Is cold air intake worth it?

Somehow my truck came with the TRD CAI on it so I left it on and just dropped in the stock paper filter, as it has identical dimensions. Best of both worlds. When I bought my '88 911 used twenty years ago, the previous owner put in a K&N filter in place of the original and I used it for a few years. When I finally read about the reality of K&N and knowing how much that 3.2L Porsche engine is to rebuild - in the $15K+ range, I switched back to the factory Mahle paper filter and on the first drive with the stock filter felt like the car drank a six pack of Jolt. Holy crap what a positive different that made. Paper all the way for me.

 

dude, the oem is a cold air intake

 

Unless it's for the noise I don't think so, minimal gains in most aspects for the price

 

I think the gimmick with K&N filters is that they're reusable, so they allegedly save costs over the replacement of a paper filter. You still have to buy the cleaning spray and oil for them though.

Paper medium filters are better. I think that any possible cost savings via K&N is only after very long term mileage. I'd rather have a better filtration medium up to that point.

 

I LOVE K&N PRODUCTS...



said no one ever. I run OEM filters with an aftermarket tube that deletes the intake resonator. I've run K&N before, when i was like 18 years old because it was kewl. I've tried a bunch. I also don't have a Tacoma. So there's that, too.

 

If you want to try it and see if it does anything for you and can live without the pretty red box and tubes, for about $80 or so you can install the "working bits" of the OEM TRD Performance Air Intake - an OEM Intake Flow Accelerator (about $27), and a TRD Performance Air Filter (about $51). That way if you find out it does nothing you are only out $78 plus shipping instead of $350.

 

I found this and thought that it would be an interesting comment regarding removal of intake resonators.

What does an air intake resonator do?
An air intake resonator’s box is meant to reduce pressure wave harmonics in your engine. While that may seem like a lot of industry lingo, it’s actually very simple.
Basically, when air enters through your cylinder head’s intake port, excess air is let loose to bounce back and forth through your car’s internal systems. This creates sound waves called harmonics. These waves put pressure on various engine components, reduce RPMs, and inhibit your horsepower.
The air intake resonator serves to ensure that your car’s engine still works at capacity. It gives those pressure waves a place to expand and partially dissipate, resulting in a quieter, but significantly more powerful, engine.
A lot of car owners assume that the resonator reduces horsepower and acts as a muffling tool, but as explained above, it actually does the opposite. While it does make the car quieter, it actually maximizes the horsepower and efficiency of your vehicle.

 

Whatever you do, stay away from oiled air filters. Your MAF sensor will thank you.

 

Thanks for dropping the info. I've noticed no difference in performance, mileage or anything alike since replacing my stock setup with a straight tube (from Airaid). The only difference is that it's slightly louder. No check engine lights. If I begin to notice any problems with it I'll definitely reinstall the stock setup. I've had it on for about a year and a half now. I did it to clean up my engine bay and have more access to the coil packs/spark plugs. I like it so far.

 

Absence of an issue is no proof of anything.

 

Good plan.

 

There are about 50 of them, including multiple Dyno pulls with no filter, stock filter and aftermarket filter on the 3rd gen. I have seen them all but what do I know.

 

https://youtu.be/sJ3L-E-ufYo

 

One of my first posts when I joined TW was about a guy in another forum who was butthurt that his Toyota dealer had denied warranty on his engine because he ran a K&N with a sock. I was immediately nailed to a cross and they tried to run me out of town on a rail. The thread went to 80 pages in a day with most posts by people like you and your beliefs. Thread got locked and deleted but not before there were many instances shown if engine warranty denied because of non OEM filters.
Lol Toyota is not dumb. They know what their filters do and what aftermarket filters do.
Your cute test with a napkin is funny, seeing that air filters keep particles out that are too small for the human eye to see. That is the dusting the smart one here talk about in the intake.
It takes thousands of hours to eventually dust your intake and cause engine failure but it will.

 

Your test might be a bit flawed. Personally I could care less what someone wants to run on their truck. But in your test you have not factored in the suction of your engine pulling air through the filter. Might have a different outcome. Just a thought.

 

They’re not worth it if you’re installing it with expectations of way more power or way better fuel economy.....
But they’re absolutely worth it if you like to hear some intake roar from under the hood (like me)......

I’d bet that there are probably guys here on this thread who have spent thousands on suspension and don’t (or rarely) go off-roading so......do what you want.....

 

Man, only like 2 responses from people that actually have one on their Tacoma. I have one and I also dont regret it. It doesnt make much of a difference aside from throaty noise when on the gas.

But most Tacoma owners may not care because they havent and never will put their truck at full throttle. Strange.

A downside is that you will have remove it for smog tests if you live in an area that does them.

 

Umm…do you think I actually poured sand on a k&n filter as a test of its effectiveness? I figured the napkin part would give that away.

I run an OEM filter. Do I think running a k&n will lead to engine failures left and right? No not really. But I don’t care enough to run one and test oil then wait a couple hundred thousand miles, pull the engine apart, then do the same thing with an OEM filter.

I drive a super heavy Tacoma. Even if the k&n gave me five extra hp I wouldn’t notice. This isn’t a high performance machine.

 

My 2020 came with a TRD intake, I swapped it for a Injen intake. It’s loud when I stepped on the gas and I couldn’t tell any difference what so ever. I needed up swapping back to the TRD intake, I guess it compliments the engine bay. But honestly IMO it’s cosmetic with no noticeable HP gain.