Volant air intakes....

Im torn between Volant high flow and premium cool

Is it really worth the $100 extra? I'm trying only to spend $150 for the air intake. The reason I'm leaning away from the K&N is because I can't use a TB spacer with it. If the MPG gains are significantly different between the two Volant systems ill go with the better one.

I'm almost ready to start buying, just a few more things to get worked out

This makes me laugh. You know all intakes are the same.

Get a damn Ebay one and save yourself the huge waste of cash.

All it is is bent piping and a suction peice. THATS IT. It sucks air in!

Not all intakes are the same, some replace teh accordian tube, some replace the plenum adapter, some have a 5" filter, some have a 9" filter, some have a heat shield, some don't.

Personally, i'm a fan of the AEM brute force (same as fram boost, the fram is cheaper). It's a full intake system with the 9" filter. Highest gains i've seen of any of the major intakes.

well in that case im going with the cheaper Volant intake... but no not all air intakes are the same...

Just remember one thing before you decide to spend your money: Horsepower = Air Intake + Spark + Exhaust
You must have all three or you WILL NOT INCREASE your power. You can't just bolt on an intake and get 15 hp, your vehicle will not bring in the extra air that the intake company claims, because your computer is still set to bring in the same amount. You must get a chip, mass airflow sensor, or a computer tuner to increase your airflow. Next, you must enhance the spark your vehicle produces. Just put on a performance tune up kit, and/or a higher voltage coil. Finally the exhaust, you can bring in all the iar and burn all the fuel you want, but if your exhaust can't push it out fast enough you still don't get the power your looking for. So, go to your local muffler shop and get a free flowing system put on. The stock system will not cut it. So think about that before you spend your money. Make a plan on what you can and need to get in order to satisfy yopur hp needs.

of the two Volants you posted, the premium cool will be better. It has a heat shield to keep the hot engine compartment air out. However, I would not believe the 10-15Hp/10-15lb-ft. claims. On a stock Blazer the K&N kit produced 7 hp at the wheels, the AEM/Fram Boost should be in the same ballpark.
If you're going to get an intake, you definitely want one with a heat shield, and one that replaces the accordian tube.
Most eBay ones have cheap, non-reusable filters and no heat shield. All intakes are not created the same, you can actually lose horsepower with some.
With a cat-back exhaust and K&N intake I'm getting about 1-2MPG better in the city and 2-3MPG on the highway.
Tuners and chips don't increase airflow, airflow demand depends on RPM, an intake and exhaust will reduce the airflow resistance, which will help to free up power. The major restriction in the airflow on the Blazers is the stock exhaust manifold. A good set of tubular headers would free up quite a few ponies.

Kyle did a summary of all the restrictions with the intake system a while ago.... LINK-Click

try to spend the extra doe and go with k&n

well, he's trying to run a throttle body spacer with it, and the K&N's dont really like to fit well with those. But, the throttle body spacer won't do much, besides make noise, so you could save the money from that and buy a nice intake setup.

Yeah with a pushrod engine that already develops peak torque so low in the rpm range, a spacer won't give you a solid return. On these engines, it may hurt more up in the rpms that it will negate any gain down low, but that all depends on what you do with your truck...

The Volant Premium Cool intake would be my choice if I were in the market for one.

quote:

ORIGINAL: rabbit0102030

Just remember one thing before you decide to spend your money: Horsepower = Air Intake + Spark + Exhaust
You must have all three or you WILL NOT INCREASE your power.

I disagree with this logic. This is saying that our engines are setup so that they're operating at the max potential for air, spark and exhaust. By this train of thought, if you put on an intake (a real one like an AEM or FIPK), and then opened up the exhaust, nothing would happened until you increased the efficiency of the spark, and then *poof*, you increase your power.

Also, our computers have the ability to relearn and recalibrate the settings when more airflow is gained, so you don't need to do a chip to take advantage of the increase from an intake. Yes, a computer reprogramming will gain you more power from the opened intake, but that doesn't mean that you won't gain any without reprogramming the computer.

Furthermore, in reply to the HP claims from the companies, those claims are at the crank, just as the claims from chevy are at the crank. If you tested your truck on a wheel dyno, you wouldn't come anywhere near the 190 hp that chevy claims, you'd be a lot closer to 145ish. 7hp at the wheels is damn close to the 11hp gain that AEM claims.

In my opinion, i'd stay away from the K&N kits. They fall off of the throttle body all the time, as they're only attached with a hose clamp. Get a Fram boost or AEM brute force (same product, different name). They have a MUCH larger filter (9" vs 5"), and attach to the throttle body with bolts.

I disagree, although you are right about the computer adapting to new airflow, but that is where the 7 hp's comes from. We are talking about getting a substantial gain in hp's here not what the engine can adapt to and give us. I belive my logic to be exactly correct, especially considering my brother who attended Wyotech and TSTC, has taught me these things. Although there is a lot of hype from the aftermarket companies claiming huge gains in power, torque and even fuel economy, the reality of the situation is that cold air/ air intakes rarely provide a decent return on your investment. Lets go over why. OEM's know how much air a vehicle requires. They’ve done the research, test, spent the money, and they typically provide sufficient room for abnormalities when it comes to engine operation. Therefore when designing an intake system for a production vehicle they will provide ample room for the system to flow more air than the engine will ever require. They can easily detune the engine through their engine management system (Air/Fuel ratio, ignition timing, valve timing,...). However they rarely make the intake the restriction to the power the engine can produce. Next, lets talk about an intake larger than the engine requires. If you want to put two intake tubing systems on the car. You will essentially be doubling the volume of air that the engine can pull from. At first this might sound like an ideal way to go. But, in reality the engine's low pressure signal, created when an intake valve opens as the piston is traveling down in the bore, will have to pull from a much larger available volume or air (think of all the air hanging around in those hoses and tubing). Well it takes quit a bit of a low pressure signal to get all that air moving. Let alone moving at a high rate of speed. So what will happen is that the velocity of the incoming air will drop. This will in turn reduce the amount of air entering the engine, reducing torque, and consequently horsepower. How about gains from colder air? Well, I've seen many OEM Air temperature compensation tables found in the engine management systems software. For the computer to command a richer Air/Fuel ratio or more aggressive ignition timing the reduction in temperature must be large (like 40-50 degrees F). Therefore rarely will this help you in making power. Don't get me wrong. There are gains in reducing the temperature of the incoming air and associated tubing / ducting (heat soak reasons). But that’s a topic in its own self.Air, fuel, and exhaust are all directly proportional to horsepower. Increase them and you'll increase horsepower, provided you don't overgas or burn too lean. Most people will modify the intake and not take into consideration the exhaust end. You will need a bigger exhaust now that you have a better intake but with this healthy dose of air coming through you need to have a bigger better fuel system for optimal air/fuel ratio to create a good combustion for the powerstroke. I know these things for a fact and from experience. If you’re interested in improving the LOOKS of you’re under hood engine area, buy the chromed out intakes. If you want to increase power, put your money into something else (supercharger, stroker kit, turbo, Nitrous, better exhaust manifold, cams, head). Or find out what part of the intake is the restriction and alleviate that. That's my piece on the subject, you can take all the info and do as you wish with it, dismiss it or use it, either way I'm glad to get out to you the knowlede I have attained over the years to try to help you in making an informed decision.

holy crap, that was long......good discussion

quote:

ORIGINAL: rabbit0102030

Just remember one thing before you decide to spend your money: Horsepower = Air Intake + Spark + Exhaust

ehhh... i'd say horsepower more likely = Head Flow + Fuel + Compression. Spark really has nothing to do with it on a stock or even semi-modified motor. spark is spark... a bigger/hotter spark on a zippo lighter won't give you a bigger flame. a bigger/hotter spark on a primer won't give you a bigger bang. however, with higher compression and more fuel, a bigger/hotter spark is needed (sometimes multiple sparks) to burnt the extra fuel orced into the cylinder. so, i don't recommend an ignition modification (unless you have nitrous or high compression).

the reason cold air intakes work isn't because it RAMS more air the plenum. a bigger filter surface area rarely makes a difference. intakes work by taking air from outside the engine compartment, rather than the hot air under the hood. the colder the air, the more compressed the O2 molecules are; and the more O2 molecules there are, the more fuel must be injected (to maintain stoichiometric balance). this results in more power (because of slightly higher compression).

the faster and easier this air/fuel can enter the cylinder chamber, the less the motor has to work on acquiring it. it's like breathing through a McDonald's straw as opposed to a coffee straw. the same way with exhaust (to an extent). exhaust flow can get to be extremely technical (cfm, efficiency, temperatures, unburnt mixture, vaccuum, etc.). basically, for a stock motor, a muffler does the job, but it can be hazardous to the rest of the motor if there is a lack of restriction. that's where vaccuum comes into play. with the right amount of restriction, it causes the gasses to flow at a faster rate, and the faster something exits, the faster it pulls something (which creates vaccuum pressure). you want this pulling effect, because this will actually help pull exhaust gasses from the other actively-firing cylinders during their exhaust stroke. this is why it's good to do research first, before going balls-deep with purchases. i've been known to spend 4 months doing research on what works and doesn't work. just make sure you do your homework!