Rough Country Cold Air Intake

molsonice02 · April 4, 2021

Has anyone installed the rough country cold air intake on their 14-18 Gm or Chev? As a tech I was always against them, but wit ha pre-filter cover and keeping it clean, it should be good. Thoughts?

https://www.roughcountry.com/gm-cold-air-intake-10551c.html?find=2016-chevy-silverado-1500-4wd-738387

CamGTP · April 4, 2021

I didn't buy one because my issue is always the open air element and heat soak that can happen. That little wall they make still won't stop all the engine bay heat from getting to the filter. At freeway speeds it may not be as noticeable but other times it will be. If you want a cleaner look you could look at the Airaid intake tubes that keep the factory sealed box.

Aside from that, that kit looks fine. A filter cover will help with dust/dirt build up for sure.

Lsgun1 · April 4, 2021

Wasn't there dyno sheets posted at one point that showed the air raid tube gave the best results?

Edited April 4, 2021 by Lsgun1

slumpychuck · April 4, 2021

I didn't buy one because my issue is always the open air element and heat soak that can happen. That little wall they make still won't stop all the engine bay heat from getting to the filter. At freeway speeds it may not be as noticeable but other times it will be. If you want a cleaner look you could look at the Airaid intake tubes that keep the factory sealed box.

Aside from that, that kit looks fine. A filter cover will help with dust/dirt build up for sure.

Can you expand on this a bit? I don’t understand what “it” is when you say it will be noticeable at “other times” other than highway speeds. Do you mean the heat soak? Can you actually feel your heat soak or are you just reading your temp gauges? These open concept CAI’s are VERY common and have been adopted by all of the top-tier companies including airaid and K&N. Common sense would have me agree that more heat is making it to the filter but my competence would have me questioning why these companies would develop and sell a product that was significantly impacted by any of these factors. Just trying to understand whether this is completely your dry opinion or if it’s backed up by some info / experience.

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CamGTP · April 5, 2021

I'm talking about when sitting still or in traffic. The intake air temps will sky rocket in the warmer months because of the open air design. I use my HP Tuners tuning software to find all this out.

I'm looking at it from a driveability and performance aspect. With really high intake temps the computer will reduce ignition timing by a good amount. I see this all the time when people that use their vehicles for performance applications like auto-cross, drag racing etc etc. When speeds are slower and when someone is in the staging lanes the intake temps will get much hotter than ambient temps, so when they go to floor it there is less power because of reduced timing plus hot air makes less power than cooler air.

None of these companies will tell you this stuff and just say it made 8-10 more horsepower over stock on a dyno with a giant fan blowing on the front of the vehicle with the hood open. None of them make a pull on the dyno after it's been idling for 5 minutes with zero airflow across the front. It would take many many seconds for the engine to start pulling in cooler air from outside and bring temps back down closer to ambient. The open air intakes are really just for sound too, not having a seal intake box makes you hear all the noises too.

Edited April 5, 2021 by CamGTP

SILVER SLED · April 5, 2021

I strongly second what CamGTP said.

slumpychuck · April 5, 2021

[mention]CamGTP [/mention] very much appreciate the extended info. Sorry I sounded a little hot in my first response, I come off a bit blunt sometimes but I am just ignorant in this subject and wanted to understand some more.

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