[bikingguy1]

look at the stock tube. it is "ribbed" so it can flex. these ribs make the air path restrictive because of the turbulence they cause. since they are restrictive they make less power/torque. this also applies to the resonator it is made to make the air flow turbulent to make it quieter causing power loss. with the k&n intake the air path is a strait shot to the throttle body (allows it to suck more air because it is less restrictive)

compare these picks and see what i am talking about: Which has better air flow?

IMHO a intake that connects directly to the throttle body and has a smooth air path will give the most power/torque gains.

(BTW the math you talk about are some very hard calculations to many variables)

 

[bikingguy1]

Ya but doesnt the metal get hotter than the plastic therefore loosing the effect of the smoothness. Just from what I have been told.

not at all. i have driven for an hour then poped the hood and grabbed the intake it wasnt hot at all. but they do sell an intake made out of Thermoplastic if you want.

 

[bikingguy1]

3500 rpms....ok i'll bite, are you running 22" overall wheels on a 4.56 gear ratio ?


most of us stay in the 1700-2000 rpms, I am not saying they don't work, i'm just saying that in the "real" world they add nothing, use the 300$ on a tune or something else that will actually give you back what you spent...

Also if you look closely again, the k&n runs hotter, 81.85 for stock and 86.74

that is the outside air temp. and i hit 3500 all the time when accelerating.

 

[bikingguy1]

I wish i had a dyno....you have to remember this is a n/a engine, it can only suck that much....no pun intented, the main restriction in the intake system is the filter, so by just changing out the stock filter with a k&n one and holowing out the filter box i am pretty sure you will achieve just about the same results if not better because of the added heat shield, I can't remember who said that once on overhauling, but his point was right, most of the intake systems do nothing if not worse by actually helping the engine in sucking more heat, the car company spends who knows how much money into a system that works, if you read my posts you will see that when it comes to gm engineers i just hate them, but on this one, when you see the design, it's pretty damn good and efficient, if you must do a real test, simple, fill your k&n with water and see how much it holds, now fill the stock one....that's the difference in how much is actually "sucked"

I'm not an engineer, i'm a electro-mecanic....in other words i'm one of the guys that goes see the engineer and tells him HE MESSED UP

the better way to test it is to to put both on an air flow bench and use the same filter. this is the way to see which flows more air. your water test just tells you the difference in volume of space not flow properties. also that money that gm spent was to engineer the quietest intake to eliminate engine noise to make people happy and not complain about sound.

power is all about airflow how well the air enters the engine and how well it exits the engine.