Air Intakes

The engineers at the factory who designed your vehicle’s air intake system had other things to consider besides performance. They also had to factor intake noise, serviceability, and above all cost into the layout. The result is the compromise that came with your car or truck, a system that keeps dirt out of the engine and makes filter replacement easy, but is woefully inadequate in channeling air into your engine. Thankfully, the air flow wizards at our performance air intake manufacturers are under no such constraints.

They create each performance air intake kit with one goal in mind – to cram as much air as possible into your engine’s intake tract so your engine can burn more fuel and make more horsepower. If this results in a loud intake roar when the pedal gets mashed because a huge conical air filter now resides where the stock air box used to be, to a true performance enthusiast that’s just an added benefit. Our performance air intakes are superior to OE in 3 ways – material, surface area, and on cold air intakes, temperature reduction.

Let’s start with material. The high-flow conical air filters in these kits have cotton gauze and/or synthetic filtration material, which flows air much better than OE paper. And because performance filters trap dirt throughout the depth of the filtering element, instead of it collecting on the surface like paper, you get consistently superior air flow, even as the filter collects dirt. And when the filter does get dirty, there’s no need to buy another one because they’re washable and reusable. Besides better materials, it’s the huge increase in surface area over the OE filter that enables these performance air filters to funnel a greater volume of air into your engine.

Superior surfaces are also why the intake air tubes on our performance air intakes flow so much better than OE. Most factory intake tubes have narrow, restrictive inside diameters and make sharp and awkward bends that also impede air flow. In addition, they often have sound baffles, which while effective in inhibiting noise, also restrict air flow. In contrast, performance air intake tubes are designed with much larger diameters and no sound baffles. They’re constructed from mandrel bent aluminum, or molded from polyethylene or carbon fiber, to ensure that the diameter remains consistent through smooth bends. These tubes are much more effective at routing large quantities of air to your throttle body or turbocharger.

For the ultimate in performance, choose a cold air intake system. Cooler, denser, air contains more oxygen for improved combustion and an even greater increase in horsepower than can be realized from increased air flow alone. Several methods are used to reduce the air temperature: Some intakes have shields around the filter that seal to the hood, to separate the filter from engine heat, while others enclose the filter in a large volume air box located in the engine bay and draw in air from outside. Some systems locate the filter completely outside the engine compartment, in the fender well or in front of the header panel or radiator core support, or use a scoop attached to the filter to draw air from under the front bumper.

From basic kits that consist of an intake tube and a performance filter for the OE air box, to the most comprehensive air induction systems, we have performance air intakes for every vehicle. But in addition to complete kits we also have many more accessories to aid air flow to your engine. These include intake scoops to create your own cold air system or draw in air from a high-pressure area for a “ram air” effect; snorkels for trucks and SUVs, to draw in air from a higher location and prevent dangerous water ingestion during off-road water crossings; heat shields and air boxes to isolate the air filter; and individual intake hoses in a range of colors so you can construct your own system and customize your engine bay.