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I have been considering to go with a Cold Air Intake to improve my gas milage and performance..

 

I am driving a 1998 2.2 Legacy Outback.

 

What are the drawbacks? And does anyone know if I will truly see a mile or 2 extra per gallon in fuel savings which would pay for the cost in about 2 months with how much I drive with my mobile business?

 

http://www.cosmoracing.com/productinfo.asp?cid=150&pid=1700

Black Jacket 1998 Legacy Outback

 

As always thank you everyone for the feedback as am spending every extra cent to finish the restoration and customization of my 1998 sweetheart of a ride for her 20th birthday!

 

What is your favourite cold air intake for Subaru?

 

All The Best and Drive Safe and Have Fun!

 

Johnny

Edited by johnnyispy
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In my own humble opinion, those aftermarket cold air intake filters, makes the engines noisier and could allow more dust to go in the combustion chamber... That could mean to shorten the engine life, due to the extra wear.

 

I suggest you to stay with the stock air filter instead.

 

Kind Regards.

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Seriously doubt that a cold air intake will give you any added performance or additional gas mileage.  If it were that easy, Subaru would have used that technology as standard OEM equipment, when building the car.

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That's one of the better designs ive seen for a CAI, it actually has the filter in the fender well rather than stuck out under the hood.

 

Regardless, unless you just want more noise and some bling under the hood... Kinda pointless. Won't make a damn bit of difference in Mpg.

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I've always wanted to try a "hybrid intake". You can search that up over at the nasioc forum but basically it's when you replace all the stock piping and resonator junk between the throttle body and the fiilter box with big aluminum intake tube stuff instead. Last time I read up on them there was a promising (albeit slight) increase in performance.

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no difference for average driving, but it's still fun to play.

 

i've done intake mods, removed belts, lightweight pulleys (which i prefer as their single piece and not the less reliable two piece stock design)...never noticed a difference in any of my vehicles by doing those mods.  maybe if i was consistently careful in driving it would be discernable but i don't micro-manage my driving style.  i don't drive hard or am heavy on the go pedal but i'm not on the slow end either. 

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Hey All- I found this thread... Just by chance I have a K&N air filter in there already. I will research as much as possible before I try anything because I have not done anything like this before...

 

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=625543

 

or... I will save a truck load of cash and pull a H-6 swap!

 

for some real gains!!! 

http://youtu.be/V7IPo6jmn-8

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Wow that is a real nice find of yours. That cold air intake looks to be way higher quality and lower price than the ones I've found. And it's a REAL cold air intake. Actually goes into the fender not like all the other ones that sit right next to the engine. I'm actually gonna buy one of these now when I got the money. Thanks!

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Wow that is a real nice find of yours. That cold air intake looks to be way higher quality and lower price than the ones I've found. And it's a REAL cold air intake. Actually goes into the fender not like all the other ones that sit right next to the engine. I'm actually gonna buy one of these now when I got the money. Thanks!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/90-98-Subaru-Legacy-2-2l-2-5l-Weapon-R-Secret-Intake-Cold-Ram-Air-/221223480383?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1998%7CMake%3ASubaru%7CModel%3ALegacy&hash=item3381f26c3f&vxp=mtr

 

i found this one as well..... they provide a demonstration video on the monitored computer results - who knows if it is real or not...

Edited by johnnyispy
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Hmm interesting. I think I still like the first one better. Thanks for the links though, I would definetely go for the first one. Even if it is just a marginal or negligible gain I still wanna do it. I feel like that combined with headers and exhaust will gain me a decent little chunk. It'lll sound cooler anyways. lol.

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Hmm interesting. I think I still like the first one better. Thanks for the links though, I would definetely go for the first one. Even if it is just a marginal or negligible gain I still wanna do it. I feel like that combined with headers and exhaust will gain me a decent little chunk. It'lll sound cooler anyways. lol.

Yo Bro let me know how it goes with the install of this and maybe I will spend the nickel to go as well... thanks for your interest in the the thread. All the best -Johnny

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K&N (even drop in replacement) will net you a little power, assuming your current filter is restrictive. Here's the deal - colder air is denser air, allowing you to inject more fuel at the same throttle position. This means more torque under max load condition, but at part throttle you're only using a certain amount ANYWAY. If there were any gains to be had, they're from reducing pumping losses, which is minimal compared to the rest of the frictional and drag losses on the vehicle. 

 

Long story short, a properly designed cold air intake (out of engine bay, in a high pressure area) will net you a bit of power, but if you're looking for MPG, dream on. More likely to pick up MPG by running hot air as it will improve fuel atomization. But hey, at least they look cool. Check out the inlet system chapters of A. Graham Bell's Four Stroke Performance Tuning for some more info on the matter. Make sure to check a more recent revision of the book so it includes fuel injected stuff and not just the carb section. 

 

-Jeff

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K&N (even drop in replacement) will net you a little power, assuming your current filter is restrictive. Here's the deal - colder air is denser air, allowing you to inject more fuel at the same throttle position. This means more torque under max load condition, but at part throttle you're only using a certain amount ANYWAY. If there were any gains to be had, they're from reducing pumping losses, which is minimal compared to the rest of the frictional and drag losses on the vehicle. 

 

Long story short, a properly designed cold air intake (out of engine bay, in a high pressure area) will net you a bit of power, but if you're looking for MPG, dream on. More likely to pick up MPG by running hot air as it will improve fuel atomization. But hey, at least they look cool. Check out the inlet system chapters of A. Graham Bell's Four Stroke Performance Tuning for some more info on the matter. Make sure to check a more recent revision of the book so it includes fuel injected stuff and not just the carb section. 

 

-Jeff

 

Yes when I dropped in my K&N I did notice both more power and fuel economy when I kept the car at 55 miles per hour... - Thanks for this reply!

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