Aftermarket intakes & tunes...
 

I've been reading a lot of threads about aftermarket intakes, and the consensus seems to be that you really need a tune to get the intake optimized. That got me wondering, how much more HP will an aftermarket intake with an aftermarket tune make than a stock intake with a tune? Than a stock intake with a drop in replacement air filter and a tune? These intakes that claim to make 3-5 more HP are funny to me. That's well within the margin of error on a chassis dyno pull. The thought of spending $300 or more dollars on an intake and then having to spend another $500 or so on a tune had better make a boatload more HP. I realize that for some people money is not a big consideration, but the thought of spending $700-800 dollars for something like 10more HP is just not cost effective to me. Anybody else think this way?

Well, it's not a case of one or the other. It's a case of having the car run optimally. If you're going with a tune (which I highly recommend), then it makes sense to grab an intake as well. Just going with an intake is where things get iffy.

I did a lot of dyno runs testing different configurations of intake and tune. My intake of choice is the AFE. The dynos I've seen with AIRAID and Injen don't really look that good. The AIRAID seems to lose power (which honestly doesn't surprise me) and the Injen runs very lean in part of the upper power band (which can be dangerous in the long run). The AFE I tested ran an almost identical AFR line to stock while on stock tune and only "gained" 3.5 whp. I'm assuming the gain is mostly from it being a true cold air intake vs the boxed short rams like the other two.

I'm excited to see more true cold airs come to market. Vigilant and FA20Clubs both seem like intriguing ideas.

Hope this helps.

So my next question is:
Did you do a dyno pull with a tune on the stock intake, and a dyno pull on the aftermarket intake with a tune, and what was the difference in HP? And was it just peak, or more under the curve difference? As far as "cold air intakes" the stock intake is a "cold air intake" as it pulls air from outside the engine compartment in front of the radiator. I just really don't see the stock intake as being a limiting factor in the whole induction system.

I did over 60 pulls of different configurations.... Note these weren't necessarily the best runs peak number wise. They were the most consistent with AFRs and such.

Stock vs AFE - Stock Tune
http://imageshack.us/a/img844/3290/s...ckintakevs.jpg

AFE Intake - Stock Tune vs Aftermarket Tune
http://imageshack.us/a/img818/2388/s...intakevsst.jpg

Stock vs AFE - Aftermarket Tune
http://imageshack.us/a/img607/8183/s...ntakevsstg.jpg

Stock vs AFE - e85 Tune
http://imageshack.us/a/img339/5899/e...tockintake.jpg

Thanks! These charts answer my question. I appreciate it.

Can you show us a dyno for the injen? I want to see how lean it is in the upper powerband