08 Tundra V6 1GRFE - K&N Intake Installed - Review

Hey Guys,

I know this is not a Tundra forum, but there are not many Tundra V6 owners out there, so I think it would be nice to share with you Tacoma guys with the same engine, So here I go.

I recently installed the K&N Cold Air Intake to my humble 2008 V6 Tundra. It has the common 4.0L 1GRFE engine in it.

Installation Process:

The installation manual could be much better, much muuuuch better. Those black and white pictures are hard to understand and don't seem to go well with the price tag of the CAI. 300$. The principal picture, where you can see how everything assembles is terribly small, hard to understand and to make it worse, they don't easily explain which washer or bolt is this or that. So understanding the manual is a MESS.

After you manage to setup everything, installing the rest of the things is easy, and you can do the whole process in 50min. taking 30 of those 50 just to identify which bolt, nut, washer or spacer you need to use on each step.

Engine Sound:

As soon as you turn the truck on, you realize there's a different sound coming from under the hood. It's stronger and louder. Driving under normal conditions won't let you or your passengers notice any dramatic change in the sound, but as soon as you put the pedal to the metal the noise is really really strong and in sometimes too hard to be comfortable. But you don't drive all the time like that, right?

Acceleration:

The acceleration is faster, yes it is! Period.
I've ready so many things about K&N's that I'm almost tired of it. But in this case I do feel an increased response from the throttle, and the acceleration is way better. I'm talking about maybe .5 sec from 0-60. I took a video of the 0-60 before cai, now I'll record a new one and make a comparison, will obviously post the new and old videos here.

Horsepower:

The magic word. We pay so much for this thing all of the time, it is almost sad not always we get what we expect.
In my case, I didn't dynoed the truck before, K&N claims 9+ HP increase in my specific model, my butt dyno confirms to me that those 9HP are there. I can feel an increase in the power at all revs. Which is nice. I use to tow from time to time a 4000 lb trailer with a small boat in it, and I do feel the truck more comfortable at pulling the trailer than before, the revs are keeping lower at steady speeds, which traduce in less effort and better MPG, my next and last point of the review.

MPG:

Yes, there is a gain in 1-2MPG. Don't expect you'll get 8 or 10mpg, you are not changing a V6 for a L4 engine, so it's not going to happen. I've seen the increase better when towing, where I can reach up to 2mpg. In regular hwy driving it usually gives me 21mpg, I did never get more than 20mpg before.

Final Thoughts:

Give it a try, in this country there's nothing easier than returning an item.

 

Awesome right up! I love my intake and I can tell the difference between different intakes when it comes to power and acceleration.

I'll be waiting for Whipper to come in and drop his lines about how intakes are worthless and he can't feel the difference.. In 3.....2.....1.....

 

Yes, that's why I always read, but I like this one a lot so far. It's worth it for sure.

 

I agree 100% they are worth it. My 2011 V6 with a TRD intake and TB Spacer I'm avg around 23 mpg's on the highway. Before those running stock I was under 20mpgs. I run Torque App so I can monitor my MPGS and what not.