So lets talk about the whole theory of an intake and in particular
of a cold air intake. We all know that an engine mixes air and
fuel together, compresses it and then ignites the concoction,
that creates a small explosion in your cylinders. So in the digital
world the engine computer takes care of this concoction to the
best of it’s ability. Here is another piece of information, the
colder the air is, the denser it is. What does it mean to you? The
denser the air in the mix with fuel, the bigger the explosion in
your cylinders, the bigger the explosion in your cylinders, the
more horsepower you get. So we want to take advantage of
this and put in as cold (dense) air as we can in our cylinders to
create more horsepower.
Now to make a clarification of what a cold air intake really is and
what it is not. There are intakes that are called short or ram
intakes, and these are not considered cold air intakes. It is a
better performing air intake system since it involves a better
breathing filter and an intake tube that has less turns and kinks
to improve the intake of air to your engine. Yet, consider where
the a short or ram intake is placed; right next to the engine.
Well, if you haven’t noticed the engine produces heat and that
heat is kept in the engine compartment, thus when those short
or ram air intakes suck in air they are sucking in the hot air in
the engine compartment. Since hot air is less dense than cold
air, you may not be getting the best possible performance out of
engine.
Coming out of stage right, the cold air intake. Now there are
thousands of variations as to what a cold air intake looks like,
there is no real variation for what it does. The filter is put as far
away as possible from the engine where it can suck in ambient
air, which in most cases is colder than the air inside your engine
compartment. They are done in several ways, some have longer
intake tubes and are put either inside the fender or downwards
towards the ground to suck in fresh air. Some use a box that
prevents air from the engine compartment to enter so that in
can suck in air from the outside. Which ever company you
choose to buy this item from, buy from a reputable source. A
good reputable company invest plenty of money in research and
development to give you the best possible product and while
some may look the part, they don’t perform the part.
This has been a short introduction to a one of the favorite auto
accessories in the market: The Cold Air Intake. We will be
creating more articles about auto accessories in the future so
please visit us at the resource box below and make sure you
have the inside scoop on what is what in the auto modifiers
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