Put in a, C.A.I or not
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Put in a, C.A.I or not
I have a can tune coming for my stock 2006, but been reading up on CAI and its hard decide if it's worth it ,, to dish out $290 and up for one and little gains.. If there is any.. ??
.. Seems like most out there, [ not vararam example] are just a more free flowing filter, but not really any colder air is being brought in... which i feel defeats purpose of even doing one.. Seems like a drop in aftermarket filter would be just as good...and same results.
I did at one time have a 2010 camaro S.S, and added a injen, and also tried a volent, with no indication of any power increase...
Then i found a company that did testing on the camaro, and dyno tested, and found that most had Bogus hp claims.. AND almost everyone increased intake air temp..over stock...
.. Seems like most out there, [ not vararam example] are just a more free flowing filter, but not really any colder air is being brought in... which i feel defeats purpose of even doing one.. Seems like a drop in aftermarket filter would be just as good...and same results.
I did at one time have a 2010 camaro S.S, and added a injen, and also tried a volent, with no indication of any power increase...
Then i found a company that did testing on the camaro, and dyno tested, and found that most had Bogus hp claims.. AND almost everyone increased intake air temp..over stock...
#2
Le Mans Master
Very few out there are actually Cold-Air. I bought the Vararam, the install wasn't too hard either. You can actually feel the difference when you get up to speed. It's great
#3
Drifting
I have a can tune coming for my stock 2006, but been reading up on CAI and its hard decide if it's worth it ,, to dish out $290 and up for one and little gains.. If there is any.. ??
.. Seems like most out there, [ not vararam example] are just a more free flowing filter, but not really any colder air is being brought in... which i feel defeats purpose of even doing one.. Seems like a drop in aftermarket filter would be just as good...and same results.
I did at one time have a 2010 camaro S.S, and added a injen, and also tried a volent, with no indication of any power increase...
Then i found a company that did testing on the camaro, and dyno tested, and found that most had Bogus hp claims.. AND almost everyone increased intake air temp..over stock...
.. Seems like most out there, [ not vararam example] are just a more free flowing filter, but not really any colder air is being brought in... which i feel defeats purpose of even doing one.. Seems like a drop in aftermarket filter would be just as good...and same results.
I did at one time have a 2010 camaro S.S, and added a injen, and also tried a volent, with no indication of any power increase...
Then i found a company that did testing on the camaro, and dyno tested, and found that most had Bogus hp claims.. AND almost everyone increased intake air temp..over stock...
#5
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
I might get the Airaid intake. - Only reason i picked that one is the poss reviews and lower price than most others. I cant see paying out over $300, for one, and the little power increase you get [ or may get ] . Unless i planed on alot more treaks for power..
I just put in a cann tune (Diablo predator,) today and that seems to work great on my stock 06.... So possably i may like the Airaid intake even more if i decide to get one..
I just put in a cann tune (Diablo predator,) today and that seems to work great on my stock 06.... So possably i may like the Airaid intake even more if i decide to get one..
#6
Burning Brakes
Big thing with the cold air intakes is getting the intake air temps down. All these Ls motors pull a decent amount of timing as the air temps read higher. I believe the zo6's were picking up a couple tenths by cutting/removing the shroud. My car had a vararam and a tune and went 11.9@120 5 out of the 6 runs I made. This was with more spin than I would like too. No way I picked up roughly 40hp on a tune alone .
#7
Burning Brakes
Big thing with the cold air intakes is getting the intake air temps down. All these Ls motors pull a decent amount of timing as the air temps read higher. I believe the zo6's were picking up a couple tenths by cutting/removing the shroud. My car had a vararam and a tune and went 11.9@120 5 out of the 6 runs I made. This was with more spin than I would like too. No way I picked up roughly 40hp on a tune alone .
#8
Race Director
Member Since: Sep 2007
Location: Peoria/Phoenix AZ
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C6 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
Don't expect much if you use a canned tune and a filter change. Power increases don't happen by picking mods based on their price. Some mods can improve your 1/4 mile time by .2 seconds for $2, while others may cost $1000 and have no gain whatsoever. There are mods that trick your mind into believing you have a lot of power and those where you feel like there was no change, yet there was an actual power increase.
You need to ask yourself whether you want real power or if you just want to feel like you do.
You need to ask yourself whether you want real power or if you just want to feel like you do.
#9
Safety Car
My GS was completely stock and ran a "best" of 12.31 @115 MPH; than I installed a OEM Z06 air intake housing/filter modified into a CAI with no other changes my "best" dropped to a 12.01 @117. I got no surge & car idles fine, etc.
It was only like that for a short time before I made additional changes like 1 3/4" catless headers with a 3" X-pipe and a "canned" tune. The car still drives like it's completely stock, except for some additional acceleration.
PS: Sounds "about" stock too running the OEM 430 HP mufflers and the cabin is completely quiet (like stock) at cruise. I am not a fan of noise but I do like performance.
It was only like that for a short time before I made additional changes like 1 3/4" catless headers with a 3" X-pipe and a "canned" tune. The car still drives like it's completely stock, except for some additional acceleration.
PS: Sounds "about" stock too running the OEM 430 HP mufflers and the cabin is completely quiet (like stock) at cruise. I am not a fan of noise but I do like performance.
Last edited by C7/Z06 Man; 08-01-2014 at 02:22 AM.
#10
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
I got the cann tune in and def improvment in car.. City driving a hell of alot better.
Now i got the airaid air intake installed. Results.. Just what car needed..woke it up..
I jumped into it once here real good but was alot of traffic around, and was up to about third gear when i mashed it to the floor. I had to let off gas ..as there was a car coming at me and dont like fooling around in traffic. BUT car had reved into the 5,000 rpm range when i let off.. Almost felt like it went between gears ?? neutral ?.. GOTTA get out on open road,to see.. but it felt like i had went to neutral between gear's ?? But,,its a automatic.
Now i got the airaid air intake installed. Results.. Just what car needed..woke it up..
I jumped into it once here real good but was alot of traffic around, and was up to about third gear when i mashed it to the floor. I had to let off gas ..as there was a car coming at me and dont like fooling around in traffic. BUT car had reved into the 5,000 rpm range when i let off.. Almost felt like it went between gears ?? neutral ?.. GOTTA get out on open road,to see.. but it felt like i had went to neutral between gear's ?? But,,its a automatic.
#11
Drifting
If you can get something used (like Grand Sport Man) or fab it yourself, great. But IMO some of these CAI's are a total rip-off in terms of bang for buck, especially for street-only guys who will never experience heat soak issues.
IMO, it's mostly in the tune. GM builds enormous margins into the LS3's, so of course there is huge tuning potential left on the table. If a CAI drops IAT's a bit, then your tune can be more aggressive without knock. But I think this is mostly for guys who track/strip their cars. If you don't, I seriously question the expense vs some other mods.
But what do I know, I prefer HAI's (Hot Air Intakes).
IMO, it's mostly in the tune. GM builds enormous margins into the LS3's, so of course there is huge tuning potential left on the table. If a CAI drops IAT's a bit, then your tune can be more aggressive without knock. But I think this is mostly for guys who track/strip their cars. If you don't, I seriously question the expense vs some other mods.
But what do I know, I prefer HAI's (Hot Air Intakes).
#12
on my 07 which uses the same airbox as your 06, I just bought 2 replacement high flowing filters from spectre (rated at 1080 cfm and 490 hp each - much more than stock) for about 20 bucks apiece (part number 887597), i also smoothed out the insides of the airbox as well as removed the oil absorbing pads, then cut the top shrouds off and made a carbon aribox cover. also upon reassembley, i aligned the two filter housings so that when they mounted to the snout, the transition was smooth (there is enough space where if you just push them in all the way, you can mess with the flow) after that, I cut the radiator shroud to allow cold air in. On my pretty much stock ls2 (except for z06 manifolds and high flow mufflers) there was an immediate increase in throttle response over the factory setup; also the filters stay cold even after hard runs and heavy traffic. a lot of the redesigns are nice, but not worth hundreds of dollars in investment when you can diy for cheap - also keep in mind some higher hp setups with superchargers still utilize the factory airbox... imo most aftermarket airboxes make the power because of more airflow from the filters...
Last edited by el es tu; 08-06-2014 at 05:30 PM.
#13
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Totally agree with ya on the aftermarket just increase air flow...Found that out also on the vette cousin. 2010 camaro that i use to have... Saw a company test about half dozen and they ALL increased air intake TEMP,over the stock setup. But air flow was up. H.A.I -- HEE HEE