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Are cold air intakes worth it?


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I want to put a cold air intake/high air flow on my 97. Are they worth it on these engines or not at all? If they are good on these engines/cars what about them makes it worth it, and what brands/models are the best. But if they are not worth it, why exactly? 

Edited by Strato_54
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The previous owner of my rig put one one (with a throttle body spacer). It's not a true cold air intake...just basically removed the factory air box and used an adapter with a cone filter. It's probably actually worse than the factory air box given our already scorching air temps here (only 104ish today, which is a tiny bit cooler than usual for this time of year). Having the engine heat on top of that can't do good things I'd think.

I'm just going to stick with it until I go full snorkel, though. If I weren't planning on that, I'd probably pick up an original air box and reinstall that.

The open filter does make a nice, almost turbo-like hiss when you get on the throttle, though... ?

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So not to derail this thread, but are snorks worth it on the R50?

 

I can't see myself going over the hood in water, but better performance than stock intake?

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Always just groan and mentally slap my forehead when I see or hear "cold air intake". Seriously, how can anyone possibly think that the air in the engine bay is cold? The factory airbox is more of a cold air intake since it is pulling air from the fender rather than the engine bay. It also does a much better job of filtering air and preventing water from getting into the intake. That all means that the MAF is better protected. The stock airbox is not restrictive at all for the stock and near stock engine. Probably the most restrictive parts are the MAF, throttle body, and valves in the heads. 

 

I put a K&N drop-in filter into my 93 20 years ago and have had no issues. I do have my intake tube tear once after the body lift and I did have to replace the filter once when I submerged the front of my truck in a mudhole and the mud clogged the filter. Saved the MAF and engine thought trashed the filter element. A true snorkel would be a true cool air intake, but my truck would quit running if the water ever got up over my fenders anyway. ECU's do not like getting flooded and I am not going to go through the hassle of moving mine from its place under the passenger seat. It was bad enough swapping the HVAC control head and stereo locations. Wish my 93 had a double din opening like the 94 on has. 

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2 hours ago, Tomek said:

So not to derail this thread, but are snorks worth it on the R50?

 

I can't see myself going over the hood in water, but better performance than stock intake?


I don't have direct experience with snorkels yet, but I do with real cold air intakes (where the input is on the "outer edge" of the engine bay) on other vehicles. Those do make a difference, albeit minimal. A snorkel is closer to a CAI than just deleting the airbox is. So, maybe there's some minimal power advantage from pulling in outside air, although I think the ram-air like advantage you might have with a true, far shorter CAI would be lost since it has such a long route back to the throttle body. You'd really need to do some experimentation to know for sure, but that's my hunch.

I don't plan on doing deep water crossings like that myself, but with the dust out here in the desert, being able to easily put a pre-cleaner on it and keep it up out of the dust cloud (somewhat) is an attractive proposition to me.

Plus, I just think they look cool. :D

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2 hours ago, Tomek said:

So not to derail this thread, but are snorks worth it on the R50?

 

I can't see myself going over the hood in water, but better performance than stock intake?

 

Absolutely yes. The air box connects to the fender and on the other side has some tubes that go down a bit. I don't know how much of an issue it is with the stock bumper cover and wheel well liners intact, but if you get a custom bumper, you'll no longer have need for the front inner wheel well liners, and then the intake will be exposed and can easily take in water during a crossing - I know unfortunately.

 

If you don't have the cash for a snorkel and want something better than stock you can eliminate the piping beneath the airbox and block off the hole in the bottom of the air box. Then cut a ~4" diameter hole in the top of the airbox and cover with some kind of mesh/expanded metal to keep large debris out. Now you'll have to be in water up to the hood to have an issue.

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1 hour ago, mjotrainbrain said:

 

Absolutely yes. The air box connects to the fender and on the other side has some tubes that go down a bit. I don't know how much of an issue it is with the stock bumper cover and wheel well liners intact, but if you get a custom bumper, you'll no longer have need for the front inner wheel well liners, and then the intake will be exposed and can easily take in water during a crossing - I know unfortunately.

 

If you don't have the cash for a snorkel and want something better than stock you can eliminate the piping beneath the airbox and block off the hole in the bottom of the air box. Then cut a ~4" diameter hole in the top of the airbox and cover with some kind of mesh/expanded metal to keep large debris out. Now you'll have to be in water up to the hood to have an issue.

 

I really don’t want to hijack this thread, but could you message me and explain the whole “remove bottom portion of piping and cut hole” or point me in the direction of another thread that has this info? Thanks. 

 

*is this the Tacoma airbox mod?*

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If you're going to be driving thru mud bogs and water holes then you better have a snorkel. I have personally decimated my engine from driving thru what I thought was a puddle only to find out it was 5 foot deep muddy water which my engine drank because I didn't have a snorkel. I don't have a snorkel now, but I  also don't drive thru puddles unless I absolutely have to and then I get out and put a stick in it to see what I am about to drive into. 

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19 hours ago, Mr_Reverse said:

Always just groan and mentally slap my forehead when I see or hear "cold air intake". Seriously, how can anyone possibly think that the air in the engine bay is cold? The factory airbox is more of a cold air intake since it is pulling air from the fender rather than the engine bay. It also does a much better job of filtering air and preventing water from getting into the intake. That all means that the MAF is better protected. The stock airbox is not restrictive at all for the stock and near stock engine. Probably the most restrictive parts are the MAF, throttle body, and valves in the heads. 

 

I put a K&N drop-in filter into my 93 20 years ago and have had no issues. I do have my intake tube tear once after the body lift and I did have to replace the filter once when I submerged the front of my truck in a mudhole and the mud clogged the filter. Saved the MAF and engine thought trashed the filter element. A true snorkel would be a true cool air intake, but my truck would quit running if the water ever got up over my fenders anyway. ECU's do not like getting flooded and I am not going to go through the hassle of moving mine from its place under the passenger seat. It was bad enough swapping the HVAC control head and stereo locations. Wish my 93 had a double din opening like the 94 on has. 

you do have a point i never thought of that actually. But what if the intake was moved to be "colder" then where the stock one is, and also had a high airflow filter? I don't know much about intakes and what not so might as well ask now lol

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51 minutes ago, Strato_54 said:

you do have a point i never thought of that actually. But what if the intake was moved to be "colder" then where the stock one is, and also had a high airflow filter? I don't know much about intakes and what not so might as well ask now lol

Then that would be beneficial. Best way to do that on an r50 is with a snorkel 

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okay fine twist my rubber snorkel LOL  Sounds like it's more than just cool ;_)

 

I'm in!  Probly in the fall.. Pics to follow!  Cheers gents, always good advice!

 

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