Last year I pulled out the resonator and tube and noticed a definite difference in throttle response. Today I finally got around to pulling out the air filter box and install a WAI, and nothing. No more power or better throttle response, nothing. Felt exactly the same as before. 7+hp increase, ya right. Anybody else install an intake and feel there was no improvement?
I have the Injen WAI for my 2.2 and i dont notice much of an increase in speed... I never really expected it to.. That with my full cat back, i notice a small power difference.. but not much.. i bought it for the sound really.... LOVE that sucking sound...
I first bought a Vibrant WAI and it was @!#$... it bolted to the expansion box which gave me NO power, and NO sound... didnt do anything... then i got the injen which removes the expansion box, that made a difference big time in air flow..
so depending the engine, and the style of intake... they dont do all that much... cold airs more then warm... but even those, dont expect noticeable gains
***Thanks again to stargrrrl***
Simply adding a WAI shouldn't make much of a difference that you can "feel". Even if it did give you an extra 7 hp (which it likely didn't), that's barely enough of a gain to generate a perceptable difference in power.
Most people who claim to "feel the power" after slapping on an intake are mostly "perceiving" the gain rather than observing a measured improvement.
I did notice a slightly smaller pull at higher rpms, but nothing worth writing home about. Mostly I enjoy the sound of air passing though my filter when I open up the throttle. By itself an intake doesn't add up to much. It is however, a cumulative modification which pays off best when used in conjunction with other performance mods.
Out of curiosity, did you hook it up directly to your throttle body? Or is it one of those intakes which connect to the 2200 box?
"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." -- Steven Wright
Well, it is a 2200 and the intake is a Vibrant, and yep, I am stuck with the box. It even sounded the same with just the tube and resonator removed. So, yanking out the tube and resonator gives the same result as installing an intake that retains the expansion box. Coulda saved myself a few bucks. *%#@+
You can always modify it to attach to your throttle body using an elbow and a reducer. That would probably produce a noticable improvement.
"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." -- Steven Wright
I will probably do that when I install my 56mm throttle body. I realize it's a cumulative process, just got taken in by advertising and word of mouth.
I had that same one... sucks ass... i wouldnt keep it if i were u... or atleast do what Kreepy guy said... its useless to leave the expansion (2200) box on) it pretty much stops the intake from doing what its suposed to do.. if im not mistaken, with that intake hooked to the expansion box, it just sucks air in a bit faster, just to sit in that box, with an intake that goes right to the TB, it does a bit more of what its suposed to do
good luck
***Thanks again to stargrrrl***
yep... i have that on mine too... vibrant wai is only like 100$ , all others are like 300, vibrant is a DEAL! yea right!!!.. it cost less, but it's worth less... i noticed sweet @!#$ all
www.gasted.com
yeah I had that same vibrant one too, and yes it did suck. I don't know if any of you guys had this problem, but when I installed it, the mounting arm didn't line up properly so I had to bend it to make it fit. My brother in law (who got me the intake) emailed Vibrant to complain about it not lining up properly. The guy at Vibrant said that when they engineered it the genius who did the measuring measured wrong and they had since re-engineered it. I had to take some pictures of the old tube, and email them in, then they sent me a new intake, the type that attaches directly on to the throttle body. I noticed better throttle repsonse with the new intake. Maybe you guys might want to try emailing Vibrant and see what happens.
the one i got didnt even have any mounts
It was just held on by the rubber connector and the metal tube fasteners... it bounced around all over the place, and i had to check every so often to make sure its not falling off...
the new injen one i have has a mount that connects to the engine block...
***Thanks again to stargrrrl***
I took a hole saw to the underside of my filter box and put it back on the car, tossed the Vibrant intake in the shed and ordered a K&N filter. Anyone need a blue cone filter with one day's use on it? I'll be cutting up the intake to make something when I mount the bigger TB.
if you would like to feel the power, you need a cold air intake or a fuctional ram air hood to run to your intake, other than that a WAI is worth nothing but sound. i cut open my stock box to my rksport hood and its direct cold air. I can feel and hear a difference once im over 3000rpm. expensive but well worth it
Broda
If im not mistaken... but i thought those exahust shops can bend you some pipe and weld it, to make a custom cold air...
dono if they still do that?
***Thanks again to stargrrrl***
Johnathon Broda wrote:if you would like to feel the power, you need a cold air intake or a fuctional ram air hood to run to your intake, other than that a WAI is worth nothing but sound....
That's not exactly true. In theory, cooler air is denser & should provide more HP. How much cooler is air from a CAI as opposed to a WAI? Really not enough to make much of a performance difference (if any) over a WAI.
Remember, with a short ram there's less distance to travel between the filter and throttle body. There's also less bends and turns which inhibit air flow. A lot of people have found that most intakes will yield very similiar dyno results, regardless which brand they are or if they're short vs. long ram.
You can buy into all the gimmicks that the manufacturer will throw at you to try and convince you that their intake is better than another. Whether you spend $100 OR $300+, In the end, you're still buying a pipe with a filter on it.
"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." -- Steven Wright
if the butt dyno were accurate, real dynos would not exist
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
kreepy is right... although i dissagree that all intakes are the same... in theory they are... although ones that hook up to the TB as opposed to the expansion box do make a difference... although, not much that you would notice!
***Thanks again to stargrrrl***
I noticed that arounfd 4K RPM thats when my WAI makes a difference... i have noticed a difference in throttle respose as well. but then again.. that was my first mod.
Cosmo racing filter $75CDN shipped
