Made my own True Cold Air Intake
03-28-13, 02:34 PM
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Made my own True Cold Air Intake
Hey guys new to CL, but not new to modding/racing cars, I have been fabricating and racing my whole life and right now have a mustang thats about to hit the dyno and will put down about 800-1000 hp depending on boost level. I just recently upgraded my daily driver to an 06 IS350 with only 54K miles and absolutely love it. After some research I found out there wasnt much to offer in the cold air intake area, so I made my own.
Some details about the intake, 3" polished mandrel bent aluminum tubing with beaded ends, Machined and welded on MAF mount, valve cover breather, 3" green(also avail in blue) silicone couplings, hose clamps, K&n air filter. The air filter is located in the passenger side fender and gets cold air flow from the brake vent duct. Testing revealed a MINIMUM of 13* COOLER air charge temps vs the stock air intake. Testing done at 64* ambient air temp, while driving at 50mph the stock air intake temps were at 77*, at full throttle 84*. With the UP true cold air intake the temps were 64* while driving at 50 mph and 64* at full throttle. As the ambient air temp increases the UP cold air outperforms the stock intake even more.
I havent had a chance to dyno the UP intake vs stock but will soon. I can tell you the car feels much faster than it did with a cut airbox with k&n filter. It now spins the tires into 2nd gear.
"What if it rains?" you say, I designed the upper intake to fit the stock airbox for just that reason. I keep my stock airbox lid and filter in the trunk and also a screwdriver, If it rains you can quickly take loose the cold air and hook up the upper pipe to the stock airbox and drive off within 5 mins.
Enough about details heres some pics and a video of how it sounds.
Some details about the intake, 3" polished mandrel bent aluminum tubing with beaded ends, Machined and welded on MAF mount, valve cover breather, 3" green(also avail in blue) silicone couplings, hose clamps, K&n air filter. The air filter is located in the passenger side fender and gets cold air flow from the brake vent duct. Testing revealed a MINIMUM of 13* COOLER air charge temps vs the stock air intake. Testing done at 64* ambient air temp, while driving at 50mph the stock air intake temps were at 77*, at full throttle 84*. With the UP true cold air intake the temps were 64* while driving at 50 mph and 64* at full throttle. As the ambient air temp increases the UP cold air outperforms the stock intake even more.
I havent had a chance to dyno the UP intake vs stock but will soon. I can tell you the car feels much faster than it did with a cut airbox with k&n filter. It now spins the tires into 2nd gear.
"What if it rains?" you say, I designed the upper intake to fit the stock airbox for just that reason. I keep my stock airbox lid and filter in the trunk and also a screwdriver, If it rains you can quickly take loose the cold air and hook up the upper pipe to the stock airbox and drive off within 5 mins.
Enough about details heres some pics and a video of how it sounds.
Last edited by DaveGS4; 03-29-13 at 09:23 PM.
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03-29-13, 07:05 PM
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Lol well people like you will keep the stock airbox with a piece of aluminum in between, but if you want a true cold air this is the only option. I have had true CAI's on several cars and not had a problem in the rain but I did this for those who would be uncomfortable without the option of swapping.
What do you mean holes?
What do you mean holes?
Last edited by DaveGS4; 03-29-13 at 09:22 PM.
03-29-13, 07:28 PM
#12
Lol well people like you will keep the stock airbox with a piece of aluminum in between, but if you want a true cold air this is the only option. I have had true CAI's on several cars and not had a problem in the rain but I did this for those who would be uncomfortable without the option of swapping.
What do you mean holes?
What do you mean holes?
Other people have done custom CAI for this car and they drilled hole to run the intake pipe down where the stock airbox is
another member did it AFTER he took out the supercharger so he had an existing hole to use
but I guess you ran your pipe around some curves to avoid drilling
and good idea with keeping the stock airbox
BTW why did you choose K&N filter? I had an K&N intake but hated it (the cleaning and oiling is so much hassle) so I sold it for a Takeda (AFE Dry Pro S filter)
Last edited by DaveGS4; 03-29-13 at 09:22 PM. Reason: edited quoted post
03-30-13, 06:13 AM
#13
You have a great design here! I like how you avoided drilling thru the sheet metal beneath the stock air box and also added versatility just leaving the box in place as well. This could be a nice "go to market" design.
You've added a few HP doing a true CAI but your ambient IATs are still going to rise significantly in daily stop and go driving/traffic. Sure, you'll cool down quicker but depending on your driving conditions you may keep similar temps to an aftermarket intake using an airbox....at least, that is what my observations proved when I messed with it. I added water/meth to cool the charge which worked very well but at the added cost and install hassle most won't see it as a viable option for a 14whp intake setup.
Keep progressing, I'd love to see some dyno charts with IATs low then hot say on a final run!
If you really want to go temperature crazy look into Cry02!!!
FAI Frozen Air Intake. Hehe
You've added a few HP doing a true CAI but your ambient IATs are still going to rise significantly in daily stop and go driving/traffic. Sure, you'll cool down quicker but depending on your driving conditions you may keep similar temps to an aftermarket intake using an airbox....at least, that is what my observations proved when I messed with it. I added water/meth to cool the charge which worked very well but at the added cost and install hassle most won't see it as a viable option for a 14whp intake setup.
Keep progressing, I'd love to see some dyno charts with IATs low then hot say on a final run!
If you really want to go temperature crazy look into Cry02!!!
FAI Frozen Air Intake. Hehe
03-30-13, 01:41 PM
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I didnt drill any holes the intake was made to bolt right on using only common hand tools. I chose a K&n filter because they make so many different sizes and no one had one that fit perfectly in fender well like k&n.
Of course the ambient AITs will rise in traffic that will happen no matter what intake is on the car, but this true cold air will always stay cooler than the stock air box because it wont be sucking air from the engine bay/radiator.
When I dyno the car I will do as fair of a test as I can to accurately test the difference between stock and true cold air. It only takes like five minutes to swap from stock to CAI so this should give some really accurate numbers.
Of course the ambient AITs will rise in traffic that will happen no matter what intake is on the car, but this true cold air will always stay cooler than the stock air box because it wont be sucking air from the engine bay/radiator.
When I dyno the car I will do as fair of a test as I can to accurately test the difference between stock and true cold air. It only takes like five minutes to swap from stock to CAI so this should give some really accurate numbers.
