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-   -   Is Cold Air Intake actually worth the money? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifications-accessories/39238-cold-air-intake-actually-worth-money-6.html)

15% improvements on a stock non turbo petrol is not guaranteed, on some cars there will be some improvements and some the improvements will be minimal. So unless the improvements are proven on a dyno - before and after, the percentage gains is just hypothetical. Like CAI.

If the car isn't dynoed before and after with and without that remap there is no proof of actual improvements and where.

And one can't sell a remap once you own it, unless the person refunds you when you find that the BHP gains aren't as promised when dynoed. With a CAI one can sell it used and get some money out of it if it doesn't work :D

Personally I would rather go the piggyback way with Unichip; with the piggyback installed and the car tuned on the dyno with the result on paper.

And its best to get a remap/piggyback done once intake/exhaust or other mods are done, gains would be more. Again should be proven on the dyno.

There is no Dyno graph in that thread. There is no before and after dyno run of that particular car, and apart from the way how the car feels like there is no way to quantify the claim in increase in performance. Where is that hard dyno measured improvements? I would really like to see the gains made by a remapped non-turbo petrol car in India on a dyno in india, with before and after chart. Can you find me a link?

Now I'm not a tech-geek or an engineer.

But what I do know is that a CAI is a good addition when you're planning on extensively tuning your car's engine. Stand-alone, it's probably rubbish and a waste of money.

But when you're looking at turbos, remaps, crank / cam mods, a CAI + exhaust will help the car breathe better and unlock more potential.

In short, it's a good place to start if you're interested in getting some more oomph. But a CAI on its own may not yield benefits, apart from the fact that you don't need to replace the filter every time the car is serviced.

Most cars manufactured today already come with a cold air intake installed at the factory as OEM. My Cruze and Junkindica already come factory fitted with cold air intakes. The routing for the Cruze is from the bumper area and so also for the my Junkindica. My beloved GTX had CAI coming in from the area near the right fender. Please see the routing of your air plumbing to ascertain whether you have a CAI as OEM.

I don't see any problems happening post-installation. It's just that the conical filter of the CAI kit was designed for 2.2L engines - meaning the amount of air it would gulp down and breathe out would be limited to the design of a 2.2L engine, but that's about it. Full performance gains might not be there, but there will be a noticeable difference for sure. I have a Cosworth CAI fitted on my Jazz and I can definitely vote for a slight increase in low-end torque and a race-sound drone post 3500 RPM!

That sounds convincing. We ll go ahead and fix it. Will post the review. Thanks.

Hello,

I drive a tuned S-Cross 1.6 DDiS and have been looking for an air filter upgrade, for a while now. After-market replacement filter for the S-Cross isn't available at the moment, from any brands. Else, I would have stuck to the replacement filter only. Both the 1.6 and the 1.3 S-Cross air filters are of the same fit. And yet, nothing :Frustrati

CAI is the only option left. I've seen a few people using CAI on a diesel, along with a decent tune. Would a CAI show any difference in performance or should I just stick to the stock filter?

Thank you.

You could check with Dr.Naren here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...o-remap-8.html

CAI adds a very small increase in performance and its almost non-existent. Removing the manufacturers air filter and just bolting a CAI will not add to much according to my experience in my car. I have to give credit to Blackworks who re-routed the piping and now my BMC CAI does seem to be working extra well.

Depends who you go to grease.monkey!

I have seen cars with CAI. But the irony is they have become hot air intakes. Most of them are placed very badly and suck in hotter air compared to stock intake.

S-Cross 1.6 is sensitive to IAT. A better intercooler would be nice. You can try BMC DIA, but make sure it's placed at good location. The stock intake sucks in hot air and placed right behind the radiator :Frustrati.

Yes. I had made a similar mistake with my petrol Swift many years back. The motor literally gasped for breath at through the rev range. This was just a large K&N with a pipe mounted on the intake :Frustrati. So i shifted to a K&N Typhoon later (more or less the same thing with a hood.) There was a noticeable difference in lower revs. And later finally to the K&N Apollo which was a proper CAI. this made all the difference, recovered the low range and excellent high rpm fun.

The efficacy of a CAI depends a lot on the layout of the Engine bay, airbox and bumper design. And obviously a decent exhaust.

Thanks to Dr. Naren and Rajiv from Wolf Moto, I have the perfect map for the car now :D

CAIs make very little difference, quite pricey too. I'm considering it as there aren't any other options. But then, didn't want to carry out a very expensive experiment.

I'm heading to Blackworks this weekend. I'll ask Venkat to re-route the intake pipe. It had made a difference for Dr. Naren.

Exactly. IMO the car performs better at night, with cooler air. I'll keep the CAI on hold now. Hopefully BMC would bring out their replacement filter for the car soon.

But, the filter you had first and the Typhoon kit are both open filters right? Were they both installed in the same position? I had a K&N Typhoon on my ex-i20 1.2. Honestly, the car felt fast because of the growl. Since then, I've been using replacement filters.

The engine-bay of the S-Cross 1.6 is quite cramped.

The First one was parallel to the cam cover. the second was slightly bent towards the front and that did make a slight difference. Yes first one was completely open and Typhoon had that hood. I had tried even stock airbox with no filter (on empty roads at night) but although all of them have intake roar, hardly any performance increase. But the spread of power through the rev range did change. Plus you need to have an exhaust to get max gain. I just had an end can.

IMO, stock replace filters are almost always about just intake roar.

I agree, the only choice seems to be a CAI for your car until a replacement filter becomes available. I am quite happy with BMC. I had an exposed K&N CAI in my older car, maintainence was a huge issue especially in Bangalore with our horrible quality of air.

Venkat re-routed the intake pipe for me as well and it made quite a noticeable difference. Of course my car isn't a S-Cross though. Good choice in going to Blackworks. They will come up with the perfect solution. Do keep us updated, keen to know how it all turns out for u. Good luck!

I was at Blackworks the previous weekend, to get a decat downpipe for the car. Apparently, a stock S-Cross 1.6 has a 'hot' air intake, as the intake pipe is placed just behind the radiator, sucking in all the hot air.

Venkat had re-routed the air intake on Dr. Naren's car and I wanted the same.

Step 1 : Remove the stock intake pipe.


Step 2 : Alter the stock pipe to accommodate Silicon intake hose.


Step 3 : Attach the Silicon hose firmly to the stock pipe and place it accordingly. Venkat had directed the pipe to the backside of the headlight and made sure it isn't placed low, so that there wouldn't be any 'water sucking' problems during the monsoon.


I wanted a CAI and Blackworks made me one clap:

I have reverted to stock during monsoon. I will install it again soon, will shorten the pipe like in your car.

Nice :)