My sister owns a Prius, and is about as atypical of a Prius owner as you can get...she gets a resounding kick out of my diesel awesomeness!

I have an amusing story about a Prius owner with the Vermont vanity plate "CO2REDUX" (carbon dioxide reduction) and how he is likely horrifically scarred to this very day after being subjected to the business end of my Excursion's exhaust a few years back...THE HORROR! I actually saw him right down the street from my house just recently (100s of miles from anywhere in VT) and was beside myself that I wasn't in my (new) truck so I could rip off the scab and inflict some new wounds...just when he had put it behind him...

I'm not always the best ambassador of diesel goodwill and the benefits of a non-gasoline powered vehicle, but there really seems to be something about Prius owners, at least here locally where I am (something to do with the prevailing political climate and leanings, which I will NOT get into). I was minding my own business yesterday early morning, and despite having nothing special or extraneous (in the way of overfueling/soot) coming out of my exhaust I had a Prius attempt to pass me over the double yellow line (into oncoming traffic) as we were both turning left (in a single turn lane). THAT prompted me to school here in the ways of diesel power and spring into action, which my teenage girls refer to as "Powerstoking 'em!". I'm sure she's still coughing up black snot this morning...I've GOT to be the Prius forums Most Wanted...or at least in the Top 10!

 

i still remember the time i was in a friends 7.3, we were at a red light, this little red car full of kids had the bling tunes cranked with all the windows down, one threw a cigarette bud in buddies truck box.

when the light turned green, he hammered on it and literally filled the car with thick black smoke .

 

With great power comes great responsibility and sometimes people just need to be taught a lesson...

My buddy (with the '08 F350 that I've done all the work on) just called me to tell me that this early AM someone at a stoplight in town, some dude in a mid-90s 1/2 ton Chevy truck was giving him the hairy eyeball. He put down his blacked out window and gave him the "what's on your mind" look. The guy actually called his truck a POS, to which he responded, "you'll find out what a POS it is at the next stop light". Now, I don't condone street racing of course but this guy got his butt handed to him so soundly that when my buddy was at the next red light taking a left, when the guy finally limped up to him and had a green light he wouldn't proceed through and pass him. My buddy was laughing his **** off and proceeded to extend said loser a monodigital gesture to express his disdain for the unwarranted POS comment...

Cool story bro!

 

^lol,

OP, go with your original choice, you got it all figured out! Plus you wont regret it.

Sam, Ive had the 275 on for week and a half? now and its awesome, the couple hard shifts smoothed out quite a bit and the power obv is bada$$. And if you want to polute the d*ckhead beside you there will be no issues when you hammer it!

Id like to find out soon the mpg diff between it and the 250

 

I just towed my show truck out to the painter to have a repair with the 275 tune, 6875 lbs, enclosed car hauler, bumper pull, tonneau cover over the bed as always.

99.8 miles, got 10.55 towing, 9.459 gallons, a little stop & go, not all highway.

best I'd seen towing over long distance before was 8.95 over 800 miles.

Sam

 

Don't forget to mention the power difference now when towing vs the stock setup. Glad you are enjoying it Sam, I know it took you awhile to make the decision and it's nice to hear that you're happy so far.

 

I left the trailer there and will pick it up next weekend.. on the way back I stopped at the grocery store and had to cross 5 lanes quickly to get back on the highway.. stomped it.. and sucked the filter minder!!.. guess I need that aFE filter!..

yep, there is a lot more power.. wasn't what I was going for, but it works..
sure takes off when you press the peddle tho!..

sam

 

Yeah it sounds like that should be your next upgrade for sure, luckily that is a cheap and easy fix. Now that the turbo lag is gone your truck must really launch, especially with those 4.10's!!

 

I ran my truck through it paces quit a bit the other day running Eric's Xtreme Street (280+ RWHP) and the aFe drop-in and air-box snorkel mod functioned flawlessly. The stock air-box will suck the filter-minder every time and unfortunately it's been a reported/intermittent problem with some aftermarket CAIs. No more than $80 and about an hour or so or your time and you're good to go (I believe you're the current record holder at 63 minutes?...!). There is a day and night difference in intake noise though...my buddy has the full house aFe CAI and you can hear all sorts of stuff coming out of that thing!

It saves you a nice chunk of change that you can use through other "necessary" mods, like the AirDog, OilGuard, CCV bypass, etc. It NEVER ends!

 

When I was doing my upgrades I just bought one item at a time. Started with the CAI then the other stuff.

So I bought mine over time.

 

Do you think your setup with the mod and drop in flows as good as a full blown CAI? How would you describe the difference in sound between yours and the one your buddy is running?

 

Without question. The main indicator that it works as well as a full-on CAI is that it's obviously keeping up with the turbo's breathing requirements, otherwise it would trip the filter-minder and trigger a CEL like sdetweil described happened when he did the mod but left the stock drop-in in place.

There are several benefits to the DIY mod I described HERE. It's inexpensive, relatively easy to do, stealthy (for those concerned about such things for whatever reason) and not the least of which works with high HP tunes.

I can't remember which specific aftermarket CAI (or if there was more than one) had an issue but there were definitely instances where the filter-minder was getting sucked in and tripping the CEL on high HP tunes simply because the filter couldn't keep up with the air-flow demand the turbos were looking for. That sucks, no pun intended!

The difference in sound is day and night. My buddy has the aFe Stage II Cold Air Intake with PG7 filter & Torque Tube that we got from Spartan as part of package deal. His truck makes nearly as much intake noise as it does exhaust, especially when he has his foot in it. My intake noise/sound is definitely more pronounced than stock, but NOWHERE near what his is, and that suits me just fine.

It's worth noting that the DIY intake mod uses the aFe PG-7 High Flow OE Replacement drop-in air filter (SKU: 71-10107). Additional air-flow is worthless without the proper filtration and while there may be "better" flowing air-filters out there, if they're not providing the requisite level of filtration, they're doing more harm than good...

 

Awesome information - I dont particularly like intake sound either as I tow with my truck and it can get annoying for me. I much prefer just hearing exhaust sound.
Another added benefit of the set up like yours would be that in the event that the filter got plugged while you were away on a trip, etc (or with snow as they sometimes do) --- a stock one would still get you home...