does a air intake really give you more horsepower?

Question

my question is does air intake really give you more horsepower? cause im thinking of putting 2 air intakes in my car.

Answer 1

Although there is a lot of hype from the aftermarket companies claiming huge gains in power, torque and even fuel economy, the reality of the situation is that cold air/ air intakes rarely provide a decent return on your investment. Lets go over why.
OEM's know how much air a vehicle requires. They’ve done the research, test, spent the money, and they typically provide sufficient room for abnormalities when it comes to engine operation. Therefore when designing an intake system for a production vehicle they will provide ample room for the system to flow more air than the engine will ever require. They can easily detune the engine through their engine management system (Air/Fuel ratio, ignition timing, valve timing,...). However they rarely make the intake the restriction to the power the engine can produce.
Next, lets talk about an intake larger than the engine requires. If you want to put two intake tubing systems on the car. You will essentially be doubling the volume of air that the engine can pull from. At first this might sound like an ideal way to go. But, in reality the engine's low pressure signal, created when an intake valve opens as the piston is traveling down in the bore, will have to pull from a much larger available volume or air (think of all the air hanging around in those hoses and tubing). Well it takes quit a bit of a low pressure signal to get all that air moving. Let alone moving at a high rate of speed. So what will happen is that the velocity of the incoming air will drop. This will in turn reduce the amount of air entering the engine, reducing torque, and consequently horsepower.
How about gains from colder air?
Well, I've seen many OEM Air temperature compensation tables found in the engine management systems software. For the computer to command a richer Air/Fuel ratio or more aggressive ignition timing the reduction in temperature must be large (like 40-50 degrees F). Therefore rarely will this help you in making power. Don't get me wrong. There are gains in reducing the temperature of the incoming air and associated tubing / ducting (heat soak reasons). But that’s a topic in its own self.
So, in conclusion if you’re interested in improving the LOOKS of you’re under hood engine area, buy the chromed out intakes. If you want to increase power, put your money into something else (supercharger, stroker kit, turbo, Nitrous, better exhaust manifold, cams, head). Or find out what part of the intake is the restriction and alleviate that. Also, don't listen to anyone who doesn’t own a flowbench.

Answer 2

Yeah but you'll be sacrificing low end torque. Meaning, when you step on the gas from a stop you won't have that much of a pull. That means if you modify something you have to find balance and keep modifying at the cost of lowered mpg and bad emissions. The horsepower that you get will be at the high end when you're pushing your car to it's limit.

Most people will modify the intake and not take into consideration the exhaust end. You will need a bigger exhaust now that you have a better intake but with this healthy dose of air coming through you need to have a bigger better fuel system for optimal air/fuel ratio to create a good combustion for the powerstroke. Lost yet? After that you have to change cams, valves and so on to handle the new performance.

You can't put two intakes in your car.

Answer 3

Yes, this will help the engine breathe. Air and fuel are directly proportional to horsepower. Increase them and you'll increase horsepower, provided you don't overgas or burn too lean. Good luck. Don't know what books Manny is reading, but I think he needs to study a little more. Ram air into an in-line engine is highly efficient as well. Most mftr will go as far as adding a turbo, like Ford with the 2.3 and Dodge with the 2.2.

Answer 4

Yes it does, but it's not much. 3-10 hp depending on application. And it's only efficient to have 2 intakes if you have a V configuration. If you don't know what I'm talking about, STOP what you are doing to your car, and read some books about the basics of the internal combustion engine.

Answer 5

an air intake does give you more horsepower, but don't put in two air intakes unless you go to open-track days or go offroading, or some other activity that is strenuous to your car.

Answer 6

If the vehicle is sufficiently previous, i think of you're ideal. in spite of the incontrovertible fact that, the sensors on the engine will comprehend the less warm air as a topic with the sensor. via sensing the air stress via your MAP sensor and the engine coolant temperature via your and so on sensor, your ecu or PCM will alter the air/gas mixture to compensate, subsequently cancelling out the completed theory. in elementary terms a theory; i need to be incorrect.

Answer 7

increasing the "efficiency" not the "quantity" is the key to adding HP

Answer 8

probably.