Cold air intake problems on my Toyota its using way more gas! what do i do?

Question

I have a 97 corolla and it is an automatic 4 cylinder
so its usually great on gas...
when i hooked up an injen cold air intake that cost me way too much money it started to really affect the gas mileage

I hooked it up according to the instructions
and it looks and sounds great but I have been noticing that
the gas is going down way too fast

my stock air filter only had one hose going to it so i used it
on the new setup
I had to plug one of the holes into the pipe because but there was a tube sticking out for another hose... which hose is it? if any?
what is that for? can that be the problem?

I also have a flowmaster exhaust system (muffler) on my car
is my car taking in too much air and then expelling it too quickly or efficiently so that its doesnt have time to properly combust?

ii am thinking of switching it back to the old one unless I can get some help!
thanks tuners

Answer 1

first off, why the hell would you put a cold air intake on a 4 cylinder automatic? that really defeats the purpose of the overall effciency of a 4 cylinder. and yeah, the intake combined with your exhaust is killing your gas mileage. in order for cold air to work properly it needs to be heated up faster than hot producing more power. more power is a result of burning more gas. your exhaust which is designed to punch out the air faster than your stock flow is not really helping much either. essentially you're working your measly 4 cylinder like a supercharged 6 cylinder. draining more gas to increase horsepower. I'm sure your car performs pretty nice and has plenty of oooph to it now but you're sacrificing it as the expense of your gas. and with gas prices today being what they are, you're just dumping unneccessary money into your ride. had you something like a mustang or camaro then I can see the reason for putting a cold air in there since they get crappy mileage anyways. but your 4 cyl was designed to be fuel efficient, and now you have made it fuel inefficient. the other hose you had to plug, I'm guessing, would be a NOS system. since it's in your air filter or leading to your air filter, that's where the additional hose comes into play to inject NOS into the increased stream of air. my advice would either be switch back and save your goodies until you get a more powerful car, or plan on filling up several times a week.

Answer 2

As said above....cold air intake and high flow exhaust is meant to get the air in and out fast....along with the fuel...and since most people like the sound of that CAI when they first get it they get a heavy foot and listen to the growl of the intake.....which sucks gas pretty fast....try not to floor it every time you take off and see if the mileage changes.

Answer 3

the only way to get more air into your intake is by installing Ram air, turbo charger our a super charger. they all compress air to some extent and force it into the intake, Any modifications you make must have a CARB label on it or the car wont pass smog.
There's a air charge sensor on the car that monitors air temperature entering the intake and adjusts the fuel ratio accordingly. If the cars going into controlled fuel the o2 sensors is responsible for the amount of gas it uses

Answer 4

WELL THE PROBLEM IS THE COLD AIR INTAKE IS A PERFORMANCE PRODUCT AND WITH AND ITEM YOU ADD ON THAT IS PERFORMANCE IT WILL USE MORE GAS, THAT SYSTEM IS USE TO FORCE MORE AIR THAT IS COLDER THAT YOUR OLD SYSTEM , BUT WHEN FORCING MORE AIR IN, IT ONLY GOES HAND TO HAND WITH MORE GAS..... SORRY BUT THE OLD SYSTEM WILL GET YOU THE BEST OOUT THERE,..... BEEN A TOYOTA TECH FOR 8 YEARS (MDT)