forget holes in the air box its a no no

[frank jacobs]

Hey Guys , ive been through it all. ive did the holes in the airbox trick and i have the K & N drop in but after deeper thinking and talking to a race car builder its wrong. #1 Why are you putting in the holes ? for power NG , for fuel milage NG . Hears the reasons. #1 if you wnat more power then sure you need more air, but wheres that air coing from, its comming from inside the engine compartment. thats a NO NO. racers go to great lenths to keep there air away from the engine compartment, why ? Its HOT in there. Hot Air is NG. what you need if you really want power is air routed in from out side. #2 if you want power then youll loose MPG, why ? you put more air in then the computer will adjust and send in more fuel to match it. #3 A SIMPLE CHEAP REAL SALUTION IS THIS, RAP THAT SUCKER IN INSALATION. Meaning you have to keep that air COLD. cold is the key. have you ever heard of a intercooled engine, why? so they can force more air in. the ultimate system is outside air and a rapped air inlet tube. i did mine for $8.95 from the local hardware store. plain shinny pipe insulation. I coveres up those DARN holes never to be seen again.

FJ

 

[Hank]

Hello Frank,

This is actually in reply to your last two posts. I don't want to start a flame war here but to some extent I agree with you about the generic mods and products. After my similar experience here is my two cents as after doing a number of them myself I see absolutely no change in daily performance or gas mileage.

A long time ago, before the great #of posts disaster, another veteran member made a good point. Most of the dramatic performace gains made by these basic mods are the result of replacing worn out components and materails thus bringing performance back into spec.. I absolutly agree with this. Changes in my 91 were night and day when I replaced the stuck open thermostat with, dare I say it, a $2.95 AutoZone replacement. The new DynoMax muffler is outstanding as compared to the rusted and plugged stock one.. (But are either better than new factory... NO! less expensive YES!)

On the other hand I feel that to some extent some of the other "mods" are worth it only by virtue of them being of higher quality products. For example (again not to start a flame war here) I am compeletly satisified with my splitfire plugs. NOT because they have given me wheel spinning performance (which they did not) but because they and other "high performance" brands are of higher quality and have lasted much longer, in various applications, than what I have experienced with OEM replacements. I like synthetic oils and Purolator Pure One filters because they seem to keep the engine cleaner that what I have ran into with dino oil and cheap filters.

Lastly I think the only way to get better performance or gas mileage is to spend the big bucks. Headers, transfer cases, superchargers, and gears all some immediate and tangable feedback.

Let the flaming begin.

Best regards.
hg

 

[mike91]

I have not done any hole drilling and this is going to get some comments, but simply b/c I feel it doesn't work. Yeah, the truck sounds more agressive, but that's only b/c of the holes in the box - same as using the KKM (I have one). Stock intakes are made to run quiet. Of course, if you plug some holes into it, you are in essence, going to make it louder. Take your truck to the dyno and do two runs. One without holes and then one with holes. You will not see any hp gains - maybe 1 if you are lucky. I think that you would be able to benefit much more from an intake hose wrapped in insulation and maybe the KKM.

Not to forget to mention, but has anyone ever considered the MAS sensor that is made of metal. If you touch that thing after running your engine, it can get real hot and even heat up some of the incoming air to some degree. Granatelli makes an "injected molded...." blah, blah, blah unit - has anyone tried it?

 

[scott]

simple

holes in lower or no lower at all= more air availability, try to run a few miles at a fast pace while breathing through a straw. Not too efficient and makes you work harder to do so.

 

[97bignslow]

Frank,

I hear yah...BUT if it's not good, why did it work? After putting holes in my airbox, the truck was more responsive and I went from 16 to 18 mpg.

Eric

 

[JAY]

What Frank is saying is true. To an extent anyway. Scott is right also though. It is bad to suck in hot air, it hurts performance in a big way. However, the gain you get by drilling the holes is greater than the loss of performance from the hot air.

The stock intake is very restrictive. The intake from the grill to the airbox has a baffle in front of it. It also has a valve to allow hot air in for cold starts. Not to mention how small it is. That is all befor it even gets to the airbox! The intake tube from the airbox to the intake is also smaller than it should be (in my opinion). The STOCK engine can handle more air than it is getting from the factory. That is why the addition of the KKM or other such products is so noticable.

To do this correctly, you would need to not only wrap the intake in insulation (very good idea) and draw outside air, but you would also need to eliminate the (many)restrictions. Since most people don't have the time or money to do all this, they will bennifit most (yes they will still bennifit) from drilling the holes and drawing hot air.

 

[Goober]

I guess the means justifies the ends. Since the mod is rather cheap,.. free (if you have some bits and a drill), I can't see what it would hurt to do it. You eliminate(mostly) the intake from the duct behind the light, but you still get turbulent air to the intake. Does the intake of more air cause the computer to readjust and use more fuel or does it just get to be burned more efficiently? Dead Link Removed