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Is OEM GM CAI worth it?

Philipgonzales3
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DarkSky20 Enthusiast

DarkSky20

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Posted

Just installed an S&B on my 20 Denali with a 6.2. Can definitely hear it. I like the sound. Filter is massive. Did it add any power? I don’t know. I was averaging 17mpg, we’ll see how I do now. Some parts of the install were a bit tedious. Putting the stock inlet tube into the bottom of the air box with the rubber gasket was a pain in the butt. Also, keeping the rubber grommets from falling out on the backside of the air box was a minor annoyance. But that was the worst of it. Otherwise everything went together pretty easily. If you’re on the fence on one of these, I’d say buy the S&B. At least it’s the most cost effective. No reason to spend more than the cost of the S&B IMHO. 

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Philipgonzales3
Philipgonzales3

Sounds good to me.  Sometimes SPG (Smiles Per Gallon) is more important than MPG.  

KARNUT
KARNUT

I remember back in the day I used to tell my wife that dual glass packs and an open air cleaner saved gas. It’s true it does. It takes a long tim. And you have to keep your foot out of it. Who does th

Grumpy Bear
Grumpy Bear

Ops! The Holland tunnel would flow more air yet on a test bench as a stand alone. Thing is, the motor doesn't. If this were not so then 4X more air = 4X more power not 8 hp at peak rpm at WOT. A place

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ftwhite Enthusiast

ftwhite

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My experience on several GM V8s, is money is better spent on a good tune (Dyno or mail, not generic) first, exhaust second, and a CAI last, if ever. The CAI at that point will be for sound and opinion only. You'll get 95% of horse power gains with the tune, 5% with the exhaust. I assume that's why GM sells you a CAI with a tune. Its the tune that matters, but people need a physical thing they can see and understand. 

 

Once you get the tune, then the catback, then headers to make use of the cat back, then the CAI and ported TB to make the sound and air flow just a little bit extra...you are getting close to the price of a supercharger...which is how you really flow air that matters. So maybe start there. 😉 

 

Either way, the money spent is good entertainment and good wrenching fun. So it is money well spent in my book either way. But Grumpy is right. Physics is physics. Money and marketing don't change it. If you want real HP/torque improvements, stick with the good tunes first, or boost.  

 

 

Spyderwebb Enthusiast

Spyderwebb

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Posted

I'm very pleased with the Rotofab I installed about 3 months ago!  I've seen no noticeable improvement in fuel economy but I have a heavy foot and love the deep growl of the intake.  It feels stronger to me but hard to really measure other than seat of my pants and sound improvement under the hood, but I absolutely love the way it looks.....especially compared to the stock bread-box intake! 

IMG_2114.jpg

  • 4 weeks later...
Caulk Boss Enthusiast

Caulk Boss

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Posted
On 4/20/2021 at 11:06 PM, ftwhite said:

My experience on several GM V8s, is money is better spent on a good tune (Dyno or mail, not generic) first, exhaust second, and a CAI last, if ever. The CAI at that point will be for sound and opinion only. You'll get 95% of horse power gains with the tune, 5% with the exhaust. I assume that's why GM sells you a CAI with a tune. Its the tune that matters, but people need a physical thing they can see and understand. 

 

Once you get the tune, then the catback, then headers to make use of the cat back, then the CAI and ported TB to make the sound and air flow just a little bit extra...you are getting close to the price of a supercharger...which is how you really flow air that matters. So maybe start there. 😉 

 

Either way, the money spent is good entertainment and good wrenching fun. So it is money well spent in my book either way. But Grumpy is right. Physics is physics. Money and marketing don't change it. If you want real HP/torque improvements, stick with the good tunes first, or boost.  

 

 

Do you have a link for a great tune/tuner for a 2020 6.2? New to the game, but want to take your advice and start with the best.. I do want to turn off the auto/start stop feature and turn off the v8 to v4 thing? Any help in being able to do this would be greatly appreciated.. Never had a tune before

ftwhite Enthusiast

ftwhite

Posted
Posted
On 5/14/2021 at 9:24 PM, Caulk Boss said:

Do you have a link for a great tune/tuner for a 2020 6.2? New to the game, but want to take your advice and start with the best.. I do want to turn off the auto/start stop feature and turn off the v8 to v4 thing? Any help in being able to do this would be greatly appreciated.. Never had a tune before

I like BlackBear Performance. I also have used a local dyno shop. Not sure what the status of the 2020's are for tuning.

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