Black-Tooth
Tony Natoli
I've mentioned this before and we've seen it often... and I've personally "felt" it. I've never seen it dyno-ed... but this article in the March 2009 HOT ROD MAGAZINE seems to confirm my suspicions and reinforce what I've heard and read about before. I'll quote the entire article.
COLD AIR: WORTH POWER
What is the effect of colder air and its ratio of engine horsepower increase by degree of temperature? - Ricky Bergeron, Houma LA
Assuming the air/fuel mixture is adjusted to allow for change in mixture density and the engine has no detentation or other problems, every 10-degree-F temperature drop is worth a 1 percent horsepower gain. For example, if the underhood temperature is 200 degrees and your engine makes 500 hp at that temperature, dropping the temperature just 50 degrees by means of Ram Air/cold airbox setup is worth a 5 percent power gain, adding 25 hp.
Not too bad I would say... doing the math for a 75hp 1300 using the same criteria, we could pick up 3.75 hp. I believe we can actually achieve a bit more as our underhood temps are particularly high... and electing to draw air from the side vent or using a FAZA snorkel could result in a 100 degree difference, or 7.5 hp increase. I think it also supports NOT using those popular "free-flow" square chrome aircleaners that are exposed to the hottest areas in the engine bay, besides being somewhat restrictive at WOT due to their design. (Just pop the top and feel the difference. I'm not trying to SLAM this product... but just trying to share what I've found to work well.)
COLD AIR: WORTH POWER
What is the effect of colder air and its ratio of engine horsepower increase by degree of temperature? - Ricky Bergeron, Houma LA
Assuming the air/fuel mixture is adjusted to allow for change in mixture density and the engine has no detentation or other problems, every 10-degree-F temperature drop is worth a 1 percent horsepower gain. For example, if the underhood temperature is 200 degrees and your engine makes 500 hp at that temperature, dropping the temperature just 50 degrees by means of Ram Air/cold airbox setup is worth a 5 percent power gain, adding 25 hp.
Not too bad I would say... doing the math for a 75hp 1300 using the same criteria, we could pick up 3.75 hp. I believe we can actually achieve a bit more as our underhood temps are particularly high... and electing to draw air from the side vent or using a FAZA snorkel could result in a 100 degree difference, or 7.5 hp increase. I think it also supports NOT using those popular "free-flow" square chrome aircleaners that are exposed to the hottest areas in the engine bay, besides being somewhat restrictive at WOT due to their design. (Just pop the top and feel the difference. I'm not trying to SLAM this product... but just trying to share what I've found to work well.)