# Cold Air Intake Questions



## thefulminator

Would like some input from those with experience. There have been past topics on this but I haven't found any recent ones.

I am curious about the benefits or detriments of installing a cold air intake. My tow vehicle is a 2009 Silverado 1500 crew cab 4x4 with a 5.3L, 3.42 rear end and is otherwise completely stock. It is also my daily driver and I'm only adding about 7,500 mile per year on, it including towing. It currently has 48,000 miles, is out of my warranty and I have no plans to replace it or our 250RS in the foreseeable future. Mileage has never been good with it. I get about 11.5 mpg with the daily commute and 8.5-9 mpg when towing. When I do tow it is frequently over mountain passes.

I am mainly interested in what results others have seen with adding a cold air intake. Is there a noticeable increase in power or mpg? I'm not looking for miracles but would like having a little more power when towing over Steven's or Blewett passes. Even a small increase in mpg, especially when towing would be good to have. With a 26 gallon tank, 8.5 mpg while towing doesn't get me very far.

Info on brands and oiled vs. dry filters would be appreciated. Also, I have seen comments about louder engine sound. Is there really that much difference?


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## Dave-Gray

I don't have the same truck as you do, but the cold air intake made a difference in power. It didn't improve the fuel consumption that much. Here is more about my experience.

Aftermarket Cold Air Intake System, Intercooler Tube and Smarty Jr. - A Performance Issue Resolved


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## Herbicidal

In my opinion a cold air intake or CAI is only one part to the performance puzzle. The main performance gains come for those that have a diesel engine. Diesel engines are far more "tunable" than our naturally aspirated engines. So the CAI will allow more air into the engine but for the engine to recognize the additional air, the factory computer will try to compensate with additional fuel (so the engine doesn't run too lean) and it can, to a point but then to tune beyond the built in factory parameters you would also need to purchase a tuner. Something like this from Bully Dog: https://www.bullydog.com/products/bd/BDGTPG/bully-dog-gt-gas?vehicleYear=2009&vehicleMakeId=2&vehicleModelId=41&vehicleEngineId=25

This tuner will allow modifications beyond the factory settings. So now you can add more fuel to compensate for the additional air or perhaps find a better air/fuel ratio that increases power and fuel economy. Now that you have more fuel and air coming into your engine it also needs to expel the exhaust gases more efficiently. Typically a stock exhaust is not it. The factory exhaust is designed to make the engine as quiet as possible and still provide adequate performance. A smoother flowing exhaust with high performance muffler(s) will help. In states where you must have a catalytic converter these systems are typically known as "cat back". Meaning you leave the stock catalytic converter in place and only change out the parts after the "cat". If you do go with a CAI, tuner and cat back exhaust it would probably be worth the next step of taking it to a shop that can truly tune your setup on a dyno. Of course, this all costs money and time to do the modifications and tune it. You'll have to decide if it's worth it or not. Personally, I'm leaving my system stock.

I'd also suggest checking out some of the truck forums to see what others with your truck are saying. Here's one I found with a quick search: http://chevroletforum.com/forum/silverado-fullsize-pick-ups-21/ And here's one more: http://www.gmfullsize.com/threads/2009-chevy-silverado-1500-build.306273/

Best of luck in your research!


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## thefulminator

I have looked at some of the truck forums. The problem is that a lot of the posts turn into chest thumping exercises as to who has done the most mods why everybody else is wrong. I would like to get feedback from people who have installed a cold air intake and get their first hand experiences.


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## Dropthejackstands

I believe you would be just as well served by installing a free-flowing air filter, like a FRAM Airhog, K&N or something like that. I had a K&N filter in my 97 Chevy 5.7 pickup for years and I ran a cold air intake on my 07 Charger SRT-8. To be honest I don't think there is enough of a difference to warrant the higher cost of the whole cold air system. Got more uumph out of opening up the exhaust system.


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## Leedek

First modification I made to my truck was to install cat-back exhaust. I get 20 on the road with no tow and around 9 when towing the 210RS. I also put K&N free flow filter in line replacing the paper filter. I couldn't convince myself that the cold air system was worth the extra money.

Leigh


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