Hot air Intake!? I thought Cold air was beneficial...

I've been thinking intakes lately, and how to improve them for any gasoline engine, and had believed very firmly that:

Cold air=better
More air=better
Less restriction=better
The faster the air is induced=better

I also believed that GENERALLY, more performace=better gas mileage, providing that the same driving habits be retained.

On my internet search for gas mileage and performance, it seems that gas mileage is proportional to hot air, and performance to cold air. The reasoning is that with warmer air, less fuel is mixed, saving gas. But wouldn't that just make the engine less efficient? Wouldn't that be counterproductive? If you had more performance (cold air), wouldn't you have to push down on the pedal less, thus saving gas?

My plan:
Box in my Downey CAI to keep it colder, wrap the chrome intake tube in fiberglass exhaust wrap, possibly route the box to the outside (ram air).

Would this increase hp and mpg? Or should I just trade out for a stock box/deckplate?

Chris4x4, I know you had a post about intakes and throttle body sizes related to a garbage can or something, but I can't find the post. Please enlighten me with your allknowingness.

 

im not chris 4x4 but iv seen him post about throttle bodies saying they are about as usefull as a crap popsicle. On my personal experience, the deckplate mod is saweeeet. and the general idea iv gotten from others is its better than an aftermarket intake. again im not chris so i dont know nearly as much. .02 cents

 

cold air= more dense air=more fuel=more power!!!!!! yes this is right, however the engine usually doesnt have to work as hard on a cruise so the load is down so there is potential on fuel mileage increase. hot air will diminish performance so it can also add fuel mileage but every engine is diff. most stock airboxes are very restrictive so allowing it to breath is usually a win win situation

 

http://fuelsaving.info/power_economy.htm

The throttle doesn't regulate the amount of fuel flowing, it controls the airflow. You don't have to push it as far because the air is denser, so it doesn't have to allow as much air in for the same performance. The engine doesn't work more efficiently. The air-fuel mixture is set by the computer so it will be the same amount of fuel used for a given volume of air, it's just that the throttle doesn't have to be down as far to get the same volume of air. The system adds the correct amount of fuel for the air present. You can create more power because you have increased the engine's ability to get more air in there for a given throttle position but you'll burn more fuel as well.

 

Alright, I gotcha. So pretty much generating more power doesn't do much for mpg, but freeing up restrictions helps both power and mpgs?

Makes sense. You're not really an evil monkey after all!

 

I don't believe there is much in the way of restrictions. I think it's mostly marketing hype.

 

Colder air means more fuel and more power, but on the flip side, more power means you'll be using more gas... how are you going to get more power without using more gas? I think I read somewhere that warmer air gives you better MPG. You can't have more power and more MPG, they don't co-exist.