Cold Air Intakes are a waste

[WaterDR]

And there is only so much you can do with an NA motor.....

Want more “pep”. Re-gear....until you see what that costs. Or add a power adder.

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[mazeppa]

I sleep well at night knowing my stock 3.6 has sufficient power for the way I operate this vehicle. Like many others I would have ordered my JT with a more powerful engine option if offered (excluding a diesel.) I'll take the reliably over the expense and obstacles of trying to gain a few more HP out of the 3.6.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

It's been hinted at - the additive effect, but those numbers used in MARKETING are "up to" numbers. An engine is a system, and a pump. So you change a part and get xx hp gain, that doesn't mean the next part is added to that gain, like 25 for part A and 10 for part B won't necessarily give you 35.
To get more air IN, you need to be sure you can get it OUT. There are other restrictions. Do the math - how many CFM can an engine of a given size pump at a given RPM - then take into account pumping efficiency of said engine. Race engines can actually be over 100% efficient with the right cam and intake and scavenging exhaust.

Bolt on parts won't do much these days unless you consider the engine as a whole system and change other parts to take advantage. And if you go messing with some areas you can actually make things worse. I've seen people put huge intakes on some small engines and wonder why the thing is a dog in town....... and mpg goes down. (and in some cases, suddenly they get ping)

Marketing - bigger is better, more is better, that's what this country is all about.

I love it when people in the AMC world decide they need a 120 amp alternator. Really? For what?
It had a 55 amp unit that was never asked to put out more than about 35, 40 tops, but they think that now they'll have 120 amps out there. (and they leave the stock wiring???) Fools.
Same with ignition systems, a guy with an Eagle with a 258 wanted to put a huge after-market HEI in the thing thinking it was going to run better, faster, more power and better mpg because that's what the ad says. Nope - I don't care if it's a 200 mega-volt coil and HEI the size of a dinner plate, if the spark jumps the gap at 20,000 volts that's all the mega-system will be asked for and that's all it will put out. If it fixes or improves anything then there were problems to begin with.
The stock Motorcraft electronic ignition in those is plenty enough, especially for an engine with limited RPM abilities.
And these 3.6s will wind up tight - but still, they redline well below racing engines. Normal air flow, normal cylinder pressures, normal PCM programming, you aren't going to get big gains with bolt on parts.

 

[Bonanza]

Project Farm did a great video as well showing that more flow from these filters also lets in a LOT more debris. CAI were debunked in the early 2000s on most applications, but there were some engines that did have restrictive intakes where they did help modestly-- no longer. Modern engines are very well engineered. The ICE is nearing the end of its lifetime on planet earth, and the lemon has been squeezed sufficiently.

I stopped doing engine mods after high school. The gladiator is adequately fast and that's exactly what I want. Good post OP. The more info like this the better.

 

[SuburbanGP88]

You're better off using 0 weight oil to get power than a CAI for the cost and effort that you'll spend doing it.

 

[red/green hawk]

Here's my amateur observation on this as I've checked out a couple after market CAIs. For most the intake is at the exact same spot the factory is at. What is the purpose for doing this?

https://www.quadratec.com/vehicle/jeep-gladiator-jt-parts/jeep-engine-fuel-system/air-intakes

Look at the intakes that are not snorkels and boast themselves as CAIs and tell me what the difference is.

 

[WaterDR]

Here's my amateur observation on this as I've checked out a couple after market CAIs. For most the intake is at the exact same spot the factory is at. What is the purpose for doing this?

https://www.quadratec.com/vehicle/jeep-gladiator-jt-parts/jeep-engine-fuel-system/air-intakes

Look at the intakes that are not snorkels and boast themselves as CAIs and tell me what the difference is.

Correct, it’s all bogus.

 

[KurtP]

Curious to hear the crowd explain why the 3.6 in the grand cherokee uses a larger airbox with a larger outlet than the one on the wrangler.

 

[Riccochet]

Curious to hear the crowd explain why the 3.6 in the grand cherokee uses a larger airbox with a larger outlet than the one on the wrangler.

Or why the same motor makes 285 HP in the Wrangler/Gladiator, makes 305 HP in the Ram/Charger/Challenger and 295 HP in the Grand Cherokee.

All of which can be tuned for more power. Just the end result is going to be equal amounts of power added. Throttle body and upper intake plenums are different across the applications.

 

[hobbsserv]

Here's my amateur observation on this as I've checked out a couple after market CAIs. For most the intake is at the exact same spot the factory is at. What is the purpose for doing this?

https://www.quadratec.com/vehicle/jeep-gladiator-jt-parts/jeep-engine-fuel-system/air-intakes

Look at the intakes that are not snorkels and boast themselves as CAIs and tell me what the difference is.

I looked through all of those, they are not very attractive. I bet they would sell more if they quit promoting the performance aspect and used more chrome or something more decorative. You know some under the hood bling, like in the old days you would slap on a chrome air cleaner and shave a 1/2 second off your 1/4 mile. OR at least it felt that way.

 

[KurtP]

Or why the same motor makes 285 HP in the Wrangler/Gladiator, makes 305 HP in the Ram/Charger/Challenger and 295 HP in the Grand Cherokee.

All of which can be tuned for more power. Just the end result is going to be equal amounts of power added. Throttle body and upper intake plenums are different across the applications.

Crazy. It's almost like the engineers needed more intake to reach the power goals for the other platforms.

Super weird.

 

[WaterDR]

Curious to hear the crowd explain why the 3.6 in the grand cherokee uses a larger airbox with a larger outlet than the one on the wrangler.

more rook under the hood

 

[WaterDR]

more rook under the hood

More ROOM under the hood?

Curiously they also are rated at 10 more hp.

 

[Riccochet]

Crazy. It's almost like the engineers needed more intake to reach the power goals for the other platforms.

Super weird.

Which has nothing to do with the airbox. All of them will flow more than the throttle body or upper plenum is capable of supporting.

 

[KurtP]

Which has nothing to do with the airbox. All of them will flow more than the throttle body or upper plenum is capable of supporting.

then why did they make the air boxes bigger

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