TRD Intake Questions

So I'm considering getting a TRD intake down the road when I throw a SC on the engine and I was wondering if anyone who has one can answer a small technical question for me. On the first version of the intake, is there a secondary air filter like on the stock boxes? My goal in everything is to increase performance without sacrificing reliability, so I don't want to install a higher flowing intake if it's going to let more dust/particulate in.

 

Not sure about the older TRD intake but i hear the newer ones were made by K&N and can cause problems. For filtering and running lean. I may have heard that the older ones were made by afe. You could just get a new afe pro dri 2 intake? Seems to be all the rage with the 2nd gen kids. (2005-2015)

 

From what I've read the older TRD intake doesn't cause the engine to lean out like the newer one. I'm going to look into the one you mentioned and the volant one I think, but none of them are impressing me much. I think ideally I want an intake that is pulling in a cooler charge and flowing better without compromising filtration. The first gen TRD/AFE has a cone filter in the airbox, which leads me to wonder if it's not going to compromise filtration for flow. I'm currently thinking about modifying a stock airbox from a vehicle with a bigger engine with a larger box filter. I'm lead to believe that Toyota box filters have better filtration than pretty much any cone filter, but that comes with the cost of air restriction. So my thinking is that if I use a larger box filter, like one designed for a V8 engine, that might reduce the restriction. Does that make any sense or am I crazy?

 

A stock paper filter is always going to filter better than aftermarker. You need to choose a cmpromise that best suits you. The afe pulls air from the wheel well jus as the atock does. Which technically makes them both true cold air intaked. The afe just has less restrictions and the conical filter. Also, if you get the trd supercharger it comes wth a high flow filter too.

 

I definitely agree in general. Even taking out the air filter entirely isn't going to yield much of an improvement except perhaps at WOT; however, I ultimately plan on running fairly high boost at which point I imagine that the difference might become more noticeable, both from the lower charge temp and the reduced restriction. For natural aspiration I wouldn't even use an aftermarket filter.

 

Agreed, that's what I was saying above. The OEM paper filter is definitely a superior filter in terms of filtration, but I imagine that under higher boost the restriction will become more evident, which is why I'm currently thinking of hacking a Tundra airbox in for when I go forced induction.

I also know that before I mentioned lower charge temp, and I forgot to explain that I was thinking about making a custom ram air setup as well, but that's secondary.

 

The best gain an intake will give you is a louder supercharger whine as far as performance goes, URD headers that cost a little more are a far better investment if you are planning on boost. Also what are the boost levels you are planning? The stock TRD rating is 6 and max is about 10. Any higher than 10 and you start running into problems fom what i hear.

Plus you are a 2007? Youd be best to go URD or turbo if you really want power.

 

Thanks for the info. Are you satisfied with your intake?

I'm in a 2007 stock 4.0L right now. I'm definitely planning header upgrades, but I'm not sure if I'm going URD or DT headers right now. Ultimately I want to go with one of URD's racing superchargers, but I'm going to take baby steps and start with their MK3 system, headers, and exhaust. I'm not planning on doing intake work until that's done, but I like to plan things well in advance, because that's how I work. Honestly I would prefer to not even work with this engine, but for some reason there aren't any LS swap kits for these trucks :/ So hopefully someone addresses that before I sink too much time and money into my 4.slow. Or maybe I'll get lucky and blow it up forcing me to get more creative.

For full disclosure I'm hoping for ~400HP by end of next year, 500+ the following year, and ultimately around 600. Anything above that seems silly to me in a truck. That's when I'll buy my Z4 and start pushing the N54 to it's limits

 

Yeah the Ls is like chasing a unicorn, and chasing it riding a horse made of money. Speaking of which, you would save a lot of money if you just saved up and bought the best kit possible first time around and then all the supporting mods would match up. No need to baby step things more than once. Also youll hit a ceiling for power on the 4.0 and wont be able to pass it without lots more money.

It all depends on what you want out of it. There are a couple guys here that have blown several motors built and unbuilt.

 

Also just saw your edit. You can forget about the 500 and 600 hp. Its not going to happen with this engine. 400-450 is possible.

 

LS engines can often be economical performance upgrades for other vehicles, just not the Tacos, especially if you piece one together from an old chevy van. That being said I know that I can achieve the desired power from the 4.0, so it's really not the end of the world. The reason I want to do some of this in baby steps is that:
1. At some point I will need to build the motor or else it will blow, and I don't want to commit that much cash at once
2. I know that running the higher stages of the URD S/C are mostly just additions. I won't be redoing any work really, just adding new parts.

 

There is a member running 400-450 on the regular URD SC. I am under the impression that their racing SC for built engines can handle 600+. I will contact URD to confirm though.

 

Are you using the URD MAF cal?

 

" That being said I know that I can achieve the desired power from the 4.0, so it's really not the end of the world."

I dont think you quite understand the situation. Even if you think you can, you cant get that power out of the 4.0. Even the built engines are not getting that. And the ones that get close blow up. Im not the expert on this , but there are others here that are, and ive been lurking for a while. They will most likely discourage you from atempting your goal.

 

No 4.0 anywhere on this forum or xru is near 600hp.

 

I'm aware. What I had said was 'There is a member running 400-450 on the regular URD SC.' The larger SCs from URD support more than 600HP though, and since I don't intend to reach that within the next two years, I wouldn't be surprised if some have reached this level by the time I'm looking to achieve this.

Maybe I can, and maybe I can't, but it's hard to say for certain until I've tried. A few years back I recall everyone saying that the N54s would blow up if you pushed them past 400 without serious modification, and yet now there are guys running them at almost 700 without doing any internal work. Completely different engine, but the point is that the true limits of the engine will not be known until enough people have pushed them. I see no reason why a fully built 4.0 cannot handle 600HP, but I won't be pushing it anywhere near this far until more research and testing has been done. Hopefully even if I blow the engine we will be able to learn a lot about their limits from my insane experimentation.

 

the corner of arrogance and monopoly st.

 

Well if you can all the power to you, but the guys on xru and urd have been trying to hit numbers like that since 05. And it still hasnt happened.

Youre better off spending the money for an LS swap. Hands down.

 

I think he's at 475 actually, but I could be wrong.

Ok this thread is getting way off topic. Let's stop discussing my insane future plans. I don't want to talk about them too much, until they are closer to fruition. I know I'm crazy and I don't want to hear about how insane my pipe dreams are. Where there is a will there is a way. With time and money anything is possible.

 

I do agree that would be more cost effective in terms of motor modifications, but that's not the issue with doing the LS swap. It's the integration, assuming you want to retain stuff like the stock dashboard. Hell even motor mounts can be fabbed for a reasonable cost.