cold air intake newbie

Hey there, I am new to the Tacoma World and certainly to the Modification area, but I am seriosly considering a Cold Air Intake and was wondering if there is a huge difference in the performance of them. I notice a lot of people mention the K&N version which seems to be about $250, but there are others out there for as low as $90. Is there a big difference in the brand names or is K&N the most expensive for a reason. If anyone has an alternative for less I would appreciate that

Thanks

 

different people will say different things about cai's!! heres what i can tell you. i have an airaid intake on my 06 prerunner(got it on ebay for $215.....been a good while now however, they have gone up about $15 since then) and i like it. good sound, and maybe a bit of performance(breathes better at higher rpms). its just my opinion, but i dont think you will really see a big difference just from an intake....maybe "seat of your pants dyno", but a major difference,probably not really.......just because the really start working at higher rpms. alot of people dont like the k&n because of oil on the maf sensor issues, which is basically due to over oiling the filter media. i can probably say that the k&n isnt the most expensive however. there is the urd tcai(which is probably gonna be the one of the better intakes you can get). you can also do as alot of folks have done, and go with the k&n setup, but use an aem dryflow filter....so you dont have to worry about overoiling the filter. hope this helps.

 

My URD is great, although they are not for everybody.

 

k&n's are amazing. but damn whatever is selling for 90 bucks is a big NO.
go with a k&n 63 series.. make sure its the air charger. that intake is bomb

 

Well i went a different route when i started doing my intake system because i wanted to incorperate both cool air and a snorkel....after research and trial and error i found that volant is the most expensive and best performing so far.
http://www.volant.com/idetail.asp?ID=104
After installing i took a few different ideas from my buddies at TTORA and mad it the least restrictive as possible and allowing me to keep both my cool air and my snorkel. By far VOLANT is the best adn as far as i can see the most expensive

 

well i got my option racing CAI off of ebay for 50 bucks and it was in perfect shape. i could tell a lil difference in performance, but i def. got better gas mileage though

 

Well I'm a CAI noobie too. I have a (seemingly) simple question: Why would a cold air intake be louder than a stock intake.

I know on a fan the higher the rpm the more cfm it can move and therefore the louder it will be, but it seems the cai is just more surface area causing a higher cfm throughput. So what's causing it to be louder.

Also, how much louder are we talking about (compared to stock)?

 

K&N is a good amount louder. It's a great deep tune to it, makes it sound more like a Corvette, nothing like a rice rocket. I'm talking about the 63 Series Air Charger btw.

 

ok i had kinda a dumb question....does it matter wut kind of intake u have if u get a MAF Sensor Calibrator, or do u have to get the URD intake with it?

 

As long as theres a place to mount the sensor on the intake, which most have, its fine. Make sure the screws on the MAFS line up with the tubing on the intake so it all works out.

 

Just get the URD Preset MAF sensor calibrator and leave your intake alone.

 

well wut i was going to do is get a new K&N intake, but i plan on putting headers and a new exhaust on in the future, so i wanted to get the MAF so that i could ajust the air and fuel ratio...would it just be esier to get the URD intake or would the K&N work just as well...????

 

I like my True Flow XDI

 

AFE dry filter system FTW!!! i say nay to any oil filters unless you want to mess up your maf sensor

 

The URD intake would most likely produce more power than the K&N setup, but installation is also more complex

 

? on the URD filter how do you clean it . I been wanting to get one but I don't see on their web site how you clean it.

 

Thanks Isocoee for the link and the tip!

 

Is the Toyota TRD Cold Air Intake a dry filter system? Or do you have to oil the filter during cleaning? Thanks.

 

I also see the the warning about Warranty Void issues. Isn't the TRD cold air intake system a Toyota part?? Why would you have a Warranty problem?