nmyzone

Hey guys,

I need to pick an Cold Air-Intake System. I have a 2011 Camaro SS Automatic. Here are some of my choices. Let me know which one is the best. The cost doesn't bother, I just want to make sure I get a good one.

1. R2C 2010 Camaro V8 MaxxFlow Cold Air Intake System
$349.95

2. SLP 2010+ V8 Camaro Blackwing Full Cold-Air Induction System
$386.96

3. AirAid Camaro 2010 V8 MXP Series Intake Systems
$380.68


Let me know what you think.

JasonD

You won't like what I think.

If it is about power, keep the stock intake and save money for exhaust upgrades.

I know you probably think I am crazy, but when I got my L99 Camaro one of the first things we did was put it on the dyno after a few break-in miles and tried a few intakes. We gained hardly any power from any of them. One or two lost power. No kidding. We think it may have something to do with the AFM/VVT, because the LS3 Camaros did gain some, but not as much as claimed.

But, most disagree with me and that's cool...it left us scratching our heads too.

If you plan to get one anyway for looks, etc, just pick the one that you think looks the best and fits your budget. You won't notice any serious power difference between them.

mpiper

Cold Air Intakes DO make power. However, there is a learning curve. Your car adds fuel based on two things (oversimplifying here for discussion). 1) Air flowing into the engine as measured by the Mass Airflow Sensor. 2) AFR ratio as calculated based on O2 sensors in exhaust.

When you change an intake, the ECU continues to use the old data for a while, assuming it is a temporary glitch to avoid a "hunting" effect. When this does not correct the measurements, it slowly starts to add additional fuel, re calculating and waiting a while between each adjustment.

So, you have two options. A) disconnect battery and pull the fuses (5 and 20 I think) to wipe history and reset ECU AFR to factory and start a relearning cycle (10 minutes maybe to relearn?) or B) put everything together and drive/run the engine for at least 20 minutes. Either way you need to run it before you measure power.

Without waiting, you are measuring the engine based on old data, even with new hardware, so don't expect a measurable impact good or bad. (Unless the Intake was poorly designed and actually RESTRICTS airflow more than the stock intake, those will be bad immediately because the engine is instantly super rich and breathing through a straw.)

2010_5thgen

an intake is an intake. unless its a true cold air intake and it pulls the air from below the car. there is 1 that i have seen for the camaro. other than that, just pick the cheapest one. their all gonna be withing the same HP numbers. but, your not going to getthe most out of your car with an intake alone. i tune will be needed with the intake to achieve higher HP numbers.

JasonD

While this is true, not only were we resetting the ECM, but tuning it trying to find hidden horsepower. This was being performed by one of the more well known tuners in the industry.

My question is what is the intake manifold vacuum reading? If at zero on a stock intake and at WOT, there is no way that an intake the size of an airplane hangar will make any difference and with no benefit to size, shape, or material of tube connecting it.

2010_5thgen

i have seen testing done where they took a stock LS3 camaro and ran it on the dyno and then did a retune and re dynoed it again. the car picked up close to 30Hp just from a retune.

JasonD

Right. We definitely picked up power from the tune, but there was no more significant power to be found by switching intakes to go with the tune.

2010_5thgen

yeah. their really not the best investment. unless....you do get a true cold air intake.
heres the one i wish i would have gotten http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...7219&viewitem=

JasonD

I dunno, man...

If the stock intake already flows more than the engine draws in (AKA manifold vacuum), there will be little to no increase in putting anything on it, no matter how much more the aftermarket intake flows over stock. In that case, even removing the intake entirely would make little to no difference. That's the theory anyway.

Again, I know it sounds crazy and I understand that people might think I am nuts or just plain wrong, but I was there the day when it was tested with my car and multiple intakes/multiple tunes trying to see which intake performed the best. There was nothing that really made barely more power than factory. In my case, the L99 (stock) just isn't responsive to cold air intakes. Maybe I had a fluke or something.

2010_5thgen

unless the intake is tuned to the car, you wont see any changes. if you were just swapping intake and running it, i wouldnt expect to see any change. it reminds me of the whole debate we had about adding higher octane to a car and not tunning for it. same case with an intake. and i think something like a true cold air intake would do more favors on a car after its been running hot.

nmyzone

I went with the V8 Halltech Yellow Jacket 102mm Intake. I also got it tuned as well. Pick up a hidden 30RWHP!

GONZ0

Have you thought about this one from Injen?

http://store.newlevelmotorsports.com/pf7015.html

I think you can get it either polished or wrinkle black. It also comes with a windshield washer reservoir relocation, since the intake goes where the original washer reservoir was located.

Slappy3243

I don't know if this helps, but the airbox in my LS2 GTO is similar to the stock airbox in the LS3 Camaro and probably the L99. Anyway, people were installing intakes with basically no gains. Now there are a few intakes that actually work like this one pictured below. You guys need to look into something like this.









There are some modifications that need to be done to the radiator shroud to make this fit correctly, or you could just leave the shroud off. I don't know if the 5th gen has one.

WhiteHawk

The new Camaro's already have a pretty nice factory airbox with a cold air tube that sucks from behind the left headlamp. It is already a pretty nice setup, and based on what Jason says, unless you are pulling more air than stock, I wouldn't mess with it. A lot of testing has gone into it to make it very efficient and safe from water ingestion by the people who warranty the engine.

-Geoff

Slappy3243

That is where the stock GTO's intake is. There are standard cone shaped filters that can go in this location and are fully open by removing the airbox. However, people weren't getting the gains that they needed. Moving to an intake design like the one I pictured above makes a huge difference. It is why the intakes on the 4th gens are so effective. Location, location, location...