After installing my Edge Evolution, I am able to monitor incoming air temperature. While riding on the highway, or open road with no traffic in front of me, my incoming air temperature is always 7 degrees F higher than ambient air temperature.

How much better can you do?

There is going to be a small bit of heat transfer between the plastic inlet structure both before the air filter, and between the air filter and the throttle body.

If you use a kit, such as K&N's 77-2556KP, that uses an aluminum tube from the filter to the throttle body, you will have a great bit more of heat transfer in that short run in the engine compartment. This kit claims a 9.53 HP gain.

K&N's 63-2556 uses a "non metallic" tube instead of aluminum. This is basically the same setup, but claims a 15.47 HP gain.

The kit with the non metallic construction claims a 5.94 HP advantage over the aluminum model.

It's amazing the way that some of these folks can play with numbers. If the temperature drops 20 degrees and a high pressure system comes over, you'll gain 10 HP!

My theory is that the bulk of either gain is due to the less restrictive filter; not the air intake system.

Look at the stock intake tube in your truck. Do you notice the odd looking air chambers that parallel the main raceway? Ford pays their engineers millions of dollars annually - Those are there for a reason. Pick up a fluid mechanics book. If you eliminate these, you will lose throttle response and low end torque.

I feel like you would be better off taking the air inlet off and coating it with some 1/4" stick on insulation.

If I'm bored enough this weekend, I'll try it and let you know what it does to my IAT.

 

You're just touching the surface of fluid mechanics and how they apply to horsepower and torque. If it was as easy as that, Ford would have built them that way. The gains you speak of are negligible at best IMO. Apply bernoulli's prinicple to air intakes and exhaust and you'll see why they don't come that way from the factory.

 

I'm not trying to start an argument or anything, but using this logic, why would you need to get a programmer if the engineers did their best?

Have you noticed how an engine with a high flow intake sounds alot louder than a stock intake? All those extra chambers keep things quite, do they do the best job? I don't know, I'm not an engineer. Yes, you can play around with numbers and make things look better than the may be, but don't you think Ford might do this too? Like I said, not trying to ruffle any feathers, just thought it was interesting.

 

Didn't Mike Troyer test all the intakes?

The AF1 ran the coolest, the stock oem came in second.

 

Yup.

And Tzem - those chambers are Helmholtz resonators - three separate ones, for each of the three most offending natural resonance frequencies for that stock intake. It has nothing AT ALL to do with low-end - JUST as a noise suppression solution, for all the soccer moms. It, in point of fact actually hurts intake flow velocity ( and performance) due to wavefront pressure effects - the same cancellation effects that reduce intake noise.

Automakers, and even Buick (LOL), make use of this suppression technique all the time - Buick used it in the exhaust design for the Allure, f'rinstance - with stuning results.

The AF1 blows the stocker away on the low-end as well as the high end - but it is louder.

bubba

 

No way! You mean we won't be seeing that contraption on drag cars or drag pull trucks soon?

 

 

Always a tradeoff. And I suppose the cats and the muffler and the A/C are for soccer moms too.

 

Never did I say the engineers are doing their "best" to extract power!

In my opinion, if you look at GM's 5.3, Dodge's Hemi, and The 5.4 Triton, the aftermarket tuners can offer the biggest gains in the Ford.

Why is this?

I have a feeling that it comes back to marketing. If Ford wants or needs to show higher HP numbers, all they have to do is tweak the software; they don't have to do major mecanical mods.

The 4.6 in the Explorer with the 3V heads is rated at 292 HP. The 5.4 (50 more cubes) is only showing 300? Come on........ The 5.4 is easily capable of 350 HP from the factory (naturally aspirated).

I'm just saying that it's not a matter of the boys at Dearborn not being able to tune an engine as well, it's just that they have so many issues that they have to face, including emissions, the new MPG rating system, etc.

 

And what is the torque figure for that Exploder 4.6 3V? And where is the peak torque? How much is available right off idle What's the whole area under the curve look like for each engine?

Talking peak HP numbers without a context is useless.

Compare apples to apples, and take the target platform and it intended use ( e.g a pickup, meant to haul & tow) into consideration.

I do agree, though; there is a lot of latent potential in the 5.4L 3V - a quick read on this board will readily confirm that.

 

Well, you have to also consider that an engine capable of producing 350hp will last longer if derated to 300hp. Also, they engineers at ford also designed the truck to handle 300hp. These tuners, intakes, etc are wonderful, but you're putting way more horsepower through your trans, axles, driveshafts, frame, even rims, than the engineers designed it for. So you have to add it all up. The truck has to pass emissions and meet crash safety standards too. People look at peak horsepower as the measure of a truck, but that isn't all there is. 300hp is a lot, and 350 is a lot more. For the truck to be "designed" to handle it, EVERYTHING would have to be beefed up. Beefing up = more money, more R&D, heavier, worse gas milege, etc. I don't care what anyone tells you, if you're putting more hp than factory through your drivetrain, it won't last as long. Plain and simple. Go ahead and squeeze every ounce of power out of your truck. We'll see you in the "high oil consumption", or "my transmission shudders" threads later. But if you're prepared for it, or if you can afford it, or you aren't going to keep your truck long, that's fine.

 

I agree that the output on engines are designed with the thought of making them last longer. But I don't think if you increase the engine's output it will necessarily lead to premature failure of the engine/transmission/drivetrain. Certainly if you add LOTS of power it will, but I doubt adding anything more than factory will make your drivetrain not last long. That's because the enigineers don't design the vehicles to be at the threshold of failure, where another 5 hp, or 10 hp, or 20 hp will cause quick drivetrain failure.

A simple example is Mustang GT's come with 300hp stock. Shelby Mustang GT's come with about 325hp stock. The difference? The Shelby has the exact same engine and drivetrain, but with a CAI, tune and X-pipe exhaust (instead of an H-pipe). If adding 25hp would have led to early engine, transmission or other drivetrain failure do you think they would have done that?

I think early engine/transmission/drivetrain failure is more likely due to hard driving and/or improper maintenance.