K&N intake kit?

I just put on my 3.4 and I love it. It sound better and better throttle responce, it seems it has more power in the higher RPM.

 

Here is the thing with after market air intake kits advantages or disadvantages argument; we have a little thing here in America called the FTC. If a company makes false claims or uses false advertising, they would be subject to class action law suits. If for instance, K&N guarantees HP gains, and they do, they must be held to that claim. A company as large, as reputable, and as successful as K&N doesn't get that way by duping consumers like us into buying a product that would take away from stock performance. If everyone felt that the product wasn't helping, someone (many) would be out there proving it and demanding their money back. Ever hear of Airborne?? So you have to look at it logically. In basic terms, engines are effected with how efficiently they breathe in and out. You either believe K&N when they say their product helps your engine "breath" in more efficiently or you don't. Until an ASE Certified mechanic that has the knowledge, and the facts to back the case that K&N is lying to me, I choose to go with the company and their claims and not taking the opinions on blogs or forums for facts. Just my two cents...

 

I'm going to remove mine and put the stock set-up back in. The thing never has fit right. Duct tape around all of the connections. Big waste of money.

 

Some companies/products may be able to "hide behind" unknown discrepancies (for example the medical field); however, things are more cut and dry in this regard. In this case, K&N does state exactly what their applications and outcomes are for each vehicle and product they test. For example:

"Run Title: Stock 01 Tacoma 3.4L,auto 2WD2G Run Notes: Stock as delievered 11569 miles Run Date: 6/28/2001 11:51:48 AM Stock.001: 86.89 °F, 29.14 in-Hg, SAE: 1.03

Run Title: FIPK 01 Tacoma 3.4L,auto 2WD2G Run Notes: 57-9015 FIPK installed 11569 miles Run Date: 6/28/2001 12:41:44 PM FIPK.002: 88.33 °F, 29.13 in-Hg, SAE: 1.03"

This information is pulled directly from their company's official website. They state all the necessary factors that would produce a true and fair testing result.

 

I thought K&N was originally made for dirt off roading, but it can't filter dirt. It does not make sense. Also no gains maybe because there are two kinds of intake pipes the plastic one and aluminum. So the metal one will absorb more heat.

 

They (K&N) use the word "stock" which would mean a production line, no mods truck. Therefore they are including "everything" by choosing to use that word to describe their control vehicle. For the claim that you have installed them in different trucks with different results means nothing. If you don not use a stock truck with no mods, test with the same testing equipment as K&N, and test while under the exact same atmospheric conditions, there is no possible way to say if their product is in any way worse or better than what they claim. It is just not in any way factually or scientifically comparable. Again, just my two cents...

 

@ chris4x4 and rzaucha, you are both debating with very valid points.

Will we always gain what was advertised? No. WAYYY too many variables that are uncontrolled. To sum up an entire product line based on a couple poor examples isn't really fair. Not everybodies motor will respond the same to the same mod.

I personally dropped a .5 second in my 1/4 mile time going from stock to K&N intake and URD catback. Intakes will ALWAYS perform better when mated with an exhaust that matches airflow.

Do I believe that I will gain 15hp from a K&N intake? Not really.
Is it capable of adding that much power? Absolutely. Just in what scenario? Boosted truck with and without an intake will vary up to 30hp difference (that i've seen first hand on a TRD boosted truck).

At the same time, our ECUs must relearn itself after installing a new mod. You can add an intake and very well see a loss in HP if the ECU isn't fueling right. Which is why its bad practice to run one right after the other.

K&N is an open filter kit, so it is more prone to heat soak and idle and low cruising speeds. But in those conditions how much HP your making is completely irrelevant. it doesn't take long (in our trucks) for the IAT to drop to near ambient. The benefit of a closed filter is it gets there faster.

 

This is 100% correct. But using a TBS on our trucks is pointless, because we use ACIS to control the intake plenum runner length. So you are actually altering those lengths by adding a TBS. If toyota had more power moving that further away, they would have done so.

 

Because without comparing to the control, the before and after doesn't mean much as the equation has changed. So for you to give input that your truck or others didn't improve or that it lost power and therefore CAIs aren't a good mod is completely unfair to someone who most likely has a stock truck and is just looking for advice on a product (apples to oranges). Just trying to point out that I think CAIs are a great addition to Tacomas, and it seemed to be the only positive opinion in the thread, which I felt needed to be addressed.

 

Okay, so after re reading the thread there were others out there with positive opinions about CAIs, but way out numbered...

 

Correct me if I am wrong.. Our stock intake (4.0 V6) is a basic 'CAI'. Cheaper to just buy a filter then to spend $250+ on the same product with a different sound.