really a nice sound with the intake noise and the muffler tone. Really not worth the money considering the high cost though. Looks nice, sounds good. That's about it.

 

[mbukukanyau]

My advice. Keep your vehicle stock.
K&N is a joke, out to get ya

 

[61BelAir]

If you are talking about just a replacement K&N air filter then you probably won't see an increase in power. The limitting factor in this case is the air cleaner itself. The inlets are usually small and pull air from very resticted areas. People will argue that they pull air from cooler areas but it is restricted nonetheless. If you are talking about a K&N Performance Intake that is a different matter. People again will argue that since it is pulling air from inside the engine compartment that it will not work but these people are wrong. You can put a scan tool on any car or truck and verify IAT (intake air temperature) with a stock air cleaner and with a performance intake and you will see once the car is moving the readings will be virtually identical. You should always take what you read with a grain of salt, i'm sure many people here will disagree with me, but I have first hand experience with these kits. I have seen the benefits first hand on Chassis Dynos and driving these cars as I work in the Automotive Aftermarket industry. One thing you need to keep in mind is that when you do more than one modification you can run into trouble. Adding one modification may gain you power but adding a second one can sometimes lose you power. I have seen this first hand as well. One time while testing an 04 F150 on the dyno the gains made from adding a Performance intake were lost when we proceded to reprogram the computer with a Hypertech Power Programmer. Your vehicle has a Bosch Mass air Sensor which is very sensitive to changes which is good for making power but can also lose power if the Proper R&D work is not done during the development process. Simply bending a tube and throwing a filter on will most definitely increase the air flow but if it doesn't match the vehicle requirements it can lose power. I would reccommend either K&N or AEM for a performance intake as I know they dyno test every kit they develop.

 

[vsd]

Most people here are talking just about the filter, not an actual intake. People have been using aftermarket intake systems, be it short ram or cold air to improve power for a long time. Personally I do use just a filter in both of my cars, and while I haven't noticed any difference in power I have picked up a few MPG in both of them which is more important to me, plus I can clean them vs buying new ones.

 

[supraracer]

The intakes work if you use the intake system. If you can find one designed for your car/truck they will work really well. They will work even better with an exhaust system on the other end. Remember, an engine is a big air pump.

 

[eurohazard]

If you want the most bang for your buck...........how does free sound?

So it's pretty clear that the "filter" itself isn't going to add hp, but rather the replacement of the intake assembly. And you get the extra power because of less restriction.

So here's my plan. Keep your stock intake, but locate the silencer box, or resonator....and cap it off somehow so there's a more direct flow from the filter-side to the throttle body-side.

You won't get the same gains as a highly tuned aftermarket one.....but again this is FREE hp.

 

[chakis24]

I've got a ram air intake with a cat-back exhaust on my stock tune Silverado and I noticed a little increase over stock in the throttle response, higher-end power and fuel economy departments.

ive been looking at ram air for my truck, what did you use? i really like those hoods (cant remember the name) at stylintrucks.com

 

[01sunfire01]

get a short ram air intake and a cat back exhaust so you will get a good difforence. my g5 stock it dynoed 153whp after cat back and intake i put down 166whp

 

[2002 Caddy]

It depends on the car... Most EFI cars the intake and Airfilter is not the cork in the bottle... focus on the exhaust first...

On Northstar cars... K&N filters have been proven to produce 0 extra horse power, and the Cold Air intake systems actually suck hot air from under-hood and COST power...

 

[MonteCarloSS86]

the Cold Air intake systems actually suck hot air from under-hood and COST power...

Wouldn't that make it... not a cold air intake?

 

[2002 Caddy]

Wouldn't that make it... not a cold air intake?

Correct! The factory air box is a CAI system and pulls in cold air from the wheel well, the aftermaket ones pull in air from underhood.

They sound "neat" but they slow you down.

 

[AndrewGS]

ive been looking at ram air for my truck, what did you use? i really like those hoods (cant remember the name) at stylintrucks.com

I've got the Vararam VR-6 with the VR-3 velocity stack. They have a new intake for '05+ trucks with the electric fan, the Tri-Power. If they had the Tri-Power out when I bought mine that's what I would've gone with.

 

[Jimmy Jive]

What about the $200 - $300 ones with the cold-air housing box? Can they really advertise 10 hp gains if untrue?

These two for example:
http://www.pfyc.com/pc/WB3011/GPUNDER/SLP+Cold+Air+Induction+System+-+3.8L+V6+Engines.html
http://www.pfyc.com/pc/WB3042/GPUNDER/K&N+FIPK+Air+Intake+Kit+-+3.8L+V6+57-3045.html