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Beware of Cold Air Intakes

Red6.2
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Silverado4x4 Senior Enthusiast

Silverado4x4

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, davester said:

Sure, GM has been paying HUNDREDS of millions of dollars in fines to the US gov't for exceeding CAFE standards because they get what from the oil companies?  And that's just for slightly exceeding them.   If a bigger plastic tube would give them even 0.1 mpg more, it would have been put on all their vehicles years and years ago.

 

Yes, the CAI can give you a couple more HP, at WOT.  Where you spend basically 0% of the time.

Exactly, he talks about dyno pulls with a CAI giving more hp there is alot of fluctuations in dyno pulls from hood open vs closed tire pressure fan close or far back even how tight the straps are etc. NO 2 dyno pulls are the same which can vary 3-5%. Dyno pulls can be easily manipulated.

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Silverado4x4
Silverado4x4

Aftermarket cai are a huge waste of money, Stock cold air Intakes have baffles to not hear the intake under full throttle. People bolt these on and swear they have more HP,  they don't. Company's say

66ss3964spd
66ss3964spd

"up to a +13 hp improvement at 5600 rpm and up to 8 additional pound feet of torque at 4100 rpm"   Key words "up to", and notice the RPM's where those potential max gains occur. What do the

66ss3964spd
66ss3964spd

No argument there at all. Smiles per miles matter.   I recently installed quad exhaust tips on the truck and sent my youngest photos of them. Him: Do they make it sound better? Me:

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KARNUT Senior Enthusiast

KARNUT

Posted
Posted

Cold air intakes and higher flowing exhaust does open up additional power. Over the years the manufacturer has been able to increase flow with less noise. I’ve seen studies outside the manufacturer that performance and fuel mileage does increase by opening up the flow in and out. Less so over the years. Because they’re more efficient. You’re seeing manufacturers putting in switches called sports mode that open the exhaust among other things. Even in trucks. I did it all over the years. Saw benefits. Honestly I wanted the sound. The debate on whether the bang for buck is a pronounced. Who cares? Most people are way past being cost effective. How many of us drive base models? Or cars? They’re way more efficient in so many ways. 

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DenaliSS Enthusiast

DenaliSS

Posted
Posted
On 6/28/2025 at 1:01 PM, Red6.2 said:

What I ended up doing was getting a GM performance intake elbow and keeping the stock airbox in for a smoother airflow curve. Worked good and then when the parts became available for the GM performance intake off the 2025 6.2s I got one of those airboxs. My dealer told me the refresh trucks didn’t need the calibration to put them in. Just disconnect the battery cable. So far have had no issues and can tell a difference in having the GM performance intake in. Truck seems to shift better and feels more responsive.

That appears to be a nice system and sure looks nice. 

A friend of a friend were selling their 2021 Silverado 6.2 and moving on to another manufacturer.  After reverting back to OE, he was planning on selling his CAI system, but I was able to barter some services he needed at his house and got the CAI, along with some cash.

So I'll give this Cold Air Inductions brand CAI a go, along with this Stillen Air Intake Scoop I installed over the weekend.  With that intake scoop, I removed the passenger top aero shutter fin also, for constant air flow here in SW Florida.  Throttle response should be noticeable, while hoping to gain cooler air between the CAI/Stillen system and monitor if slight mileage gain, compared to what's advertised. 

DenaliSS Enthusiast

DenaliSS

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 7/6/2025 at 3:59 PM, DenaliSS said:

That appears to be a nice system and sure looks nice. 

A friend of a friend were selling their 2021 Silverado 6.2 and moving on to another manufacturer.  After reverting back to OE, he was planning on selling his CAI system, but I was able to barter some services he needed at his house and got the CAI, along with some cash.

So I'll give this Cold Air Inductions brand CAI a go, along with this Stillen Air Intake Scoop I installed over the weekend.  With that intake scoop, I removed the passenger top aero shutter fin also, for constant air flow here in SW Florida.  Throttle response should be noticeable, while hoping to gain cooler air between the CAI/Stillen system and monitor if slight mileage gain, compared to what's advertised. 

Update - So I installed this CAI last night and really easy install.  I much prefer the "cleaner" look of the engine bay, with a CAI.  Personal opinion here, I think it looks better than the S&B CAI I had, which filled a lot of space and also keeping with keeping OE MAF harness, no extensions (Cold Air Inductions system).

 

I'll see what the numbers tell me after a month of driving to work (~25 miles one way), with this Stillen intake and CAI combination, versus the S&B.  From the short time of running errands though, I do like the sound and pick up, with finally mating to my LT headers/mid-pipe/Corsa exhaust. 

 

CAI and Stillen Clean.jpg

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