Pontiac Solstice Forum - View Single Post - Fujita intake, flawed design?

I question the notion that the typical CAI offers a less restricted air flow than the stock air intake and filter.

It's been argued convincingly on this forum that on the NA sol a CAI does not give you a horsepower gain.

Furthermore, for the intake to be superior than stock every part of it must offer less restriction than the stock components.

This is simple, a smaller intake pipe is not going to have less restriction than a larger intake pipe. This is easy to grasp... big is good, small is bad.

Now, for the filter to offer less restriction, it must have a greater surface area than the stock filter (assuming they have similar porosity). I don't know if anyone has looked at the size and thickness of the stock air filter, but it is large and I'm not so sure that an 8 inch cone filter is going to match it for surface area..... this is another easy thing to understand...big surface area is good, small surface area is bad. All the hype in the world won't change that fact.

Now, about this resonator box on the stock intake.... Anyone who knows enough physics to understand resonant chanbers and impedance matching can tell you that this box might actually improve air flow.. particularly at certain ranges of RPMs....

It might be nice if some of the GM guys who know the mysteries of the NA solstice magical intake resonator box could speak up and clarify the mystery a bit.

About cold air.... cold air is good, warm air is bad. The stock air intake is a coldair intake the position of the air intake clearly means that it must be drawing on cold air from the front of the car. Some of the CAI's out there seem to be drawing on air from the front of the engine compartment, which seems questionable... some of them seem to position the air filter a little better and probably manage to do a better job of snagging cold air than others....

I think most people put the CAI's on because they sound nice... and they sure do sound nice.

oh and the MAF sensor might need cleaning.. which could be why it keeps throwing codes even after changing the filter... There is at least one thread on this subject in this forum...

Me

Last edited by alcyon73 : 06-02-2007 at 08:41 PM.

	alcyon73 Member Join Date: Mar 2007	I question the notion that the typical CAI offers a less restricted air flow than the stock air intake and filter. It's been argued convincingly on this forum that on the NA sol a CAI does not give you a horsepower gain. Furthermore, for the intake to be superior than stock every part of it must offer less restriction than the stock components. This is simple, a smaller intake pipe is not going to have less restriction than a larger intake pipe. This is easy to grasp... big is good, small is bad. Now, for the filter to offer less restriction, it must have a greater surface area than the stock filter (assuming they have similar porosity). I don't know if anyone has looked at the size and thickness of the stock air filter, but it is large and I'm not so sure that an 8 inch cone filter is going to match it for surface area..... this is another easy thing to understand...big surface area is good, small surface area is bad. All the hype in the world won't change that fact. Now, about this resonator box on the stock intake.... Anyone who knows enough physics to understand resonant chanbers and impedance matching can tell you that this box might actually improve air flow.. particularly at certain ranges of RPMs.... It might be nice if some of the GM guys who know the mysteries of the NA solstice magical intake resonator box could speak up and clarify the mystery a bit. About cold air.... cold air is good, warm air is bad. The stock air intake is a coldair intake the position of the air intake clearly means that it must be drawing on cold air from the front of the car. Some of the CAI's out there seem to be drawing on air from the front of the engine compartment, which seems questionable... some of them seem to position the air filter a little better and probably manage to do a better job of snagging cold air than others.... I think most people put the CAI's on because they sound nice... and they sure do sound nice. oh and the MAF sensor might need cleaning.. which could be why it keeps throwing codes even after changing the filter... There is at least one thread on this subject in this forum... Me Last edited by alcyon73 : 06-02-2007 at 08:41 PM.