Volant cold-air intake

[celly]

One of the first mods I made to my Ex upon visiting this site was a MAC cold air intake. As much as I liked the addition to my ride, the MAC bothered me at times. My kit came with no instructions. I'm not much of a mechanic, and eventually I figured it out. The one thing that always bothered me about the setup was that one of the crankcase breather tubes did not fit properly and they didn't really provide any parts to accommodate the shortfall. Lately, the tube always worked itself loose and one night recently, my Ex was stalling over and over again on the freeway in very cold weather. I had my wife and 2 month old son with me and it made for some tense moments. I could have made some mods to the chrome tube to make the tube fit better, but I had something better in the works.

I scored a Volant system a few weeks back from the Buy and Sell forum. It just arrived today and I couldn't wait to get it on. The package did include instructions, but they weren't that great. More or less just a glorified parts list is what it came down to. The setup looks sweet. The faux carbon fibre weave just add a nice touch.

I quickly removed the MAC and started putting the Volant together. It's got a rubber boot that connects the intake tube to the MAF and it's a pain to connect. Pretty tight fit, but once it's on, it's on. Great seal even before you tighten the hose clamps. I had heard comments about how tight the whole setup is to fit, and I didn't have a tough time getting it into place. However, one of the crankcase breather tubes just wouldn't line up. I was baffled as I started at the little elbow adapter and length of rubber tube they include. At the end of the day, I had to shorten the longest of the two breather tubes a significant amount. I then attached a small length of the rubber tubing to the breather tube, attached the elbow adapter, and connected the intake tube to the elbow. I connected the MAF back up, re-connected the battery, and my Ex fired up right away.

The Volant definitely has a deeper sound than the MAC. I had read that elsewhere and I agree wholeheartedly. Throttle response seems to be pretty close to the MAC, but I've only got about 15 minutes under my belt. I'd imagine that sealed system will keep the filter much cleaner. I live in a very dry and dusty environment so any protection can't hurt. The whole setup looks much cooler than the MAC. As much as the chome tube looked OK, it seemed a bit out of place under my hood. Like any other mod involving cosmetics, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I much prefer to look of the Volant setup and it's K&N like intake tube. I don't want to get into the whole "plastic vs metal" argument re: heat, because I don't buy into it. With the recent cold weather, the metal tube gets MUCH colder than a plastic one is all I can add. Cold is good, right? Anyhow, I'm of the belief that tube material is irrelevant. It all comes down to cosmetics, IMHO.

Overall, I'm not sure the price premium (at retail) is worth the difference between MAC and Volant, but it is a nice setup. With the deal I got from "Snakebyte94", the price premium was narrowed considerably and it was cheaper than K&N which I had been looking at. Volant really needs to work on their install "instructions". If someone like me can figure them out, including the modding of the breather tube, then most people should be able to figure them out too.

 

[Doug904]

I've seen some great results using the Volent as well from the tuning end of the mix, gains I haven't with the k&n. I've been recommending them to all of my 4.0 customer's as well,they are a little pricey but it's all in how much you wanna spend.


Doug.

 

[Rhett]

When I re-locate my battery I am going to get a Volant intake for my 4.0.

 

[Paraphoe]

Would you be able to post a picture or two?

 

[Jeeps&Fords]

The Volant is a true "cold air" system, unlike the KKM, MAC and K&N setups. There is nothing "cold air" with an open element under the hood. To take it to the next level, build a ram-air system to feel the Volant box.

 

[celly]

Would you be able to post a picture or two?

I'll try and get a few pics up, but it looks a lot like the second (lower) photo in this thread.

 

[spindlecone]

The Volant is a true "cold air" system, unlike the KKM, MAC and K&N setups. There is nothing "cold air" with an open element under the hood. To take it to the next level, build a ram-air system to feel the Volant box.

The Volant is no where near a true cold air system.
I have the Mac,I also moniter in real time IAT temps that run exactally at ambiant temp at anything over 50 MPH, is hard to get any colder than that.
Not saying one open intake is any better than the next, other than looks I think a measurable differance in performance would be impossible to find.

 

[Paraphoe]

I'll try and get a few pics up, but it looks a lot like the second (lower) photo in this thread.

Sweet. Looks like a very nice unit.

 

[celly]

The Volant is no where near a true cold air system.
I have the Mac,I also moniter in real time IAT temps that run exactally at ambiant temp at anything over 50 MPH, is hard to get any colder than that.
Not saying one open intake is any better than the next, other than looks I think a measurable differance in performance would be impossible to find.

So far, I'm not noticing a huge performance difference between MAC and Volant. I can attest to the build quality. Volant wins that battle hands down.

 

[Jeeps&Fords]

The Volant is no where near a true cold air system.
I have the Mac,I also moniter in real time IAT temps that run exactally at ambiant temp at anything over 50 MPH, is hard to get any colder than that.
Not saying one open intake is any better than the next, other than looks I think a measurable differance in performance would be impossible to find.

The Volant is a true "cold-air" system. That means that is pulls air from OUTSIDE the engine compartment. The kits from KKM, K&N, MAC, etc... that have an open element under the hood are NOT cold air systems. So you are getting ambient temps over 50 mph - that is great if you never have to slow down. The Volant will get ambient temp air into the intake at all speeds.