FINALLY!!! K&N dyno sheet

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Thunderbirdsport

Full Access Members
Joined
Dec 10, 2020
Posts
377
Reaction score
233
Location
Missouri
It's less restrictive and less bends, plus a better than stock filter element. Why wouldn't it make a little more power?

Will that power be felt on the road, via the butt-o-meter?

Who knows. I can tell the difference on my K&N equipped V8 Explorer...mileage....pffft. It's a V8 SUV, IDGAF about mileage..
 
OP
OP
joethefordguy

joethefordguy

Full Access Members
Joined
Apr 10, 2017
Posts
741
Reaction score
228
Location
Texas
just to clear things up - I never doubted that the theory of a CAI was correct. It made sense. Cooler, denser, air, should produce more power. But, I think everyone here understands there's a world of difference between what engineers in a lab on a dyno stand can do and what we will get on our car.

So I tried to learn more. I got seriously skeptical when no one could provide any hard numbers. I was looking for two things: real world results, dyno tested, on an actual truck, and, failing that, at least the actual reduction in air temperature - it's a "cold air" intake, so how cold does it get?.

Adding to my doubts was the many pictures of installed CAIs pulling hot air directly from the engine compartment. I don't think that's going to turn cold by magic.

I think these are fair questions to ask when somebody made the claims the CAI vendors were making. Just tell me: how much power, how much colder? Is that not fair to ask?

As I've said, i got no actual answers until last week. Anecdotes are great, but I wanted more. I could not get it. I began to suspect that it's not so easy to make the theory work in the real world, so nobody wanted to cough up answer.

Then, when i finally got an answer, last week, it turned out to be ********. I'm not interested in spending a few hundred dollars only to get ten foot pounds of torque I'll never see (at over 4,000 RPM), plus some goofy engine bling. if it only produced 10 foot pounds at over 4 grand, what will i get off idle, as a DD, in traffic, or offroad? I'm not drag racing my truck. If I can't get usable torque from off idle to around 3,000 RPM, it's not value for money, for me. If that's what others want to do, hey, it's your truck, and your money. knock yourself out. I'm not going to spend money I'll never get a return on. that's all I'm saying.
 

Snidley53

Active Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2019
Posts
32
Reaction score
9
Location
Indiana
I bought a Spectre CAI for a Hemi powered Ram 1500 and never even got a hint of better torque, HP or gas mileage. When I got my Expy I sprung for the K&N replacement filter as I have used them before but will not spend close to 300.00 for the K&N CAI. I pull a travel trailer out west a couple of times a year but otherwise mine is just my daily driver. When I finally finish out the remaining warranty I may spring for a tuner but not before.
 

TeeDub

New Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2020
Posts
2
Reaction score
2
Location
Cincinnati, OH
And ya gotta love how they cut the torque curve off at 70 instead of 0, which inflates the vertical scale and makes it seem like the improvement is greater than it is. I see this a LOT in published graphs.
 

1oldtimer

Full Access Members
Joined
Mar 16, 2016
Posts
114
Reaction score
44
Location
Va
I use either the oem Motorcraft Filter or Wix Filters....Only.
K&N does NOT filter as good as either of them. That is my primary concern. And no way I could ever be convinced that a CAI is better than Fords OEM intake system. It is already design for best possible airflow. At least to my understanding of the OEM system
 
OP
OP
joethefordguy

joethefordguy

Full Access Members
Joined
Apr 10, 2017
Posts
741
Reaction score
228
Location
Texas
I use either the oem Motorcraft Filter or Wix Filters....Only.
K&N does NOT filter as good as either of them. That is my primary concern. And no way I could ever be convinced that a CAI is better than Fords OEM intake system. It is already design for best possible airflow. At least to my understanding of the OEM system

wrong.
 

Zach Dean

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Posts
22
Reaction score
2
Location
CA
just to clear things up - I never doubted that the theory of a CAI was correct. It made sense. Cooler, denser, air, should produce more power. But, I think everyone here understands there's a world of difference between what engineers in a lab on a dyno stand can do and what we will get on our car.

So I tried to learn more. I got seriously skeptical when no one could provide any hard numbers. I was looking for two things: real world results, dyno tested, on an actual truck, and, failing that, at least the actual reduction in air temperature - it's a "cold air" intake, so how cold does it get?.

Adding to my doubts was the many pictures of installed CAIs pulling hot air directly from the engine compartment. I don't think that's going to turn cold by magic.

I think these are fair questions to ask when somebody made the claims the CAI vendors were making. Just tell me: how much power, how much colder? Is that not fair to ask?

As I've said, i got no actual answers until last week. Anecdotes are great, but I wanted more. I could not get it. I began to suspect that it's not so easy to make the theory work in the real world, so nobody wanted to cough up answer.

Then, when i finally got an answer, last week, it turned out to be ********. I'm not interested in spending a few hundred dollars only to get ten foot pounds of torque I'll never see (at over 4,000 RPM), plus some goofy engine bling. if it only produced 10 foot pounds at over 4 grand, what will i get off idle, as a DD, in traffic, or offroad? I'm not drag racing my truck. If I can't get usable torque from off idle to around 3,000 RPM, it's not value for money, for me. If that's what others want to do, hey, it's your truck, and your money. knock yourself out. I'm not going to spend money I'll never get a return on. that's all I'm saying.
I rev mine out to 4K at least a couple times a day just to do it and I recently got that Flowmaster 40 series and love what this beast sounds like but yeah I guess for that little on a daily driver I wouldn't do that either
 

Expedition2017

New Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2019
Posts
3
Reaction score
1
Location
Pittsburgh
If you couple the K&N "cold air" intake with a turbo back exhaust system (not just cat back) it does help. I did it on my 2017 and it was a noticeable difference.

Starting from the same point on the same road I saw a gain in mph. Simply put it does very little by itself.
 
Top