Do I need cold air w/ alky??

[Boost231]

i think to answer your question do you need a cold air system with alky. i say yes and no. depends on what your goal is. if your pushing your car to the max you will want as much cool air as possible if your running low boost and not taking it to the limit then sure you dont need a coldair kit with alky. The alky kit is only going to cool so much. Say your inlet air is 100 deg. your outlet charged air is 350 deg. (just bs #'s) your after intercooler air is 150 deg. then you start spraying alky to cool that air charge down its going to bring it down alot but say you have a cold air system and your after intercooler air is down to 130 because inlet air is 80 instead of 100 then you start spraying alky i think this is going to result is better gains due to the air charged being cooler. now 20 deg. doesnt seem like much but once you start pushing alot of boost the inlet temps are going to get higher and higher thus bringing you closer to detantion. Anyways thats what i think i could we off here.

 

[87NAT]

Okay your gonna love this....

Took off my CAI...put k&N right onto MAF...took her out for a drive and made a couple of WOT runs...25 psi, no knock, 770-790 oo2 counts.

On third pass it wouldnt make more than 18 psi of boost. Then it sarted to spit and sputter and hardly stay running. BLM's went to 145. When it would start to die I would hit the test button for the alky and it would start to run fine. (Someone explain that one to me)

I made it home and just pulled the plugs...all black/sooty and 1 was wet with gas. Now I know just taking off my CAI didnt make my car go batty. Could another part have decided to take a dump on me and this is just coincidence??? Bad MAF/ign-coil module?????

Just put new plugs and it runs great but just started to rain...only ran it in my shop. BLM's back to 129

 

[Razor]

Without a CAI.. my car see's ambient to a few degree's above ambient through the traps. Guess you need to move that temp sensor inside the intake and see what its telling ya


Dont know about what happened to your car.. that is off topic :redface:

 

[WeSS]

cai ram air vs k&n on maf pipe

I think for the gains it is not cost effective. The extra money spent on it there is what a hp gain maybe In a n/a application yeah I would say it is needed, but in a turbo car with alky don't think it is needed.

 

[87NAT]

Didnt mean to get off topic....Eric@TT is sending another chip. Swapped coil, ign. module , MAF, plugs, ohmed wires, reset computer, checked vacuum leaks, etc... Chip swap coming next week. Isnt troubleshooting fun???

Thanks for all the input.

 

[Quiky One]

I don't think a chip would cause your issue. It ran great before and now it doesn't....Sounds like a bad sensor, fuel pump, ECM, ect.

 

[Outsider]

Back on topic. Cold air is cold (ambient if you like ) air. More dense = more power even with an auxiliary coolant like MeOH. For fuel economy, at part throttle, hot air will help up to the point of ignition timing being pulled back due to detonation.

 

[Ross L]

to answer your Q

"I" think (uh oh) if Razor or Grumpy could go faster with a $150 AAI they would! So therefore alky and a plain ol under the hood K&N (which is less restrictive than a AAI) is BETTER!:biggrin:
Ross L

 

[Grumpy]

"I" think (uh oh) if Razor or Grumpy could go faster with a $150 AAI they would! So therefore alky and a plain ol under the hood K&N (which is less restrictive than a AAI) is BETTER!:biggrin:
Ross L

ummmm I paid over $200 for one of the first ram air kits in 86 ... sure did look cool then a friend said to take it off one night to prove the car would slow down without it :wink: never went back on the car !! keepin it simple stupid

 

[Razor]

"I" think (uh oh) if Razor or Grumpy could go faster with a $150 AAI they would! So therefore alky and a plain ol under the hood K&N (which is less restrictive than a AAI) is BETTER!:biggrin:
Ross L

 

[Dreamcar86]

WOW! This thread is still going?! You should just experiment and find out what works best for you. I consistently run 91 octane in my car and run 25 lbs of boost. To date I never moved my ALKY knob higher than a setting of 4. If temperatures ever become a real problem I will simple reach down and turn the knob clockwise.
At this point you gotta think that the guy who put this kit together really knew what he was doing.:wink: By the way, he lives in Florida so I have a feeling he knows what heat is all about.:biggrin:

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[GNVYUS 1]

Personally, I would only get a cold air kit for looks as they are not a huge performance addition for us due to the turbo. Going CAI with alky is not going to add anything substantial IMO.

Many on here have posted inlet temps of 60 to 80 degrees with alky spraying. What air temp is the CAI pulling in, is that lower, the same, higher in temp over your alky inlet temp now??

When you consider the CAI kits air has to merge with the compressed air in the compressor wheel at around 300 degrees ( depending on boost, wheel efficiency etc ) it's not going to do much to cool that down. And what was the inlet pipes temps before the CAI, did you maybe gain 20 degrees over what you were sucking in before under the hood?? CAI were popular due to N/A cars, but they lose any real effectiveness IMO when alky is introduced.

 

[Dreamcar86]

I think for the gains it is not cost effective. The extra money spent on it there is what a hp gain maybe In a n/a application yeah I would say it is needed, but in a turbo car with alky don't think it is needed.

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