AFE Cold Air Intake Mini-Review

On a whim, I purchased and installed this AFE cold air intake, primarily to have something to do on the weekend:

https://afepower.com/afe-power-51-11382-magnum-force-stage-2-pro-dry-s-cold-air-intake-system

Customer service was really good. Free 2-day shipping from the west coast to the east coast. Product appears to be of good quality. Relatively simple install for most guys on this forum, although for me, it was a huge accomplishment. My only beef was the instructions (or lack thereof). I basically had to figure out where the remaining bits and pieces hooked up.

I knew beforehand not to expect a performance improvement, and my expectations were confirmed. Based on what I've read, guys install these for two reasons -- it looks cool and it sounds cool. First, the looks -- yeah, when I lift my hood and showed my friends the new intake, they're really impressed and they actually believe I know WTF I'm doing under the hood. That part alone is worth the price of admission. Actually, I really like the look. The resonator sitting on top of the engine always bothered me, so I was glad to rip it out.

OK, the sound -- yeah it sounds quite different. I think the engine sounds more quiet when the truck is in cruise mode. It only gets annoyingly loud when you punch the pedal, of course. Sound is different, but the little 5-lug is still asthmatic when attempting to get up to speed.

Would I do it again? Yep. Do I recommend that you purchase one? Well, that depends. If you're into how it looks, go buy one. For sound, I don't know if switching out a muffler is less expensive, but there are other options to explore. I'm hoping the AFE holds up long term, but probably won't know for a few more years.

 

Looks good. I've read a lot of mixed reviews on benefit though.

 

Yeah, I read those mixed reviews, too. However, if there was a noticeable performance improvement, half of the guys on this forum would have done it. Cold air intake swaps would be the "first mod" that every new Tacoma owner would be bludgeoned to perform.

 

Same experience here when i got my afe intake for my 5vzfe, lack of instructions but i loved the quality of it and the sound it makes when you punch it. I didn’t feel much of a power increase but I could feel slight better throttle response. Also liked AFE sent me tons of stickers and license plate cover with mine for free.

 

Sounds cool, but that's about it. Ain't even Cold Air since it's pulling air from directly in the HOT engine bay now instead of originally outside air.

 

Idk about 2nd gens but on my truck there is a vent in the fender that air gets pulled into and the heat shield does a pretty good job to seal off the rest the engine bay from the intake.

 

Yeah, the air filter is two inches from the vent in the fender, so it's getting a direct hit of cold air.

 

True, it's relatively inexpensive and easy to do. I had one on a dodge 5.9 that sounded sweet but same results that you posted.

 

Any updates on how yours is holding up OP? I just pulled the trigger on one of these

 

Oh, it's holding up great! No issues at all. I haven't even cleaned the filter yet. However, I use a pre-filter.

It's easy to install with basic tools. You'll be fine as long as you have the proper expectations. I bought mine for three reasons: 1) I got it on sale at a great deal; 2) I wanted the engine to sound slightly more aggressive without being too loud; and 3) most importantly, it looks far more impressive than stock.

 

I plan to use this while I daily my truck just to have an intake that flows quite a bit more than stock. I think itll pair nicely with my LCE header. If there is any improvement at all in throttle response, ill be happy. Cool noises are always a bonus lol.. I may even try to retrofit a box around it to keep the filter cleaner over the long term

 

I also have an LCE header and definitely got a boost from it. For me, though, there was no performance improvement with the air intake system. Initially, you'll think you're getting an improvement because it will sound differently, but just be happy with the cool noises.

No need to retrofit a box. I can probably go a couple more years before I'll need to clean the filter. If you go off roading or live in a dusty area, your experience may be very different.