i have to agree with this.....

anyone thought of plumbing strait into the cowl ?? or strait up through the hood ?? i know thats a low pressure area, but just thinking

 

What wrong with the I6 intake horn, that pulls air from the grill area.

 

oohh nothing......just know that for every bend taken out of a plumbing situation the pressure and flow is increased....smoother straiter air should be good for something i would imagine

 

If your truck is EFI, it has a cold air intake courtesy of the factory. It is well know that an engine can be detuned by restricting intake air flow. If your engine is pre MAF, the amount of air it can accommodate without leaning out is not much more than the stock CAI allows.
I noticed a slight advantage by switching to a K&N drop in w/ my 87' 302, But with sidegap plugs gapped .012 wider than stock, that's about as much extra air as I dare. My HC output is .01 ppm. That I think, means I'm may be a little too lean. A side note, I'm running 16 BTDC. Thinking about experimenting w/ 89 octane but it doesn't seem to like 91 at all. It will run once it starts, but doesn't want to start. But I do get over 20 MPG hwy w/ 87 octane.

 

I completely agree. I had the KN FIPK crap on my truck for a while and all it did not run as good and got worse fuel economy. My opinion is that the KN drop in is not worth messing with either. I had it as well.

We also had a KN FIPK on a 1997 Mustang Cobra, and it did nothing good for the car. Under normal driving conditions for daily commuting, the mileage dropped 3 mpg or more.

If warm underhood air was good then why would anyone want ram air or a hood scoop to draw in outside air.

I'll stick with my stock air box, paper filter, and I6/460 tube.

Also, if open element filters made vehicles run more efficiently then many of them would be coming that way from the factory, since it would help with efficiency and help them meet the regulations.

 

I have found different info on the coolant lines , some say to keep the tb from frezzing , others say its for emissions & keeps the tb from overheating do to the egr valve , on the mustang forums they say if you delite the coolant lines & egr thats good for 6hp or so , im trying to find out what the best incoming air temp should be , i heard 100 to 120 ?? If someone wants to put a thermometer in there air box next time they go for a ride & see what the temp is would be nice ....Lew

 

Cold aire have more oxygen density so, you can burn more fuel, and have more power.
As i know in carb engines you need to heat the TB or intake to make the air fuel mixture vaporize instead of fuel "drops" in the air so you have better mixture and better combustion. I dont know if is the same for fuel injected engines.

 

I don't really see how the warmer temps can be good. I know when its cool weather like in the 40-50 degree range, once my truck is warmed up it runs really well.

The guys at the drag strip also say their cars run better when its cool outside. They have time slips to show it.

 

Yeah i think cooler would be better to , i run at night when its cool but the air has something to do with it , when the air is real dense , i have condensation running off the roof of the truck after a run & can loose as much as 3 tens some nights...Lew

 

Ok i decided to do the test my self , i used my 2004 5.4 , it has a stock airbox on it that draws the air from behind the fender like on our stock trucks . Drove around town , motor to operating temp 45 mph stop & go , used a digital thermometer with a probe inserted into the air intake tube , outside air temp 93 , intake air temp 108 , i will do the same test tomarow with my 95 302 with a pro m cone filter set up on it if any one is interested in the results.....Lew

 

While investigating the possibility of bypassing the set up, I noticed the proximity of the EGR Valve & decided to stick to my original theory that it both heats & cools.

That cooler air is better is based soundly on simple physics & not really up for debate.

Now, go to air flow. Theoretically, more air is going to produce more HP. Now enter the ECU & it's ability to sense operating input & mod the air/fuel trim to accommodate.

MAP sensor only engines, do not & can not identify the amount of flow, therefore, if air flow is increased to an amount above it's fixed ability to accommodate, you are now uncontrollably over lean! Some people attempt to compensate by increasing octane. Bad Idea. While reducing combustion chamber temps., incomplete ignition is the trade off. Eventually octane must again be increased to run ping free. Till you run out of higher octane options.

Now, MAF engines do actually allow the ECU to accommodate for increases, to a much greater extent & fuel trim is based on actual air flow, but still, cooler is more advantageous.

I guarantee factory designed CAI's are not based on what was laying around at the time the engine was assembled. They have been & still are the method of choice the factory employs to de-tune the engine. But if your MAP only, your options are severely limited by reason of the limitations of the senor. The ECU already has you running at 14.68:1 to start with!

Does everybody know that their engines come intentionally "de-tuned" from the factory? Which is why increasing stock air flow (on engines capable of adapting), bumping stock timing, upgrading Ignition systems to allow increased plug gap & ECU Mods enhance performance?

Why don't they just come like that off the show room floor? Because optimum performance demands optimum maintenance. Preventative as well as when required. History tells them as a rule, that ain't going to happen when they sell the vehicle to John Q. Public. And they are correct! The term Found On Rroad Dead was very popular before detune began. This also coincided w/ Emmissions control implementation.

Personally, I run 87 octane, a 60K volt coil. A side gap copper core plug gapped .012 over stock. 16 BTDC. All synthetic fluids. I leave my Code Reader plugged in under the hood & test regularly. I use a K&N drop in filter in the stock factory CAI. Performance is above average & reliable. Over 20 MPG. How much more can I ask from an 87' 302 daily driver?

 

While your up to the task do you think you could check the temp right behind the grille opening where the I6/460 tube would go?

That is where most Lightning CAIs are routed and I dont think it would be any warmer than the stock airbox. I would do it myself but I dont have a thermometer.

 

I can do that but i don't think i will get the same reading as inside the intake tube after the filter ???

 

Im just wondering how big of a difference in air temp there would be with an Open elements filter right by the grille opening compared to inside the stock airbox.

 

I don't know , it would be close to the radiator , but i will check the temp there ...