No Bob not an engineer, I am a designer for an engineering firm, in any case I don't know what that snippy comment had to do with this subject, but you obviously don't know what a K&N FIPK kit is. It's the kit that comes with the cone filter, new intake tube, and heat shield, the heat shield and air filter go where your factory air box was, thus shielding the air filter from the hot air from the engine compartment. No not an engineer but I do know and understand that by increasing your air flow into the motor and out of the motor you increase your horse power, again fact you can't dispute. Also I would trust the numbers and stats provided by K & N who have been in the buisness and do have several engineers over your opinion any day of the week and twice on sunday. Yes there are "gimics" out there, but increasing your air flow into and out of your motor is not one of them -

 

You missed my point!!! The OEM intake IS NOT limiting the air flow into your engine, therefore putting a larger intake on WILL NOT increase the air flow!
The only way to increase the air flow into a 3.0L is to force it in with a turbocharger, or a supercharger.

Try this: Take the OEM intake and paper filter. Take plastic wrap, and cover half the OEM air filter. Put a vacuum gauge on the intake tube (before the throttle body) and see if you measure any vacuum at WOT. If you don't, changing the intake to something larger WILL NOT increase air flow!!!

As far as the K&N dyno results, do you think they would publish that the intake or filter didn't improve the HP????

 

No Bob I got your point, and I don't agree with it at all, the OEM intake, air box, and paper air filter do restrict your air flow to an extent. I suggest you go to K & N's website, pull the numbers and stats they have for a 3.0 (they list a 5.5 HP gain) and argue or sue them or whatever you want, they are not seling gimmics at K&N, but you are entitled to your OPINION as well, if you do take this up with them be ready with more than your opinion they do have all the numbers, stats, and proof to back up there products. I already told you who's numbers and stats I beleive, as well as the difrence I have noticed in the throttle response of my Ranger since adding the system I previously spoke of.

Ken can you chime in on this?

 

I agree. The engine will benefit from more air only if it can use more air. Since the volume of air supplied to the engine is easy to control by design, why would Ford deliberately design one that starved their engine? I went to the K&N site and found the following statements which seem to support what you have said:

Can an engine get too much airflow?

No, an engine can only take in a fixed volume of air depending on the engine’s size. The more restriction that an air intake system (filter, air box, and tubing) causes, the greater the potential is for power and mileage degradation.


Should I install the largest K&N filter that will fit in my race vehicle?

If an existing K&N filter is large enough to provide negligible restriction, a larger than required filter will not affect the amount of air an engine can take in.

Note the word "potential" in the 1st answer. Delete "an existing K&N" from the second answer and it remains true.

I am speaking as one who has had the big K&N cone on his 3.0 and noticed NO performance difference.
Dono

 

They all make an airbox that limits the amount of air, they want a quiet, but decent flow, you open up the flow, you get noise. If you don't think the factory would limit air flow, you should look at my 06 focus, or 02 zx2, the intake is full of baffles, and silincers, put on a cai, you get 6 hp to the wheels, the trade off is a whitsle. On the 2000 zx2 sr, ford put an iceman intake on for better performance. Take the blower end of a household vacume, blow thruogh a paper filter with a ping pong ball on the upper side, then try it with a k&n. This isn't even debatable, anybody that knows anything about modern performance, knows the value of a cai. Dude, you try and get all scientific, and you sound like an Bob! Go to the track and tell me how many paper filters you see, lets see you get 400 hp out of a mustang with a paper filter. Mustangs, vetts, vippers, focus's and neon's, they all use cai and high flow filters to make hp, at the track, and on the street, it's a no brainer. The ranger intake isn't bad, but there is still room for improvement, as with about any closed system. I would go in to detail on the ranger specific system, but I'm getting tied of typing, and I would be wasteing my time anyway. You really need to do your homework, instead of quoting some half *** article, get out in the real world of performance, and see whats going on. I don't only use cai for myself, so I know, I take note what others are doing at the track, in the dirt, and on the street!

 

Thanks for the help there Wendell. I don't understand this guys line of thinking other than he seems to have a serious axx to grind with performance mods, maybe he fell for the tornado gimic and is still pizzed, who knows. Heck if you look into computer chips or programmers, the first thing they ask/suggest is upgrade the exhaust and intake first, then get a chip or programmer. Anyone, who knows anything about performance knows that you start by increasing the airflow into and out of your motor. An air intake tube that your factory one fits inside of flowing through a much less restrictive non paper air filter equals increased air into your motor. A less restrictive exhaust system equals increased air flow out of the motor. Now those two things, alone to a 3.0 will not be a huge noticable difrence, but those two things combined with a programmer or a chip will make a noticable difrence from stock, together they will make a noticable HP and Torque gain.

 

My 91 'sploder came with a k&n drop in filter. Before buying a K&N clean/lube kit for it I bought a stock filter. Didn't notice any diff in power but I am sure a paper filter does a better filtering job than cotton and steel mesh. What does concern me about the K&N is that if you hold it up to a light you see holes in it.

 

 

C'mon Ken chime in here (even though I think I already know where you stand on this), I do beleive you are considered an expert on the topic or Rangers and Ranger mods.

 

Ever hear the phrase "a small gas engine can use up an entire silo full of air in one minute"?

Have you ever seen a filter clogg up and discovered that the engine found a new spot to get its air from?

Engines are very good vaccums. If they want air they get it.

Now you say that better airflow means more power. I fell for that trick twice. Now I'm gonna go out and rip that K@N out of my truck before it destroys my cylinder walls and MAF.

Now in my opinion if your engine has to struggle for air it is restricted. The fact that my 4.0L doesn't get up and go like I want it to isn't because it can't get enough air. It is because the engine is working as it is designed to. 4 litres of displacement. I guarantee you when you are stepping on the gas your engine is getting all 4 litres of its displacement.

Try this. Use the stock filter, and do a compression test. Then do the same with whatever intake crap you waste your money on. if you have a higher compression reading congratulations. Think about it. If your engine can get all the air it needs to get its maximum compression reading by you turning it over very slowly, just imagine what it can do at running rpms with the force of 3 or 5 other cylinders acting together. Your engine laughs at paper air filters. Thats nothing to them . The engine can't even tell its there.


Infact I bet you that if it gets too much airflow it will have to spit out the extra that can't be fit into the cylinder since the air really has no force behind it (unless turbo'd of course) thus creating a negative flow problem ( just a guess, might explain the negative effects on the dyno).

Now if we were talking about a big old Diesel I can see where it may help it breathe a little easier because a Diesel takes in a lot of air for that long stroke.

All in all If you think you need better airflow, bore up your engine, or find some way to raise the first number of your compression ratio.

 

Actually this is not what I say, it's what any expert will tell you, the first thing you do in order to maximize your engines performace is to make it breath. A free-er flowing intake and exhaust are where you start. This is not something I made up, this is very basic stuff. Don't beleive me, do a little reaserch.

Again, do a little reaserch, pretty common knowledge that if you over oil the filter after cleaning it can damage your MAF. A properly oiled filter will not affect your MAF. As for destroying your engine, if you drive regularly off road, or on dirt roads K&N does suggest using another layer of protection that goes over the cone filter, however I don't know if the same device is made for the drop in filters.

And it's fine if you are ok with it, but some people think it's worth spending a little cash in order to get a little more out of their vehicle beyond what Ford designed from it. They want to take it a step beyond what Ford designed it to do. It's been going on for generations, people modifing there cars and trucks to go faster, lift it up higher, lower it closer to the ground, paint it a difrent color, whatever, and some people are content with bone stock. Whatever the mods are or are not, it's a mater of personal choice. What your or I might think of as a waste of money might be a must be item for the next guy.

We are not talking diesel, we have been talking 3.0 V6's, you don't get the huge gains from our 3.0's that you do from a diesel. You get very small gains in comparison, but again the right combination of things can lead to a decent increase in HP and torque. While you might not think it's worth the cost, some disagree and more than willing to pay for those gains (the ones you keep saying don't exist).

No thanks I think I will stick to the proven methods I spoke of previously in order to reach the gains I am looking for in my truck, intake, exhaust, & programmer. The only other thing I would consider doing beyond that would be to gear down a notch to .456's and add a loc-right.

 

Once again, no filter is going to filter out dirt like a paper filter, then again, no filter is going to restrict air flow like a paper filter. I have used k&n for years with no engine problems, there are other area's in the system where particles can get in over time, not just microns through the filter. ENGINE 101,the engine is basicaly an air pump, the more air it can pull in, and expell out, the more power it can make as a profient system. 4 liters, or 10, air= power, you need a balanced air, fuel ratio of course, thats where a tunner comes in.]'m not sticking up for k&n it's self, but high flow filters and systems as a whole, I like aem, it has an oilless high flow filter, and it's a quaulity product. That said, I am not afraid of k&n, and I'm sure I will have need for them in the future, still use thier oil filters. Bottom line, if you don't like k&n, or cai, don't use them, just leave those of us who do, alone- thankyou! The next time you year a swooosh as your being past, you just got your *** handed to you by a cai, and probbly a k&n to boot.

 

amen brother

 

well for what its worth. The only gain you will get by adding an intake kit will be on the higher RPM Range. So for you drag racers it may work out for you great. For the everyday driver who shifts in the 2,000 to 4,000 rpm Range just driving to work you won't find a difference. I have had two trucks. 1. A 98' 2.5L and a 97' 4.0L. Both came with paper filters and I switched to K@N. I pulled into the store, and put the K@N in right away, and drove home. I noticed nothing at all. The engine sounded the same, the power was the same, nothing. Now I shift around 2,000-3,000 RPM's, but revved it up to 5,000 different times just to check it out , and nothing. If anything it almost felt weaker down low. Like I said if you are going to race, or you consistently rev the cap out of your engine this mod might just be for you, but for an everyday driver don't bother.

 

Again, as stated several times in the posts above, just swapping to a less restrictive, drop in air filter or even a new intake won't make a huge, noticable gain, especially in the smaller motors that are in our Rangers in comparison to the gains made by the same mods to a V8, it's a combination of air intake and exhaust, then fine tuned buy a programmer or a chip that will make a noticable difrence. So far I have done exhaust and air intake on mine, the only difrence I have noticed so far is better throttle response, but I do expect to see a noticable gain when I add a programmer, that will be my next mod.