Should I use the heat shield that is on my K&N CAI or not for mpgs. Without the heat shield, it may be able to act as a WAI.
I've done 40 miles so far without the heat shield. I'll keep ya'll posted if anything positive comes from it.
My first thought when you posted: what car is this? Also, assume: CAI = Cold Air Intake and WAI = Warm Air Intake
In general, warmer air will be better for MPG. We know people who have run their intakes from right next to the exhaust header to get warm air quickly. That does seem to help, especially in winter. In practice, your setup may not make enough difference to notice. -soD
The pictures posted are without heat shield? I would think the chromed pipe as shown would be pretty good reflector of heat.
I would never install one of those monstrosities in any of my vehicles, but if a friend insisted on doing it, and wanted to make it work for economy, then not installing the shield would be the way to go.
I appreciate your input. I did it along with the exhaust when I first got the Jeep. Did it for the sound. :stickshift: We'll see if my fuel economy changes at all with the heat shield removed.
First picture is without, second picture is with. The heat shield is plastic and black shaped like the letter L.
Ok. I was looking at that first pic till my eyes bled, searching for elusive black, L-shaped heat shield, LOL. Anyway: the whole object of the large diameter, chromed pipe, filter off in the corner, and the plastic box surrounding the filter is to isolate the filter from the hot environment typical in the engine bay, is it not? If you leave the heat shield off, you're partially defeating/diluting the purpose of the design. Not saying that's a bad thing, but I mean, you could take it further, remove the chromed pipe and connect directly to throttle intake. If it was practical. Ultimately, if the object of the package is to cool the intake air, why not run it as provided, with the heat shield, for a few tanks? Then maybe pull it all out and do a few more tanks stock, see how that goes.
I doubt you'll see much difference either way with the intake being so far from the engine. Maybe a couple degrees. As for what effect those couple degrees might make, even harder to say for sure. You would think warmer makes for faster warmup, but the air in the engine bay will only warm up after the engine is warm enough to radiate heat out, so it can't warm you up *much* faster unless you're pulling air straight off the exhaust header. Warm air intake should help with economy. Warmer air is less dense, so for a given intake volume, there's less oxygen and then a matching lower amount of fuel. You'll still need to make power, though, so you'll press the throttle slightly more to make it up. The end result is ever so slightly better because there's less vacuum resistance at the throttle, but that's about it.
I'm very aware this is something that is going to be so minor. I just really like to fiddle around with variables.
So maybe this is more of a performance mod? Aiming for colder denser air. If the object is mpg, just pull it, go back to stock, and maybe sell?
Performance and sound it what it is used for. I care that it makes the engine sound good. I love hypermiling with the cool engine audio to go with it.
