CAI open design?

[Interceptor]

Did not want to cloud up the excitement over the Ford Performance tune for 18 GT, but.
Seems issues with design of topless CAI is causing heat gains.. I live in the south so do a lot of traffic in high heat humidity.
Why did they design it this way, they aren't the first ones to do this with same complaints. Do they need the extra space for good clearance ? For aggressive looks?

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[EFI]

It may be open, but it seals up pretty well to the hood and it has a direct closed path to fresh ambient air from the front of the car.

Also any intake is going to get heated up in summer traffic driving, even the stock one. But once you get going, the temps should drop quickly which they do. So unless you plan on racing during bumper to bumper traffic, you should not have any issues with this intake.

 

[Zinc03svt]

If you live in the south or summer months stick with stock box. Any net power gains from an open conical filter will be offset with heak soak and high iat’s which reduces command timing.

 

[Ghost50]

If you live in the south or summer months stick with stock box. Any net power gains from an open conical filter will be offset with heak soak and high iat’s which reduces command timing.

Agreed. I am in Houston and I will be keeping my stock box. I put in an AFE drop in filter and that'll be the only "mod" I do related to the filter system.

 

[armykyle1 [HACKED ACCOUNT]

Unless you're doing a ton of dig racing, there's nothing to worry about. Most people roll race it seems, which negates the sitting in traffic thing.

I've had open boxes my 15 and 18. From my datalogs, there's no substantial power difference down low.

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

This is funny. Two completely different opinions thus far on a CAI intake.

A few facts - the factory box IS a cold air induction box - it gets all its air from the front of the car through the cutout in the grille. The top of the box is sealed and does not draw in air from the engine bay. That is CAI. The potential benefit to the aftermarket CAI systems are improved airflow through reduced pressure loss through the intake system. Smoother transitions, larger diameters (in some cases), less turbulent airflow, less restriction through the inlet filter, slightly larger radius bends, etc.

The term used around here "heat soak" for CAIs is not exactly the correct term for the potential issue with an open CAI compared to the factory box. Both the factory box and the CAI suffer from heat soak - that is, the intake components themselves heating up from the hot air temperature in the engine bay, and then the hot intake components heating up the intake air as it passes through.

What may be an additional issue with an open box CAI is if the air intake draws hot air from inside the engine bay due to a poor seal with the hood that the factory box does not. If it's a good seal, this shouldn't be an issue. If it is a poor seal, then yes, the intake air temperatures could be higher than seen with the factory box because the intake is drawing air in from both the front grille and the hot engine bay.

If you get a CAI, you can use chalk to see if the CAI is fitting nicely against the underside of the hood. Put chalk around the top side of the seal and close the hood. See where it marks. If it marks all around, then you have a seal. If there are gaps, you can make adjustments to try to improve the seal.

Note that a metal intake tube (some companies offer aluminum) will transfer more heat than plastic tubes and will suffer from higher "heat soak". Aluminum has a high thermal conductivity which means it will pass heat through it easily compared to the plastics used on other intakes. IF you get an aluminum tube, wrap it with a high temp. insulative material to prevent higher heat soak than necessary.

 

[Zinc03svt]

Heak soak is after you have stopped in traffic a few times and under hood temps and IATs go up regardless of open or closed box. The highest I have seen on stock box is 122. My open JLT would climb into the mid 150’s. That is 25-30 degrees higher using basic math skills. Factory ecu will start to pull timing around 110.

Use what you want in the end. This is not life or death to an engine. lol.

 

[EFI]

My open JLT would climb into the mid 150’s. That is 25-30 degrees higher using basic math skills. Factory ecu will start to pull timing around 110.

The JLT, while a quality piece, is a far cry from the GT350 CAI in terms of sealing off engine bay heat. The latter is much better at keeping temps down and is not far off from the stock GT box.

 

[Htk084]

I was really interested in this exact topic and I did a little research on by he Bullitt and I found something interesting. Take this how you want it- Motortrend tested the Bullitt and it got identical quarter mile times as the PP1 manual they tested (12.6 @ 115). I thought this was very interesting, from everything I’ve seen the stock 18 box is the best and the Bullitt intake is good as well, but it doesn’t seem to gain anything (Alex flores tested them back to back as well). Very interesting stuff but I just think the only worthwhile intake is the Steeda closed box but that unfortunately apparently has MAF issues.

 

[tj@steeda]

Tuning by James writes a heck of a tune for the Bullitt .. & now we have the Steeda Open CAI if you are interested ...

https://www.steeda.com/steeda-555-3228-s550-open-cold-air-intake

Let me know if I can help assist!

TJ

 

[WildHorse]

Let me know if I can help assist!

I really really am wanting this: https://www.steeda.com/Steeda-S550-...ed-Cold-Air-Intake-50L-2015-2020_p_15996.html but the Canadian v US dollar is killing me right now haha. I bought STEEDA cradle bushing support & alignment kit and when all was said and done it was like $280 even with a discount. Not to mention UPS put me on the non-priority list for delievery.

 

[Htk084]

Do you guys offer e85 flex fuel tunes for the open and closed intake for the 18+ GT? Thanks!

Tuning by James writes a heck of a tune for the Bullitt .. & now we have the Steeda Open CAI if you are interested ...

https://www.steeda.com/steeda-555-3228-s550-open-cold-air-intake

Let me know if I can help assist!

TJ

 

[AZ18yote]

Do you guys offer e85 flex fuel tunes for the open and closed intake for the 18+ GT? Thanks!

They had Lund tuning for the closed lid one and couldn't get idle variation or maf turbulence stable enough to effectively run a flex tune. However, I do not have any details on tuning for their latest open element offering so maybe that has changed with the design.

 

[Flyhalf]

I sealed my JLT
so on top of the 22whp gain vs the oem inbox ( dyno back to back both with tune 96oct)
I have the Engine bay heat protection from soaking air directly. Wich was causing loss or power.
So best of both worlds
Sealed box with huge tune and high flow filter

 

[Htk084]

Interesting, and it works? Pretty much similar concept of the Roush intake, no?

I sealed my JLT
so on top of the 22whp gain vs the oem inbox ( dyno back to back both with tune 96oct)
I have the Engine bay heat protection from soaking air directly. Wich was causing loss or power.
So best of both worlds
Sealed box with huge tune and high flow filter

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