Aftermarket Intake Gas Millage Question 1

[dre5491]

Is it a myth that your cars fuel economy will be improved with an aftermarket intake system. I know in most cases it decreases due to the driver putting the pedal to the floor more due to the sound of the intake sucking in and the increased throttle response. But, I'm saying if your a conservative driver and you put an aftermarket intake on your car and remain a fairly conservative drive will your fuel economy increase like companies claim? And to be specific here I'm talking about a Short Ram and not a cold air.

 

[ivymike]

yes.

 

[SomptingGuy]

- Steve

 

[rmw]

Back to the original tenor of the OP, the OEM intake is designed to be the best piece of equipment that low bid can buy. Manufacturers design cars to be able to produce them as cheaply as possible while meeting the mandated requirements such as CAFE, etc.

Notwithstanding some of the points made in recent posts which I have no quibble with, some engines benefit from more air, namely Diesels. The amount of fuel added depends on your foot.

I put an aftermarket intake on a IDI diesel engine once and it improved the fuel mileage when I drove it decently, but hurt it when I mashed on it a lot. And I did both at times. It was up to me, but when I wanted to, I got better mileage than with the original restrictive manifold. When I needed it, it was nice to have that extra power that the additonal air allowed me to put the fuel to.

rmw

 

[BrianPetersen]

"So with the throttle closed a bit, wouldn't there be less air/fuel going into the engine?"

NOOOOOOO you are not getting it.

The total combination of the throttle restriction and whatever restriction exists upstream will total out to be 100.0000000% the same, such that exactly the same amount of air goes into the engine, such that the output power precisely matches what's demanded to run the car down the road. Since air/fuel ratio is held constant, so will the fuel delivery.

Do you understand that:

8 + 2 = 10
9 + 1 = 10
7 + 3 = 10

Same result different ways.

Stock restriction (call it "2" for argument's sake) requires throttle restriction "8" to get total restriction "10".

Less restriction (call it "1") means more throttle restriction (call it "9") but the total is still "10".

By the way, diesels are a different ball game because they are operating unthrottled.