What's your thoughts on short ram intake instead of cold air on a 2000 prelude? I've heard with good headers and Nvidia catback exhaust it will sound less rice with the short ram.
I stopped watching probably before YT stopped recommending me your videos. Instead of talking about cars your videos started being more and more focused on car community, which I don't like, which I prefer not to consider myself a part of. Now YT recommended me Part 2 of this video and I decided to check how's my old pal Bladed doing. Not so much, as I can see😂😂😂 Sorry, dude, your content is just isn't what I'd type in search bar, not everybody likes mods, not everybody likes to hear just another mainstream car enthusiast opinion. New car reviews and counter-mainstream opinions - that's what interesting to watch. Not pRoJeCt cArS, not top 10s, not car meetup vlogs - that cr*p's boring!
@@ldmtag new cars are crap. Compression ratio on most gasoline engines is getting close to diesel engines already. Up to 5 catalytic converters, adblue, direct injection… need I go further? Electric cars, instead of simply making a normal electric car they put a never ending amount of gadgets, gismos and crap you don’t need only to further shorten your battery instead of making just a CAR and done. Be wise, buy a pre 2006 car (not any junk at least choose something cool) maintain it, love and enjoy it and spend the rest of the money in food or whatever you like.
@@danielhristov6175 you want one single reliable car that would last you your life time? Nah, it's not me. I actually like some cool new features. What I definitely don't need and don't want is massaging seats🤡, heated everything🙄, power operating everything😏. But I like stuff like collision warnings, blind spot assists, automatic emergency braking, night vision, rear wheel steer - that all might be a little annoying to deal with, but it gives you that funny feeling of driving a spaceship😅 I prefer that over the "mechanical" feel. And, btw, it's so spot on that you picked specifically the year 2006, cos that's precisely when my affordable dream car came out - the X164 Mercedes-Benz GL: 12 inches of ground clearance, low range, permanent AWD with center and rear differential lockes, and it's alao the most beautiful car in history with the perfect balance between masculine and elegant, angular and aerodynamic, with gorgeous long, short (height) and narrow proportions, that streamlined sillhouette, and freakin' sick stance with that air suspension in Offroad 2 level😍Yeah, with 224 hp diesel it's slow, but I don't need to drive it fast, just cruising around in this massive beast knowing you can park over anything is already great pleasure!
Ppl ain't got patience these days. "If it doesn't give me 50HP instantly, It's a fake mod and I don't want it!" Even though later on...IT CAN give up to 50HP when combined with other mods. Imagine expecting a Forced Induction Car to choke itself with the stock intake. There's a reason most Turbo Kits even recommend an Aftermarket CAI and some even sell/bundle one into your turbo purchase.
@@BladedAngel It's like lifting the ceiling on a max power figure. *at first* it seems like nothing happens, but when you add like a turbo or cams or something, the higher ceiling really does help.
People will piss shit and cry before they accept all engines are different like a little baby honda k20 naturally aspirated will go from 200hp stock to 220hp with just an intake or 240 with just exhuast headers and intake ( thats a 20% increase in power with no forced induction just basic bolt ons ) bc of high compression and vtec yo ☠
@@BladedAngel I drive a Lexus ES 300 1mz fe 3.0 v6. They sound great and have pretty decent hp for it’s time 200 hp but they do not like to make hp without some supporting mods like even adding the TRD super charger only nets you about 70 hp granted that you tune it of course. I plan putting on exhaust.. warm air intake lol and manifolds, injectors and probably cams and a tune for 93 and probably call it there for now. It won’t be much but I know I’ll be happy with what it made without force induction.
I'd add another thing about ECU tuning. Yeah. They maybe add some 10-15 hp in a worst case scenario. But here's the BIG elephant in the room: *It's not about the amount of power delivered at the redline. **_It's about how power does get delivered all over the revs._** There's no case in having 800 hp at 8500 rpm, if the car its completely undriveable from 1000 to 7000, and gets crashed after leaving the house's driveway.*
ABSOLUTELY!! A Good Tune smooths out a powerband and has no "dead spots". Like my FXDR after getting Dyno-Tuned rides like a Sport-Naked Bike instead of a lazy Boomer Bike.
Forever ago I had a 05 RSX-S, intake, catback, RBC manifold, injectors, stage 1 cam, Hondata ECU and a custom tune tok me from 175HP stock to 228, made power to 8300 RPM, redline was moved to 8500 so I was able to stay in the sweet spot of the powerband after every shift. All these things work together to increase performance but people just chase the big number, then lose to a NA Acura even though they make 50 more HP *for a second, in like 2-3 useful gears* I miss that car, stolen and chopped.
It's also not just about power or torque. My BTR turned ECU for my 2010 Genesis coupe 2.0t takes it from 223BHP (stock) to 249 WHP (with a few light mods) but also makes it more responsive in both getting on and off the power (allowing for fun blow off valve noises) and made the torque vs throttle pedal position better.
The first mod you should make, imo, is tires. They let you accelerate, brake, and steer better. It's actually a better upgrade than just coilovers. Maybe add some rims to fit bigger stickier tires, but for your money, it's the best bang for your buck.
For sure, but in this video I wanted to cover some of the more scrutinized common choices. Since some ppl just want cool new parts in engine bay and NGL, I feel them on that.
@@BladedAngel I hear ya, I like how you put the video together and explained how small mods can become something bigger when put together in tandem with others.
Good to see someone out there supporting even the smallest mods. Not everyone is comfortable pulling their car apart (with no idea whether they can reassemble it) and sometimes just having something small and easy might give someone an incentive to do more later down the line.
You gotta start somewhere I remember putting cheap led strips on an accord and putting 12” in a cobalt. Not I’ve got a 300zx with a top mount gt35r and full stand alone ECU. Couldn’t of learn all that without all the failures before that.
Well said. With my Q60, I have no interest in heavily modding the car because of 1. Being the factory and extended warrentys and 2. Reliability issues. All I want is a bit more noise from the car and I'll be happy. But for those who want to do a lot of work to their car, more power to you!
A “huge improvement” also really depends on what you’re doing. When it comes to road cars it’s usually like 50-100 hp. But in actual racing, especially in sports car racing where we have tight regulations, having an extra 5 hp is a HUGE difference
@@steveng507 I can’t remember what year they started, probably 04-05, but they practically already have a cold air intake because it is funneled in from the headlight housing
@@wadedalton2247 All factory intakes are cold air intakes. The Marauder/p71 airbox can support up to near 550hp. I wouldn't even replace the airbox, I'd just get a better ziptube, if anything. And the frpp intake is just the PI intake.
The earlier panthers need the P71 computer from what ever year/generation you have- to make it work better without a tune. Referring to the 2000+ panthers, example: 2000-2002,2003-2005, and 2006-2011 are different generations.
Exactly. I put one in my V6 Challenger and instantly heard a big difference in sound. For that alone I'd say it was worth it. When I put one in my 5.0 Mustang it made a small difference in sound, but it definitely wasn't as noticeable as it was in the smaller, quieter engine.
For my car, dual cone intakes were one of the first mods I did because the stock airbox is restrictive af. Also, email tunes are great either way. For a lot of email tuners available for my car, you get free revisions, and they will actually have you do a pull, take a log, and send it to them so that they can adjust the tune to your specific car.
You can get custom tunes done remotely on modern cars that is for sure. It is actually better because you're actually on the road doing pulls instead of simulating the environment like dynos do.
My car is slow ,and adding power to a vr6 is expensive even if you go turbo. But they sound so nice with a car and decent exhaust. Its just a cruiser so im fine with that,ive got other toys for the speed bug.
I totally agree with you. People seem to forget that any mod is just a part of something bigger. Of course any of these mods alone are hardly even giving any real profit... but all of them (and many others) combined give some serious gain. I love that you included shelf tunes. Even on an almost stock car with some minor upgrades it's good to have some safe tune. Fun fact - I was noting my thoughts about each of the mod you mentioned just before you explained that and I had very simillar conclusions. I'll provide my notes in the reply to this comment 😁 About the powerboxes. There are some chip-boxes that are designed specifically for particular engine models that by-pass ecu and actually really increase power. I wouldn't recommend them though as these are just faking input data in order to enrich fuel-air ratio.
1: Cone filters alone are indeed fake mod, but CAI, properly isolated, coupled with aggresive cams and tweaks to the computer - it is an useful mod. It also depends on the car. CAI alone can make a difference depending on the model of engine. 2. Exhaust mods can be totally pointless and on the other hand completely necessary. Especially for turbo/supercharger conversion. Plus, they go well with CAI :D 3. I'd exclude universal OBDII plugged powerboxes. They're completely pointless. But maps designed for specified model? They can grant some gains. Probably much less than map specifically designed for a certain engine with certain wear but still. If there is a safe tune for let's say any turboed diesel or more aggresive, yet still safe for TSI engine, it's probably gonna give some HP to the car. 4. Let's be honest, carbon fibre parts can be used for style, performance or both. There are some car projects utilising carbon as a mean to make car more aggresive-looking and other performance-serious projects where it's a necessity in order to reduce weight. Some other desings have carbon for style but coupled with some big performance upgrades so these mods make sense in both cases.
@@jonathanmartinez3412 definitely. I'm not sure how much gains you'll get but more air and fuel burnt = more power. And more fuel might need better injectors. Torque characteristics may change in favor of higher RPM, not sure how it may affect wear. Just remember, performance upgrades on NA car are way more expensive than they seem and must be treated as a whole project, not particular parts upgrade. Often it's much easier to just turbo your motor.
And even if basic cold air intakes and exhausts didn’t matter, they’re still a good way to comfortably get your feet wet when wanting to start modding. Those are the first two mods I did on my car and just a simple couple hours undoing a few bolts or clamps helped me break through the initial intimidation of messing around in my engine bay or getting around underneath my car. They’re fantastic beginner mods for the jumping off point they provide
IMO a cold air intake is only worth it if you're going all out and giving it real cold, fresh air. Get a headlight intake or put it out the hood or do whatever, just give it lots of air intake.
@the gamer 64 That is absolutely not true. Unless you have somehow added an intake that literally inhales dirt and filters nothing, you are not damaging reliability with an intake change. It just probably won't provide any benefit without tuning.
@@Brandonr757sGamingit does provide a benefit without tuning. It allows for more air at high rpms. I had a Sebring with a C.A.I. and I raced a new Sebring without one. We were dead even until about 60 and then I started to walk away about 1-3mph faster.
@@hitmixhyepock9405 that's why I said "probably". Some cars will notice the extra flow and make a little more power because of it. Some cars will do nothing. Some will be worse if you have an intake with warmer temps. But yes, if it's a proper one with similar or colder air, with more flow, there's a good chance the car can make a few hp more.
In my area, loud exhausts save lives! Every vehicle I have ever owned has had a modified exhaust system. I've also never hit a deer or even came relatively very close to hitting one. On the flipside my mother has taken out practically a whole herd of deer over the years with her multiple (very quiet) vehicles. At this point I am convinced it is more than a coincidence. 🤷🤓
13 years ago, i upgraded my exhaust system on my 99 subbie sus, and the difference was def noticed. not only did it give a small increase in hp, the dirty growl was sooooo worth it.
A lot of people also forget that there is more than just power to some of these mods. Intakes, aftermarket TBs, and tunes usually also help throttle response making your car more reactive the inputs of your pedal. Makes your car's power delivery feel more instant. So while you didn't increase power much your car feels more peppy than it was before.
Somewhat disagree with approaching email/remote tunes as a "start" or cheaper option and worse than a dyno tune. I think it really depends on your platform and tuner. Ex. I have a Fiesta ST, and I guarantee if I went to a local dyno shop (which would definitely not specialize in anything like my car) that they would not do nearly as well of a job as my tune from a (remote) company who has already worked on 30+ cars with almost the same list of modifications. I think the only time dyno tunes dominate is when you find someone of the same knowledge/skill level as a remote one, but the advantage to remote is you can choose specifically who you believe to be the "best"/most knowledgeable one for your car. Also, I'm not sure if this isn't true for other platforms, but I got a few revisions of my tune based on my datalogs from the previous revision so that it IS entirely custom to my car. It's not an "off the shelf" tune for my parts list.
Exactly, email tunes (at least good ones) aren't one and done. The tuner will have you data log how the car performs in different scenarios such as: 0-60, 20-80, WOT, cruising, etc. And they'll rewrite the tune a few times until it's just right based on YOUR car's information.
Dyno tunes are better if you're chasing a particular power or torque point. Cars are not THAT different that every single one needs a custom tune. File tunes are just fine for normal ass street cars.
a few years ago there was a youtube video with a v8 engine running as a test crate, they tested all the different intakes, if i remember correctly, the one with best performance was a salad bowl, modified to be used as an intake
Weight reduction is perhaps the most cost effective performance mod you can do if you don't care about what your car looks like on the inside. I mean, it costs nothing to strip your car. But if you want to keep things as stock as possible on the inside, typically the best engine mods are going to be exhaust related, then go intake if money isn't an issue.
Honestly, you should always be building your car to what YOU like at the end of the day. Who cares if it is "negligible" power gains. It is what you want. If im being real, i think super modding cars to get them to double, even triple its factory hp has ruined the sense of modding cars. To a lot, your mods don't matter if they didnt minimum give it +50 hp each. Its ruined the scene for a lot of people i talk with
The last part is what I agree on. Yeah ppl expect their first few mods to give 50HP each like a racing video game...like nah, you lucky if it gives 15HP. My Z06 can't even net 50HP per mod, unless I literally change my Blower, but that's just expensive at that point and moving too far from being daily drivable.
@@BladedAngel I work at a shop where 2 of the techs are modding out their cars with turbos, larger intakes, Tunes, etc. I basically told one of em that I don't plan an e85 tune with larger turbos and whatnot. I just want a better sound with an Axle-back exhaust system with a brake upgrade, I was essentially laughed at. Sorry I don't wanna turn the car I daily into a fireball
@@BladedAngel To sort of add on to this, in the obsession with horsepower gains alot of people forget about a funny little thing called reliability "What do you mean my Subie needs a catch can?" yeah ok Todd have fun with your 4th engine replacement
Best reason to get a cold air intake is the sound improvement imo Sure the power gain in negligible but that satisfying intake sound connects me more with the car which I value more than hp
This is a great video. I got a $500 piggy back and a dyno tune which netted me almost 140whp,so now my stock car is 490whp. Still an $800 upgrade with dyno, but 140whp is totally worth the cost on a car with no other mods
I'm a diesel guy, and almost always recommend getting a cold air intake as your first mod, it doesn't necessarily make a difference in power but it lowers intake temp and makes a huge difference in longevity of your turbo on top of getting a serviceable air filter that will save you money over time if you make sure you stay on top of it
Cold air intake mods can totally be null and void depending upon the application of how you install one. The point of them is to suck up cold air for the added air boost, but the engine generates a lot of heat especially around peak performance. So if you don’t place the air intake in a proper position to get that sweet refreshing cold air. It can very well just suck up hot engine bay air and it really defeats the purpose especially in the name. The plastic shrouding is actually a plus even though it looks goofy, and even if it seems counter intuitive paying for the extra length to extend your filter to a position where it can get that cold air sucked up will actually give you more overall horsepower across the rev range board. You have some folks that think just slapping a cone filter as close to the throttle body will just magically make it suck up cold air. Fam it needs to be close to an opening either in the grill opening, headlight space or near the wheel well so it can grab all that juicy cold air and away from the hot engine bay. So like you can pay a lot of money for a nice cold air setup that is actually less effective than a stock one because a lot of stock ones have plastic casings and are mounted in a position to grab cold air. It doesn’t take an engineering degree for a good cool air setup. Just some out of the box thinking and setup on a proper oriented position for one.
@@aidanwinter1698 For sure fam. The only thing i can think of to mitigate that issue is too use a cold water based inter cooler that you typically see on blower style supercharged setups. In that sense i guess it wouldn’t really matter where your filter was if the air gets chilled before it goes into the cylinders. I still think you could cram more air in the engine if you mounted your intake in a spot to catch cool air on average plus having that water to air cooler before the air is used for combustion to just condense it even further. Prolly not gonna see any gains without forced induction tho. Would still like to see someone test the idea of a setup like that. Just to see how it effects the engine in the long run. Like would it help fuel economy, could you run a higher compression ratio, does it extend engine life or risk the block cracking from cold temps and hot temps constantly mixing, would it help to have more complete combustion in the engine and less harmful incomplete byproducts. Side note no combustion process is 100% complete but as an example if you could have a bon fire and chemically speaking everything burned completely there really wouldn’t be smoke per say and you could breathe the phantom fumes without risking cancer. Besides getting light headed from a lack of oxygen or carbon dioxide poisoning but that would literally just make you want to exhale. But yeah if it could help the combustion be more complete thats less bad emissions for the environment and you could throw on less restrictive catalytic converters. Because a lot of those precious metals used to help protect the environment are either stolen or mined in a manner that harms human life or ends up being bad on the environment in which its ore was taken. Thru habitat destruction or just exposing poor people to inhumane conditions so we can feel better about ourselves driving our cars in the “Free world” and think we have limited our impact on the environment. That’s even worse for electric cars. Those mining processes for those fancy batteries costs kids their lives working slave wages so you can drive something and feel good you aren’t buying into the rising gas prices when you know damn well if that fancy car crashes and starts burning, soaking it in water is just gonna cause an even bigger conflagration to occur. Just a thought but if you drive a tesla into the ocean it could burn all the way to the bottom of the sea floor and still keep on going. Lithium is one hell of an element and water only makes the fiery reaction worse. Of course it has to be exposed to like its seal broken and gas engines have lead based batteries and that shit is really terrible to be exposed to. Lead is responsible for iq loss in hundreds of millions of people. Higher crime as a result of more idiots and just overall poorer quality of life as well as lower life span. And we used to put that shit into gas as an octane booster when good ole ethanol actually does the job better it was just cheaper to use lead instead. So that e10 is really just some cheap gas with an added kick. Ethanol actually has a cooling effect on the engine when its burned so it helps to remove the heat from the combustion chamber. Its less likely to misfire so minimizes knocking. Its relatively sustainable honestly ethanol should just be fuel instead of petrol but heard it gums up the engine but like i dunno you see a lot of high end custom built high horsepower project race cars use that e90 ignite fuel to get every ounce of horsepower from their builds if it tarnished the engine inside i don’t think it would be that popular.
That was actually very useful. Especially part 3. I live in Ukraine, Zhytomyr city and I’m pretty sure there is no tuning shop with a dyno in our city. I plan to install supercharger and cams on my NA Miata once the war is over and I thought I would have to rent a truck to bring the car to Kiev to tune it. But now I think I might just e-mail pre tune it and than just drive it for a proper tune. So thanks!
I'm glad you put this video out and wish people would watch it to better understand how modding works. People don't understand what "support" mods are. CAI may not add power, but allow a tuned engine, turbo, and supercharger to breathe. Alot of people claim solid charge pipes on a turbo engine are a waist bc they don't add power. They don't understand, if you leave the oem rubber pipes on, the increased boost collapses them choking the turbo.
CAI will add power on engines like any dohc vtec engines bc of compression and high rpm and high lift cams same with a old bmw m3's high strung Inline 6's but on most cars you will see dick unless forced induction
The only time a cold air intake WONT give you a performance boost is when the OEM intake is already optimal. I think there are some BMW M cars that come with massive air intakes from the factory that don't really make sense to "upgrade" since they already flow so much air. My 2007 GT500 on the other hand ...... Oh man, a K&N cold air intake gives you a 50 whp gain with no tune and is definitely worth it!
I think my moms 2000 Camry has a wonderful OEM cold air intake. It’s a straight 3” tube to a box with a giant diagonal k&n filter and then the other side of the box has an equally large hole straight out the fender. The intake I see sold for this car might sound a bit louder but stock is best for sure.
Cold air intakes are actually case by case. Most of the time they add 0%. It's even been tested feeding straight up air conditioned air. Generally you only get gains when the stock intake is too restrictive, which usually isn't the case until you add forced induction. Car makers don't exactly want to incur pumping losses for no reason when that would hurt them on emissions and lower their Dyno numbers.
I'd like to note that not having a straight pipe can make the car FEEL faster as well as you don't feel like you're smashing the throttle every time you move around a bit. It's an illusion, but a nice one
a cold air intake depending on the car can be huge with a tune. here in germany a few tuners offer the jlt intake for the mustang gt (2018 and up) including tune and all the paperwork needed to register it in your vehicles papers for around 2k (yes, modding a mustang isnt cheap here with 2k for an intake) but it gives you 40-50hp which is a lot considering the 450hp base output of the engine
@@driftingbrandonc.6480 yes, intake + tune. the 5.0 mustang 2018 and up is rated (and dyno tested) at 450hp as the eu version. with the jlt intake + tune you get dyno numbers around 490-500hp, some even around 510hp. a supercharger will cost around 16k if you dont put it in yourself and due to legal limitations without super expensive testing you will be around 700hp after that.
@@driftingbrandonc.6480 thats because you dont read what i write. the 5 inch plastic pipe and filter + 87mm throtle body gives you like 5 hp at best because without the TUNE a modern car wont use the extra amount of air it gets. and if you cant get that difference in america maybe german tuners are just better at using software 🤷♂ dyno numbers dont lie, especially in a country where equipment has to be inspected every few years.
I've had this debate many times with many people. I normally end it with saying. If your air filter is clogged the engine still runs but power and economy is lacking. So how could more/cooler air not help. Yes it's not a huge difference however supporting mods like you said will make more noticeable difference.
For the cold air intakes yes you are right but again every car and engine is different and every setup and build is different too for example i have a 3.7 q50 and when you compare a build that has cold air intakes with a build that has only drop in filters both tuned the differences were literally a couple of horsepower (that’s after the tune) so for the vq37vhr save 450$ and go with drop in filters I think it’s mainly because this engine has two inlets this means two air intakes and two air filters and the whole thing sucks air from the closest point possible to the front grill so it already breaths so well from factory
I have a highly modified and tuned '13 g37 and '06 g35. While I agree, a good set of drop in filters get you pretty close to the same hp, the sounds you get from the long tube versions of our intakes were worth the extra money to me. I'm using the carbon fiber tubed Z1 intakes with the larger filters and velocity stacks. They sound great. I completely get deciding to save the money though.
Remember a couple videos ago, when you said you find it sad, how young car enthusiasts only look at the numbers of a car, like 0-60, top speed, time on whatever track, and that old cars get less and less attention because of this? Yeah, that gave me the final push away from a modern sporty car and towards an old car. I now own a Porsche 924 S built in 1986 as my secondary/fun/summer car and I love it for everything it is. It makes 150 HP, and by modern standards, it's slow, BUT it looks nice and has SO much style. Just wanted to say that. You did your part in pushing me towards the old car, and for that, I'm thankful.
a car is only as good as the sum of its parts. Also, I had an email tune that I used for 6 moths, when I got a dyno tune I was told my car was running lean. Email tunes are great temporary tunes but just get a Dyno tune. The Dyno tune was will always be safer and better. These were basic bolt ons
Just drive a stock car after modding yours. And you'll appreciate all the mods you've done. I remember test driving a car for someone else to check for issues, and man... I am so glad for all the mods I've done
Never overlook suspension. Even though it doesn't add horsepower it will make the car faster. If you're intending to build it for the track, don't forget bushings and mounts. The less things move, the more power you can use
My wife's truck got an increase in mpg after the cai. .4-.5 mpg on the highway. Now it has a stage one cam with full exhaust. It runs great. Good video
I just recently put a cold air intake on my 2012 Accord oh man it does make a difference because sometimes I like to floor it just for fun also the sounds it makes when it sucks in air is crazy cool it makes it sound more beefy or meaty than stock I think the next thing is exhaust I already got aftermarket wheels on it that make it look real good
with the cold air intake when you have a stock car its basically gonna do nothing but when you have an insane amount of fuel injected every bit of air makes a difference
I'm happy the guy that tuned my corvette is a pretty fair dude. 400 bucks for a dyno tune, and then any revisions are half price. Only downside is that he is normally booked for at least a month or so in advance, as you mentioned.
Another great way to get over the fear of putting that first performance mod on like bladed mentioned is to repair a broken car, whether it's your own or a friend's. You don't have to worry about compatibility, tunes, or all that because your replacing parts that were already on the car stock, and it helps you learn about the internal workings of cars
You pointed out very accurately that mods are a combination effect. This fact seems to be overlooked or missing from a lot of people's minds OR maybe they were never taught critical thinking. As I'm older than most of the "kids" in the car community that I'm somewhat a part of, I get why when I was younger the "older guys" were cranky and ignored the younger members on specific topics. And within most car communities, you can tell (to some degree) whom the older people are. They phrase things differently; they offer more information (vs 2 run on sentences without any punctuation) and have reasons for what they've chosen and installed. And those are the people that I tend to listen to. Thank you for putting this plainly - it is very refreshing and welcomed.
Cold air intakes are useful for intake temps and most importantly *noise* Short rams also have their benefits. You can always make a box system like RAM AIR systems for Cars with ITBs if you lose too much power or get bad heat soak. The throttle response, especially with NA cars, helps at the limit. *and with noise*
I'd also like to add that you can gain more power with an exhaust paired with an intake depending on the car than each respectively combined. If you're breathing out faster than you tell breathing in or vise versa, you'll have problems.
I remember I brought up flash tunes in my automotive class in 9th grade in like 2012, the whole class including the teacher roasted me saying you couldn't gain power from a computer, the concept of plugging something into a car and making an actual difference was insanity to them
It depends on what you’re doing. A computer won’t give you power gains if you’re stock on air intake, exhaust and fuel injection and ignition but what he’s explaining in the video is if you do everything else with a tune, it’ll bring out the engine more as in more responsive, more air and more fuel ratio into the power and torque band. A smooth power band is everything when it comes to tuning. People are expecting to see flames and popcorn tunes in which hurts and damages the engine. That’s most of the time when people think a tune would make a car really powerful.
@@WaySydeBeats I know they just weren't having any bit of it, they were just very old school (and kinda mean) they even reluctantly used ODB scan tools
I have began avoiding most intakes due to oiled filters dirtying MAF sensors, and "high performance" filters not filtering the same quality as OEM. But that doesn't mean gains are still to be had. The key is to make an airbox that will fit a larger oem filter. Air Boxes are also the single biggest thing for a CAI, they are needed. Exhausts really need to be matched to rpm range, turbos, if you have them and power output. The whole point is to balance flow, scavenging and keep the Exhaust hot so that it wants to leave the pipe. Back pressure is a myth, brought on by people going to too large a diameter, and/or, a system that scavenged less. Usually the larger diameter, where the exhaust cools and becomes dead gas inside the pipe causing a parasitic power loss to push it out. I'm ranting here.... Canned tunes are great for lightly to mild modifications. Had a Golf TDI with a stage 2 tune, emissions delete and exhaust. On the dieselgate tune, the car was a dog, and it only got 42 mpg no matter how it was driven. Post tune it had much more usable power, would spin and chirp tires, and got 50mph at 70, 65mpg at 55.
We offer Lifetime tunes for the Honda/Acura V6 J-Series Engine Platforms. We never suggest box/canned tunes. As you mentioned even in minor cases there are still differences of 3-6% between the same car, mods etc. Let's just go on health so if the AFR is already pegged perfect at 14.7 for low loads that 6% off would leave your car at 15.5:1 AFR. Same with ignition timing, let say the cars MBT is 28° at WOT and you're off 6% higher then the car likes, either it will still keep that amount in potentially causing knock/detonation which will tear your engine apart or in most cases the knock limit will be triggered and the tune/ECU will pull way more timing out than needed, trying to keep the engine safe. In that case even a E-Tuner as we are can dial that ignition timing in which in some cases can yield up to 20-25whp more, at least for our platform. We also feel our tunes are much more accurate than dynos, being we get real world data and loads from the customer datalogs. They are not only driving in real world conditions as they do normally, but we get to tune those areas where dynos for the most part want you in and out within an hour, so they mostly only tune Wide Open throttle and some moderate throttle. Our customers absolutely love our tunes because the car feels night and day different not just at WOT or heavy loads, but also moderate and low rpms.
So glad to hear defense on the cold air intake, another thing that made me give up on ever reading anything on reddit about cars is people talking about them hurting the car. DONT SOAK THEM IN OIL THEN, if you drench it in oil no crap it's going to cause issues
As someone with a carbon spoiler on my subie, I definitely bought it mostly for cosmetics. And dang does it look pretty. I'm not sure how much it helps me on the dirt track, but it'll definitely do something.
Even if cold air and straight pipes don't add alot of power they do allow the engine to inhale and exhale more freely which on top of the small power increase can also improve responsiveness and fuel efficiency
I drive an ob1 1990 corvette. There are absolutely no tuners near me. Only Alvin from pc of nc who I get my mail order tunes from. Every car is different. My car responded VERY well to exhaust mods because of how restrictive the exhaust and intake is. Oh damn how am I gonna tune it.. mail order tune. Did it work? Better than I could EVER imagine. My vette runs sooooooooo much better. Do your research. Find what works well for your car. Find a tuner that knows their shit. It’s so worth it. Great video bro. Thanks!! Love to watch your videos when I’m in the mood to listen to some car talk.
Somebody who specializes in a, or certain cars, will have a better mail order tune, than somebody who wants to tune everything without full concern of available aftermarkets.
Not only does a CAI give 1-2% more power but I’ve noticed in any car that gets one installed you immediately gain better throttle response and you also get to hear cool intake noises when driving
I gained 35 hp from swapping my engine to a much newer version of the same engine, from there I upgraded my intake and exhaust from 2" single to 2.5" dual with X pipe, I also got a custom tune to go along with those major upgrades to make it all work well with each other. I'm still under 300HP as I didn't go as far a swap cams and port my heads and go for higher compression.
As a car Enthusiast and body mechanic myself I can say with certainty boarding your personal vehicles definitely start for a lot of people with visual mods it gives them the inspiration to start doing more
Even without a dyno tune an email tune can be specific to one vehicle. Most good tuners will have you data log and make revisions to the tune to get it right for that session.
for those who are saying "hey Blade, glad you're back, missed you, not posting videos" guys, just by his voice in the videos you can tell he doesn't have that same happiness as the ones in videos before, now he's a motorcycle guy, what gives him hype now are motorcycles, not cars, lately he only complains about things when he talks about cars lol
Was about to buy a 40 year old car for 3k, it was painted with a brush and looked a bit off. Wanted to buy it, fix the paint and drive it as it was until I could mod it. Change the carburettor for a EFI, one of those "self regulating " Easy to tune ones, that could handle a turbo. New Intake, coils and all that. Didn't want the fastest car, just a bit better than stock from 1980. But was to much rust to just drive until then and sadly don't have anyplace to weld rust.
Great video. I would like to add my thoughts on exhaust & CAI. I will say that an exhaust system (catback) and or a good cold air intake will add significant power (and appearance) that is noticeable IF you're replacing the stock components. Certain cars have severely restrictive stock components. With exhausts, you can greatly increase flow out of your engine if you: delete/upgrade the stock cats, delete/upgrade stock resonators, add dual exhaust if applicable, increase exhaust pipe diameter, upgrade stock manifolds/headers, and delete/upgrade stock mufflers that are super restrictive. Not only will you receive beautiful sounds but you will gain an insane amount of power. The same can be said for your stock airbox. Certain stock airboxes can be insanely restrictive and adding a high quality CAI could potentially add noticeable power INSTANTLY depending on the car. For example, my C4 corvette had stock manifolds, very restrictive cats, a Y pipe, suit case mufflers, and an exhaust diameter of 2.25. I Ripped the entire system off in 1 piece and 100% rebuilt the system. I used 1-5/8 headers, 3 inch pipes, an X pipe, flow through mufflers, and that's it. That increases so much exhaust flow of the car I wouldn't be surprised if it added 15-20 wheel horsepower all across the torque curve AND makes this thing sound like a monster.
I'd like to see a video on catch cans. Sooo many people don't understand what it is a properly designed PVC system is for, and how a catch can actually can be a rather important item. You mention you have a FXDR, so if you have experience in the M8 world, you may even be able to relate. Especially now, when many cars have switch to direct injection, keeping oil out of the intake tract can have big repercussions.
As a tuner, I can agree on every bit of this. I used to think cold air intakes wouldn't benefit much at all, but it does make a difference for most vehicles. Nothing noticable, unless other mods were done. Saw this on a LQ9 cam swap into a 5.3, stock air box and IAT's were too high to really push power out, cold air intake and it would rip.
Free tune revisions are awesome. My upgraded injectors were on back order on dyno day so I got tuned on tiny stock ones. A few weeks later my 1050cc’s came in and the difference was noticeable
On the cold air intake thing, there's also multiple reasons other than hp gains to have one. For me it improved my throttle response, for my Dad it gave his truck a better sound without having to change the exhaust, because I remembered how it had changed how my truck sounded.
Totally agree. I had a VX SS 225kw v8 with the ls1 block. I went from 225 to 290kw just by doing literally the CAI, exhaust and mafless tune. That's it. And yes, I literally swapped pit my PCM and was able to remove my air flow meter THAT day
RE: #4. If straight line speed is not your only goal, no amount of power can make up for weight. 300 hp/3000 lbs will always feel better to drive than 400hp/4000lbs. Also for the "casual" modder (include myself in this): reputable shops that specialize in a specific brand of vehicles will often sell mods together with tunes in kits (Turner Motorsport for BMW for example). These are a great way to get started.
Electronic boost controller for a turbocharged engine is a really nice mod, as you can fine tune the power band, especially in the low-end. This is especially effective if you experience a lot of turbo-lag, even with a smaller unit. - I could really use one of these in my own car, as it doesn't really come on boost until it hits 2200-2300 RPM (which is high for a diesel powered car). Ideally it should hit maximum boost at around 1600-1700 RPM, to take full advantage of the engine's low-end torque range.
I've gotta '10, MINI Cooper Clubman S. It's fbo with a bigger turbo, performance LSD, ported exhaust manifold, bigger injectors, AEM ram/cold air intake, ClutchMasters FX400/lightweight flywheel, CravenSpeed-on the fly adjustable short-throw shifter a fully adjustable Gecko suspension with a long list of other bells and whistles. As much as I enjoy listing all of my mods, I'll stop. I don't wanna come off as a pretentious car owner. Although I fear I already have. Living in Louisville, KY, I don't have a lot of options when it comes to tuning a highly modified MINI. Sometimes, I feel as if I'm the only guy in Louisville with a tricked out MINI. Especially with it being a Clubman. I've literally never seen another one. However, I am lucky enough to be friends with a guy who owns one of Louisvilles' most successful Euro shops. I go through these guys when I need something serious. When it comes to tuning, I don't use a dyno. Rather, a more precise method of tuning by email. My car gets hooked up to a laptop and track driven. The info is recorded and sent to Malone Tuning. They, in turn, develop a tune and send it back. The tune is then applied to my MINI, and the process repeats a few times. When my guys feel like the car is at peak, I am left with an extremely dialed in tune. This process cost me $1000. The only downfall is that I have to go through this every time I install a major upgrade or mod. There is no "discount"... It's $1000 every rip. The process works, and I've managed to get my car to a very nice 346 hp. With a very respectable 4.3 0-60. My little R55 is one helluva sleeper and has earned the respect of a lot of proud V8 owners. Other than my car, I have witnessed a plethra of many successful email tunes. Some of them are on cars pushing well over 700hp. It all depends on the car, the parts, and where the tune is coming from. Not all email tunes are quick and cheap.
Your video should be suggested to anyone thinking about trying to buy basic mods for their first time. Even if a single mod by itself won't gain big power but add to the overall joy of driving for its owner, that's all that should matter. A lot of people that tell others that something that adds a small % is a waste is missing the point.
There are certain cars that do receive a benefit from changing the air intake. Not necessarily "cold air intake" with liquid covered filter crap, but for instance. A 2001 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS, if you keep the original paper element in the box, and remove all of the plastic piping from the car. You will have a very noticeable increase in performance in the vehicle. Change the filter to a dry foam filter & the improvement is not noticable but now you have a washable reusable filter. Other vehicles like 2004 VW R32, put a dry foam filter & flash program the air/fuel. Wow. It really wakes up the engine. Especially when you unplug the vacuum line from the butterfly valve on the exhaust. Sounds aftermarket with stock exhaust. Car can accelerated without any problems in 2nd gear from a dead stop with NO lag at all. [Short shifter, full suspension, & all season high performance run flats] So, it depends on what vehicle engine it's being used in and whether the air/fuel has been programmed, and exhaust restriction. Air in has to has air out. If you have a restricted exhaust flow, it will not matter how much air you're trying to put into the engine.
Thank you for this video. I still plan on building my car up, but this helped have some confidence to continue to project it out. I finally have a vehicle that has some performance and is fun to drive, and has also driven me to learn more and work on it. I've always been enjoyed the culture and now I can feel actually apart of it.
The problem with the cold air intake isn't that they don't do anything, it's that most of the products we colloquially refer to as cold air intakes or which are marketed as such are closer to hot ram air intakes. They absolutely CAN help, especially when compounded with other mods and engine work like a good port and polish. Thing is, there's not a lot of good entry-level cold air intakes on the market. The good ones are generally not cheap and not easy to install. What is usually super accessible, cheap, and easy to install are short ram intakes without much consideration to flow and temperature. Another big BIG problem with the cold air intake is that it's generally very difficult to beat the efficiency of your car's Helmholz resonator. The geometry is almost always specifically tuned to flow as efficiently as possible, and efficiency IS power. Many cold air intakes replace the resonator, though not all do. This is a problem because the gains you may make from colder intake temperatures in many cases don't make up for the efficiency lost by removing the resonator. I'm not saying it's impossible, it's just often difficult and not cheap. The best cold air intakes to look for are ones that relocate the intake to a completely new area, usually higher up, away from heat sources, and especially areas that take advantage of the car's aerodynamics, such as under the cowl or even above the car like we see with many products made for the Toyota MR2. Cold air intakes are great, and I would highly, highly encourage learning more about how they work, and doing the research to hunt down a good one and properly install it, but we can't pretend they are all created equal, or they are all beneficial, or even that every kit of plastic tubes and elbows in the forbidden isle at autozone actually is a cold air intake, even if the manufacturer claims it is.
My $700 e-tune got me 160 whp in a couple days and a few revisions. Of course a road tune isn't as good as a dyno tune, but they were able to monitor the same parameters and receive the same feedback as they would have on the dyno.
8:35 I really like Mazdaspeed 3s, so I informed myself about the car and the tuning and with the COBB Access Port, you do a log and send it to the tuner, before they send you a tune for your vehicle. And sure there are some factors, that aren't like on a Dyno, because you usually log on the street. But I think it's a good solution to get a tune specifically for your vehicle without going to the tuner and getting a Dyno tune.
Honestly, email tuning is really underrated, especially if you can find a reputable tuner that is known for your vehicle. It's even better if you have way to datalog while driving that you can send to them and point out any issues you had during that log that they can take a look at in all situations, not just full power pulls.
You are exactly right. My 5.7 Hemi gained 13 horsepower on the dyno at the rear axle from the combination of a K&N cold air intake + filter and Flowmaster mufflers. Sure that’s not enough to start racing NHRA Top Fuel but I certainly noticed stronger acceleration and better pulling power in my Hemi Ram truck.
Perfect example of this is diesel motors. Super choked up from the factory, but add an a intake, Downpipe, and exhaust and you’re only making an extra 25-50 hp. Tune that and it’s an easy 3 digit upgrade
Check out Mod Misconceptions PART 2 Here! ua-cam.com/video/TmxazAGEc0g/v-deo.html
What's your thoughts on short ram intake instead of cold air on a 2000 prelude? I've heard with good headers and Nvidia catback exhaust it will sound less rice with the short ram.
I stopped watching probably before YT stopped recommending me your videos. Instead of talking about cars your videos started being more and more focused on car community, which I don't like, which I prefer not to consider myself a part of. Now YT recommended me Part 2 of this video and I decided to check how's my old pal Bladed doing. Not so much, as I can see😂😂😂
Sorry, dude, your content is just isn't what I'd type in search bar, not everybody likes mods, not everybody likes to hear just another mainstream car enthusiast opinion. New car reviews and counter-mainstream opinions - that's what interesting to watch. Not pRoJeCt cArS, not top 10s, not car meetup vlogs - that cr*p's boring!
“Cold air intakes”
Guys proceeding into removing the airbox top so that the “cold air” intake can suck hot air straight from the engine bay 🤦♂️
@@ldmtag new cars are crap.
Compression ratio on most gasoline engines is getting close to diesel engines already.
Up to 5 catalytic converters, adblue, direct injection… need I go further?
Electric cars, instead of simply making a normal electric car they put a never ending amount of gadgets, gismos and crap you don’t need only to further shorten your battery instead of making just a CAR and done.
Be wise, buy a pre 2006 car (not any junk at least choose something cool) maintain it, love and enjoy it and spend the rest of the money in food or whatever you like.
@@danielhristov6175 you want one single reliable car that would last you your life time? Nah, it's not me. I actually like some cool new features. What I definitely don't need and don't want is massaging seats🤡, heated everything🙄, power operating everything😏. But I like stuff like collision warnings, blind spot assists, automatic emergency braking, night vision, rear wheel steer - that all might be a little annoying to deal with, but it gives you that funny feeling of driving a spaceship😅 I prefer that over the "mechanical" feel.
And, btw, it's so spot on that you picked specifically the year 2006, cos that's precisely when my affordable dream car came out - the X164 Mercedes-Benz GL: 12 inches of ground clearance, low range, permanent AWD with center and rear differential lockes, and it's alao the most beautiful car in history with the perfect balance between masculine and elegant, angular and aerodynamic, with gorgeous long, short (height) and narrow proportions, that streamlined sillhouette, and freakin' sick stance with that air suspension in Offroad 2 level😍Yeah, with 224 hp diesel it's slow, but I don't need to drive it fast, just cruising around in this massive beast knowing you can park over anything is already great pleasure!
Number 5: blinker fluid is just a prank, this is very important for your car you must do it. You need to change blinker fluid
Can confirm, my car calls for a blinker fluid flush every 50-60k miles. It's very important so you don't run out of blinks
Don’t forget to check your piston return springs, can go bad in most Japanese cars
@@yippeeclawyay2591 i have not and my car is japanese
@@yippeeclawyay2591 is it gonna explode now?
BMW’s are very hard to change the fluid on so many just let it run dry
As a technician I appreciate this video to know I’m not crazy for the first two points
Ppl ain't got patience these days. "If it doesn't give me 50HP instantly, It's a fake mod and I don't want it!" Even though later on...IT CAN give up to 50HP when combined with other mods. Imagine expecting a Forced Induction Car to choke itself with the stock intake. There's a reason most Turbo Kits even recommend an Aftermarket CAI and some even sell/bundle one into your turbo purchase.
I always saw it as horsepower gain no matter how small.
@@BladedAngel It's like lifting the ceiling on a max power figure. *at first* it seems like nothing happens, but when you add like a turbo or cams or something, the higher ceiling really does help.
People will piss shit and cry before they accept all engines are different like a little baby honda k20 naturally aspirated will go from 200hp stock to 220hp with just an intake or 240 with just exhuast headers and intake ( thats a 20% increase in power with no forced induction just basic bolt ons ) bc of high compression and vtec yo ☠
@@BladedAngel I drive a Lexus ES 300 1mz fe 3.0 v6. They sound great and have pretty decent hp for it’s time 200 hp but they do not like to make hp without some supporting mods like even adding the TRD super charger only nets you about 70 hp granted that you tune it of course. I plan putting on exhaust.. warm air intake lol and manifolds, injectors and probably cams and a tune for 93 and probably call it there for now. It won’t be much but I know I’ll be happy with what it made without force induction.
I'd add another thing about ECU tuning.
Yeah. They maybe add some 10-15 hp in a worst case scenario. But here's the BIG elephant in the room:
*It's not about the amount of power delivered at the redline. **_It's about how power does get delivered all over the revs._** There's no case in having 800 hp at 8500 rpm, if the car its completely undriveable from 1000 to 7000, and gets crashed after leaving the house's driveway.*
ABSOLUTELY!!
A Good Tune smooths out a powerband and has no "dead spots". Like my FXDR after getting Dyno-Tuned rides like a Sport-Naked Bike instead of a lazy Boomer Bike.
Forever ago I had a 05 RSX-S, intake, catback, RBC manifold, injectors, stage 1 cam, Hondata ECU and a custom tune tok me from 175HP stock to 228, made power to 8300 RPM, redline was moved to 8500 so I was able to stay in the sweet spot of the powerband after every shift. All these things work together to increase performance but people just chase the big number, then lose to a NA Acura even though they make 50 more HP *for a second, in like 2-3 useful gears* I miss that car, stolen and chopped.
It's also not just about power or torque. My BTR turned ECU for my 2010 Genesis coupe 2.0t takes it from 223BHP (stock) to 249 WHP (with a few light mods) but also makes it more responsive in both getting on and off the power (allowing for fun blow off valve noises) and made the torque vs throttle pedal position better.
You need a better tuner
@@christopherbambino6984my brother had a 2006 rsx type s that’s FBO and he got 270~ hp
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best first comment ever
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The first mod you should make, imo, is tires. They let you accelerate, brake, and steer better. It's actually a better upgrade than just coilovers. Maybe add some rims to fit bigger stickier tires, but for your money, it's the best bang for your buck.
For sure, but in this video I wanted to cover some of the more scrutinized common choices. Since some ppl just want cool new parts in engine bay and NGL, I feel them on that.
Unless you actually track your car better tires won't do anything if you're just cruising around on the road.
@@BladedAngel I hear ya, I like how you put the video together and explained how small mods can become something bigger when put together in tandem with others.
@Chicane Not true. Having stickier tires makes a big difference braking in an emergency situation.
@@ChicaneMedia well now thats just fucking dumb
Good to see someone out there supporting even the smallest mods. Not everyone is comfortable pulling their car apart (with no idea whether they can reassemble it) and sometimes just having something small and easy might give someone an incentive to do more later down the line.
You gotta start somewhere I remember putting cheap led strips on an accord and putting 12” in a cobalt. Not I’ve got a 300zx with a top mount gt35r and full stand alone ECU. Couldn’t of learn all that without all the failures before that.
Well said. With my Q60, I have no interest in heavily modding the car because of 1. Being the factory and extended warrentys and 2. Reliability issues. All I want is a bit more noise from the car and I'll be happy. But for those who want to do a lot of work to their car, more power to you!
A “huge improvement” also really depends on what you’re doing. When it comes to road cars it’s usually like 50-100 hp. But in actual racing, especially in sports car racing where we have tight regulations, having an extra 5 hp is a HUGE difference
When you got a 160hp car like mine, every little bit helps. :D
Nice name, heel toe 😂
Right!!! My stock figures were 227hp/227tq. It's now 310hp/340tq and boiiiii howdy it's fuunnnn!!!!
To reinforce the 3rd point, in the Crown Vic community, getting a Marty tune can easily cut your 0-60 time down 1-2 seconds from 9 seconds to 7-8
@@steveng507 I can’t remember what year they started, probably 04-05, but they practically already have a cold air intake because it is funneled in from the headlight housing
@@wadedalton2247 All factory intakes are cold air intakes. The Marauder/p71 airbox can support up to near 550hp. I wouldn't even replace the airbox, I'd just get a better ziptube, if anything. And the frpp intake is just the PI intake.
The earlier panthers need the P71 computer from what ever year/generation you have- to make it work better without a tune.
Referring to the 2000+ panthers, example: 2000-2002,2003-2005, and 2006-2011 are different generations.
@@EliAngwin mine is a p7b and I just got my tune in the mail yesterday, it’s a whole mother beast lol
Lol Marty is famous.
As someone who currently doesn't have a muffler on a 95 horsepower car, it is VERY noticable.
I always tell everyone to get an intake not for power but for the sound. Worth it, especially if you have a quiet, small engine
I second this. Engine sound is more important than it gets credit for.
Exactly. I put one in my V6 Challenger and instantly heard a big difference in sound. For that alone I'd say it was worth it. When I put one in my 5.0 Mustang it made a small difference in sound, but it definitely wasn't as noticeable as it was in the smaller, quieter engine.
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@@pickleddolphinmeatwithhors677 i have the v6 200, same engine, so youd think itd be worth it on that for the sound?
Hundreds for air intake sound lol silky kids all noise no go
For my car, dual cone intakes were one of the first mods I did because the stock airbox is restrictive af. Also, email tunes are great either way. For a lot of email tuners available for my car, you get free revisions, and they will actually have you do a pull, take a log, and send it to them so that they can adjust the tune to your specific car.
You can get custom tunes done remotely on modern cars that is for sure. It is actually better because you're actually on the road doing pulls instead of simulating the environment like dynos do.
My car is slow ,and adding power to a vr6 is expensive even if you go turbo.
But they sound so nice with a car and decent exhaust.
Its just a cruiser so im fine with that,ive got other toys for the speed bug.
I totally agree with you. People seem to forget that any mod is just a part of something bigger. Of course any of these mods alone are hardly even giving any real profit... but all of them (and many others) combined give some serious gain. I love that you included shelf tunes. Even on an almost stock car with some minor upgrades it's good to have some safe tune.
Fun fact - I was noting my thoughts about each of the mod you mentioned just before you explained that and I had very simillar conclusions. I'll provide my notes in the reply to this comment 😁
About the powerboxes. There are some chip-boxes that are designed specifically for particular engine models that by-pass ecu and actually really increase power. I wouldn't recommend them though as these are just faking input data in order to enrich fuel-air ratio.
1: Cone filters alone are indeed fake mod, but CAI, properly isolated, coupled with aggresive cams and tweaks to the computer - it is an useful mod. It also depends on the car. CAI alone can make a difference depending on the model of engine.
2. Exhaust mods can be totally pointless and on the other hand completely necessary. Especially for turbo/supercharger conversion. Plus, they go well with CAI :D
3. I'd exclude universal OBDII plugged powerboxes. They're completely pointless. But maps designed for specified model? They can grant some gains. Probably much less than map specifically designed for a certain engine with certain wear but still. If there is a safe tune for let's say any turboed diesel or more aggresive, yet still safe for TSI engine, it's probably gonna give some HP to the car.
4. Let's be honest, carbon fibre parts can be used for style, performance or both. There are some car projects utilising carbon as a mean to make car more aggresive-looking and other performance-serious projects where it's a necessity in order to reduce weight. Some other desings have carbon for style but coupled with some big performance upgrades so these mods make sense in both cases.
so i can do all these on my base auto rsx 🤔🤔
@@jonathanmartinez3412 definitely. I'm not sure how much gains you'll get but more air and fuel burnt = more power. And more fuel might need better injectors. Torque characteristics may change in favor of higher RPM, not sure how it may affect wear.
Just remember, performance upgrades on NA car are way more expensive than they seem and must be treated as a whole project, not particular parts upgrade. Often it's much easier to just turbo your motor.
And even if basic cold air intakes and exhausts didn’t matter, they’re still a good way to comfortably get your feet wet when wanting to start modding. Those are the first two mods I did on my car and just a simple couple hours undoing a few bolts or clamps helped me break through the initial intimidation of messing around in my engine bay or getting around underneath my car. They’re fantastic beginner mods for the jumping off point they provide
Man sounds like a disappointed dad, I didn’t need 2
BRUH
My dad is probably Dirt Biking somewhere IDK
Bro sounds like raccooneggs
IMO a cold air intake is only worth it if you're going all out and giving it real cold, fresh air. Get a headlight intake or put it out the hood or do whatever, just give it lots of air intake.
@user-gl2mu7fb7xthat's not true at all.
@the gamer 64 That is absolutely not true. Unless you have somehow added an intake that literally inhales dirt and filters nothing, you are not damaging reliability with an intake change. It just probably won't provide any benefit without tuning.
@@Brandonr757sGamingit does provide a benefit without tuning. It allows for more air at high rpms. I had a Sebring with a C.A.I. and I raced a new Sebring without one. We were dead even until about 60 and then I started to walk away about 1-3mph faster.
@@hitmixhyepock9405 that's why I said "probably". Some cars will notice the extra flow and make a little more power because of it. Some cars will do nothing. Some will be worse if you have an intake with warmer temps. But yes, if it's a proper one with similar or colder air, with more flow, there's a good chance the car can make a few hp more.
@the gamer 64 wtf you mean tuning an air filter?
In my area, loud exhausts save lives! Every vehicle I have ever owned has had a modified exhaust system. I've also never hit a deer or even came relatively very close to hitting one. On the flipside my mother has taken out practically a whole herd of deer over the years with her multiple (very quiet) vehicles. At this point I am convinced it is more than a coincidence. 🤷🤓
I've thought the same. Animals run away from all 3 of my trucks when they hear them coming.
13 years ago, i upgraded my exhaust system on my 99 subbie sus, and the difference was def noticed. not only did it give a small increase in hp, the dirty growl was sooooo worth it.
Dirty growl > More HP
@@kiefershanks4172 grrrr
A lot of people also forget that there is more than just power to some of these mods. Intakes, aftermarket TBs, and tunes usually also help throttle response making your car more reactive the inputs of your pedal. Makes your car's power delivery feel more instant. So while you didn't increase power much your car feels more peppy than it was before.
Somewhat disagree with approaching email/remote tunes as a "start" or cheaper option and worse than a dyno tune. I think it really depends on your platform and tuner. Ex. I have a Fiesta ST, and I guarantee if I went to a local dyno shop (which would definitely not specialize in anything like my car) that they would not do nearly as well of a job as my tune from a (remote) company who has already worked on 30+ cars with almost the same list of modifications. I think the only time dyno tunes dominate is when you find someone of the same knowledge/skill level as a remote one, but the advantage to remote is you can choose specifically who you believe to be the "best"/most knowledgeable one for your car. Also, I'm not sure if this isn't true for other platforms, but I got a few revisions of my tune based on my datalogs from the previous revision so that it IS entirely custom to my car. It's not an "off the shelf" tune for my parts list.
Exactly, email tunes (at least good ones) aren't one and done. The tuner will have you data log how the car performs in different scenarios such as: 0-60, 20-80, WOT, cruising, etc. And they'll rewrite the tune a few times until it's just right based on YOUR car's information.
Dyno tunes are better if you're chasing a particular power or torque point. Cars are not THAT different that every single one needs a custom tune. File tunes are just fine for normal ass street cars.
a few years ago there was a youtube video with a v8 engine running as a test crate, they tested all the different intakes, if i remember correctly, the one with best performance was a salad bowl, modified to be used as an intake
That’s only for carbureted engines. For carburetors it’s more about controlling the direction of the air flow rather than amount to an extent.
@@bryancollins942 oh ok, ty for the info
Just make sure to use only straight oil & vinegar. Ranch or Bleu cheese will gum up your valves really bad.
@@blisterbrain lol
Weight reduction is perhaps the most cost effective performance mod you can do if you don't care about what your car looks like on the inside. I mean, it costs nothing to strip your car. But if you want to keep things as stock as possible on the inside, typically the best engine mods are going to be exhaust related, then go intake if money isn't an issue.
Honestly, you should always be building your car to what YOU like at the end of the day. Who cares if it is "negligible" power gains. It is what you want.
If im being real, i think super modding cars to get them to double, even triple its factory hp has ruined the sense of modding cars. To a lot, your mods don't matter if they didnt minimum give it +50 hp each. Its ruined the scene for a lot of people i talk with
The last part is what I agree on. Yeah ppl expect their first few mods to give 50HP each like a racing video game...like nah, you lucky if it gives 15HP. My Z06 can't even net 50HP per mod, unless I literally change my Blower, but that's just expensive at that point and moving too far from being daily drivable.
@@BladedAngel I work at a shop where 2 of the techs are modding out their cars with turbos, larger intakes, Tunes, etc.
I basically told one of em that I don't plan an e85 tune with larger turbos and whatnot. I just want a better sound with an Axle-back exhaust system with a brake upgrade, I was essentially laughed at. Sorry I don't wanna turn the car I daily into a fireball
@@BladedAngel To sort of add on to this, in the obsession with horsepower gains alot of people forget about a funny little thing called reliability
"What do you mean my Subie needs a catch can?" yeah ok Todd have fun with your 4th engine replacement
@@yono367 Question, what's a catch can?
@@BladedAngel this is a midnight club dub 3 edition moment
Best reason to get a cold air intake is the sound improvement imo
Sure the power gain in negligible but that satisfying intake sound connects me more with the car which I value more than hp
Always a great day when bladed drops a video
This is a great video. I got a $500 piggy back and a dyno tune which netted me almost 140whp,so now my stock car is 490whp. Still an $800 upgrade with dyno, but 140whp is totally worth the cost on a car with no other mods
I can't believe he didn't talk about the best performance mod people think is fake
Red engine covers
I'm a diesel guy, and almost always recommend getting a cold air intake as your first mod, it doesn't necessarily make a difference in power but it lowers intake temp and makes a huge difference in longevity of your turbo on top of getting a serviceable air filter that will save you money over time if you make sure you stay on top of it
Cold air intake mods can totally be null and void depending upon the application of how you install one. The point of them is to suck up cold air for the added air boost, but the engine generates a lot of heat especially around peak performance. So if you don’t place the air intake in a proper position to get that sweet refreshing cold air. It can very well just suck up hot engine bay air and it really defeats the purpose especially in the name. The plastic shrouding is actually a plus even though it looks goofy, and even if it seems counter intuitive paying for the extra length to extend your filter to a position where it can get that cold air sucked up will actually give you more overall horsepower across the rev range board. You have some folks that think just slapping a cone filter as close to the throttle body will just magically make it suck up cold air. Fam it needs to be close to an opening either in the grill opening, headlight space or near the wheel well so it can grab all that juicy cold air and away from the hot engine bay. So like you can pay a lot of money for a nice cold air setup that is actually less effective than a stock one because a lot of stock ones have plastic casings and are mounted in a position to grab cold air. It doesn’t take an engineering degree for a good cool air setup. Just some out of the box thinking and setup on a proper oriented position for one.
Not to mention if you're idling in traffic it's going to suck up a TON of warm air from your engine making efficiency even worse.
@@aidanwinter1698 For sure fam. The only thing i can think of to mitigate that issue is too use a cold water based inter cooler that you typically see on blower style supercharged setups. In that sense i guess it wouldn’t really matter where your filter was if the air gets chilled before it goes into the cylinders. I still think you could cram more air in the engine if you mounted your intake in a spot to catch cool air on average plus having that water to air cooler before the air is used for combustion to just condense it even further. Prolly not gonna see any gains without forced induction tho. Would still like to see someone test the idea of a setup like that. Just to see how it effects the engine in the long run. Like would it help fuel economy, could you run a higher compression ratio, does it extend engine life or risk the block cracking from cold temps and hot temps constantly mixing, would it help to have more complete combustion in the engine and less harmful incomplete byproducts.
Side note no combustion process is 100% complete but as an example if you could have a bon fire and chemically speaking everything burned completely there really wouldn’t be smoke per say and you could breathe the phantom fumes without risking cancer. Besides getting light headed from a lack of oxygen or carbon dioxide poisoning but that would literally just make you want to exhale. But yeah if it could help the combustion be more complete thats less bad emissions for the environment and you could throw on less restrictive catalytic converters. Because a lot of those precious metals used to help protect the environment are either stolen or mined in a manner that harms human life or ends up being bad on the environment in which its ore was taken. Thru habitat destruction or just exposing poor people to inhumane conditions so we can feel better about ourselves driving our cars in the “Free world” and think we have limited our impact on the environment. That’s even worse for electric cars. Those mining processes for those fancy batteries costs kids their lives working slave wages so you can drive something and feel good you aren’t buying into the rising gas prices when you know damn well if that fancy car crashes and starts burning, soaking it in water is just gonna cause an even bigger conflagration to occur. Just a thought but if you drive a tesla into the ocean it could burn all the way to the bottom of the sea floor and still keep on going. Lithium is one hell of an element and water only makes the fiery reaction worse. Of course it has to be exposed to like its seal broken and gas engines have lead based batteries and that shit is really terrible to be exposed to. Lead is responsible for iq loss in hundreds of millions of people. Higher crime as a result of more idiots and just overall poorer quality of life as well as lower life span. And we used to put that shit into gas as an octane booster when good ole ethanol actually does the job better it was just cheaper to use lead instead. So that e10 is really just some cheap gas with an added kick. Ethanol actually has a cooling effect on the engine when its burned so it helps to remove the heat from the combustion chamber. Its less likely to misfire so minimizes knocking. Its relatively sustainable honestly ethanol should just be fuel instead of petrol but heard it gums up the engine but like i dunno you see a lot of high end custom built high horsepower project race cars use that e90 ignite fuel to get every ounce of horsepower from their builds if it tarnished the engine inside i don’t think it would be that popular.
That was actually very useful. Especially part 3. I live in Ukraine, Zhytomyr city and I’m pretty sure there is no tuning shop with a dyno in our city. I plan to install supercharger and cams on my NA Miata once the war is over and I thought I would have to rent a truck to bring the car to Kiev to tune it. But now I think I might just e-mail pre tune it and than just drive it for a proper tune. So thanks!
I'm glad you put this video out and wish people would watch it to better understand how modding works. People don't understand what "support" mods are. CAI may not add power, but allow a tuned engine, turbo, and supercharger to breathe. Alot of people claim solid charge pipes on a turbo engine are a waist bc they don't add power. They don't understand, if you leave the oem rubber pipes on, the increased boost collapses them choking the turbo.
CAI will add power on engines like any dohc vtec engines bc of compression and high rpm and high lift cams same with a old bmw m3's high strung Inline 6's but on most cars you will see dick unless forced induction
@Re:Pingers I was just about to say, not on a focus st. CAI adds zero just like exhaust on them.
The only time a cold air intake WONT give you a performance boost is when the OEM intake is already optimal. I think there are some BMW M cars that come with massive air intakes from the factory that don't really make sense to "upgrade" since they already flow so much air.
My 2007 GT500 on the other hand ...... Oh man, a K&N cold air intake gives you a 50 whp gain with no tune and is definitely worth it!
The maf is another reason. It can cause the car to lose performance as the maf is reading the wrong input.
I think my moms 2000 Camry has a wonderful OEM cold air intake. It’s a straight 3” tube to a box with a giant diagonal k&n filter and then the other side of the box has an equally large hole straight out the fender. The intake I see sold for this car might sound a bit louder but stock is best for sure.
Cold air intakes are actually case by case. Most of the time they add 0%. It's even been tested feeding straight up air conditioned air. Generally you only get gains when the stock intake is too restrictive, which usually isn't the case until you add forced induction. Car makers don't exactly want to incur pumping losses for no reason when that would hurt them on emissions and lower their Dyno numbers.
I'd like to note that not having a straight pipe can make the car FEEL faster as well as you don't feel like you're smashing the throttle every time you move around a bit. It's an illusion, but a nice one
The last 2 and a half minits made me "😩" . Love you man🥰
a cold air intake depending on the car can be huge with a tune. here in germany a few tuners offer the jlt intake for the mustang gt (2018 and up) including tune and all the paperwork needed to register it in your vehicles papers for around 2k (yes, modding a mustang isnt cheap here with 2k for an intake) but it gives you 40-50hp which is a lot considering the 450hp base output of the engine
Your saying an intake is 2k and you gain 40-50hp with an intake? 💀
@@driftingbrandonc.6480 yes, intake + tune. the 5.0 mustang 2018 and up is rated (and dyno tested) at 450hp as the eu version. with the jlt intake + tune you get dyno numbers around 490-500hp, some even around 510hp. a supercharger will cost around 16k if you dont put it in yourself and due to legal limitations without super expensive testing you will be around 700hp after that.
@@Celestix666 ya I’m not buying what your selling. The reason for a 40-50hp gain cannot be from the aluminum pipe and cone filter 💀.
@@driftingbrandonc.6480 thats because you dont read what i write. the 5 inch plastic pipe and filter + 87mm throtle body gives you like 5 hp at best because without the TUNE a modern car wont use the extra amount of air it gets. and if you cant get that difference in america maybe german tuners are just better at using software 🤷♂
dyno numbers dont lie, especially in a country where equipment has to be inspected every few years.
@@Celestix666 I read what you wrote. The pipe and filter isn’t what’s giving them 40-50hp. It’s the tune.
I've had this debate many times with many people. I normally end it with saying. If your air filter is clogged the engine still runs but power and economy is lacking. So how could more/cooler air not help. Yes it's not a huge difference however supporting mods like you said will make more noticeable difference.
For the cold air intakes yes you are right but again every car and engine is different and every setup and build is different too for example i have a 3.7 q50 and when you compare a build that has cold air intakes with a build that has only drop in filters both tuned the differences were literally a couple of horsepower (that’s after the tune) so for the vq37vhr save 450$ and go with drop in filters
I think it’s mainly because this engine has two inlets this means two air intakes and two air filters and the whole thing sucks air from the closest point possible to the front grill so it already breaths so well from factory
I have a highly modified and tuned '13 g37 and '06 g35. While I agree, a good set of drop in filters get you pretty close to the same hp, the sounds you get from the long tube versions of our intakes were worth the extra money to me. I'm using the carbon fiber tubed Z1 intakes with the larger filters and velocity stacks. They sound great. I completely get deciding to save the money though.
I got maf issues using those kn dropins. Went with z1 longtubes = zero issues and love the sound!!!
Remember a couple videos ago, when you said you find it sad, how young car enthusiasts only look at the numbers of a car, like 0-60, top speed, time on whatever track, and that old cars get less and less attention because of this?
Yeah, that gave me the final push away from a modern sporty car and towards an old car. I now own a Porsche 924 S built in 1986 as my secondary/fun/summer car and I love it for everything it is.
It makes 150 HP, and by modern standards, it's slow, BUT it looks nice and has SO much style.
Just wanted to say that. You did your part in pushing me towards the old car, and for that, I'm thankful.
a car is only as good as the sum of its parts. Also, I had an email tune that I used for 6 moths, when I got a dyno tune I was told my car was running lean. Email tunes are great temporary tunes but just get a Dyno tune. The Dyno tune was will always be safer and better. These were basic bolt ons
TRUTH. And that sum of parts takes time to add...!
Just drive a stock car after modding yours. And you'll appreciate all the mods you've done.
I remember test driving a car for someone else to check for issues, and man... I am so glad for all the mods I've done
Really nice message at the end
I don’t think those were very legal speeds Bladed
Never overlook suspension. Even though it doesn't add horsepower it will make the car faster. If you're intending to build it for the track, don't forget bushings and mounts. The less things move, the more power you can use
Yeah all the power in the world doesn't matter if your suspension cant handle it.
Tires - ps4s = worth every penny. I did a cheap swaybar and just hose two items completely transformed my 370z ( all show n no go!)
Nice to see you back
I never left Q_Q
@@BladedAngel I don’t know man 2 weeks seems like 2 years
My wife's truck got an increase in mpg after the cai. .4-.5 mpg on the highway. Now it has a stage one cam with full exhaust. It runs great. Good video
I just recently put a cold air intake on my 2012 Accord oh man it does make a difference because sometimes I like to floor it just for fun also the sounds it makes when it sucks in air is crazy cool it makes it sound more beefy or meaty than stock I think the next thing is exhaust I already got aftermarket wheels on it that make it look real good
The exhaust will add a nice purrrrr to your setup. Definitely recommend a catback to go with your intake.
If it’s automatic make sure you pick a longer and bigger diameter resonator otherwise the engine in the accord will sound like a raspy mess.
with the cold air intake when you have a stock car its basically gonna do nothing but when you have an insane amount of fuel injected every bit of air makes a difference
These guys saying "good vid“ as soon as it drops
I noticed the same thing LOL, people really just want attention I guess
@@MyNameIsNidos I ain't no simp for simps, so I give attention to ppl who do watch the video so thanks to ya both.
@@BladedAngel
I'm happy the guy that tuned my corvette is a pretty fair dude. 400 bucks for a dyno tune, and then any revisions are half price. Only downside is that he is normally booked for at least a month or so in advance, as you mentioned.
Another great way to get over the fear of putting that first performance mod on like bladed mentioned is to repair a broken car, whether it's your own or a friend's. You don't have to worry about compatibility, tunes, or all that because your replacing parts that were already on the car stock, and it helps you learn about the internal workings of cars
You pointed out very accurately that mods are a combination effect. This fact seems to be overlooked or missing from a lot of people's minds OR maybe they were never taught critical thinking.
As I'm older than most of the "kids" in the car community that I'm somewhat a part of, I get why when I was younger the "older guys" were cranky and ignored the younger members on specific topics.
And within most car communities, you can tell (to some degree) whom the older people are. They phrase things differently; they offer more information (vs 2 run on sentences without any punctuation) and have reasons for what they've chosen and installed. And those are the people that I tend to listen to.
Thank you for putting this plainly - it is very refreshing and welcomed.
Cold air intakes are useful for intake temps and most importantly
*noise*
Short rams also have their benefits. You can always make a box system like RAM AIR systems for Cars with ITBs if you lose too much power or get bad heat soak.
The throttle response, especially with NA cars, helps at the limit.
*and with noise*
I'd also like to add that you can gain more power with an exhaust paired with an intake depending on the car than each respectively combined.
If you're breathing out faster than you tell breathing in or vise versa, you'll have problems.
I remember I brought up flash tunes in my automotive class in 9th grade in like 2012, the whole class including the teacher roasted me saying you couldn't gain power from a computer, the concept of plugging something into a car and making an actual difference was insanity to them
It depends on what you’re doing. A computer won’t give you power gains if you’re stock on air intake, exhaust and fuel injection and ignition but what he’s explaining in the video is if you do everything else with a tune, it’ll bring out the engine more as in more responsive, more air and more fuel ratio into the power and torque band. A smooth power band is everything when it comes to tuning. People are expecting to see flames and popcorn tunes in which hurts and damages the engine. That’s most of the time when people think a tune would make a car really powerful.
@@WaySydeBeats I know they just weren't having any bit of it, they were just very old school (and kinda mean) they even reluctantly used ODB scan tools
What about stickers???? We all know that each sticker gives you 10 additional horse power!!!
You heard it here.
Pack it up bois
Reject Building a car
Embrace stickerbombing the car.
I have began avoiding most intakes due to oiled filters dirtying MAF sensors, and "high performance" filters not filtering the same quality as OEM. But that doesn't mean gains are still to be had. The key is to make an airbox that will fit a larger oem filter.
Air Boxes are also the single biggest thing for a CAI, they are needed.
Exhausts really need to be matched to rpm range, turbos, if you have them and power output. The whole point is to balance flow, scavenging and keep the Exhaust hot so that it wants to leave the pipe.
Back pressure is a myth, brought on by people going to too large a diameter, and/or, a system that scavenged less. Usually the larger diameter, where the exhaust cools and becomes dead gas inside the pipe causing a parasitic power loss to push it out.
I'm ranting here....
Canned tunes are great for lightly to mild modifications.
Had a Golf TDI with a stage 2 tune, emissions delete and exhaust.
On the dieselgate tune, the car was a dog, and it only got 42 mpg no matter how it was driven.
Post tune it had much more usable power, would spin and chirp tires, and got 50mph at 70, 65mpg at 55.
Cold air intakes work wonders for your mid range and low range torque. I put one on my 2001 Grand Prix back in the day and it turned into a beast!
We offer Lifetime tunes for the Honda/Acura V6 J-Series Engine Platforms. We never suggest box/canned tunes. As you mentioned even in minor cases there are still differences of 3-6% between the same car, mods etc. Let's just go on health so if the AFR is already pegged perfect at 14.7 for low loads that 6% off would leave your car at 15.5:1 AFR. Same with ignition timing, let say the cars MBT is 28° at WOT and you're off 6% higher then the car likes, either it will still keep that amount in potentially causing knock/detonation which will tear your engine apart or in most cases the knock limit will be triggered and the tune/ECU will pull way more timing out than needed, trying to keep the engine safe. In that case even a E-Tuner as we are can dial that ignition timing in which in some cases can yield up to 20-25whp more, at least for our platform. We also feel our tunes are much more accurate than dynos, being we get real world data and loads from the customer datalogs. They are not only driving in real world conditions as they do normally, but we get to tune those areas where dynos for the most part want you in and out within an hour, so they mostly only tune Wide Open throttle and some moderate throttle. Our customers absolutely love our tunes because the car feels night and day different not just at WOT or heavy loads, but also moderate and low rpms.
I seriously love this channel it’s such a nice realistic break from all of the toxicity that can pollute this community
Dawg you on el paso?
Mesa st?
So glad to hear defense on the cold air intake, another thing that made me give up on ever reading anything on reddit about cars is people talking about them hurting the car. DONT SOAK THEM IN OIL THEN, if you drench it in oil no crap it's going to cause issues
As someone with a carbon spoiler on my subie, I definitely bought it mostly for cosmetics. And dang does it look pretty. I'm not sure how much it helps me on the dirt track, but it'll definitely do something.
Even if cold air and straight pipes don't add alot of power they do allow the engine to inhale and exhale more freely which on top of the small power increase can also improve responsiveness and fuel efficiency
You are super understanding & Also the whole channel is underrated as f**. Keep up all the awesome content man!! Love it!
I honestly think that stuff like email tunes are a really great thing to come into car culture/modding, for basically all the reasons you said.
I drive an ob1 1990 corvette. There are absolutely no tuners near me. Only Alvin from pc of nc who I get my mail order tunes from. Every car is different. My car responded VERY well to exhaust mods because of how restrictive the exhaust and intake is. Oh damn how am I gonna tune it.. mail order tune. Did it work? Better than I could EVER imagine. My vette runs sooooooooo much better. Do your research. Find what works well for your car. Find a tuner that knows their shit. It’s so worth it. Great video bro. Thanks!! Love to watch your videos when I’m in the mood to listen to some car talk.
Somebody who specializes in a, or certain cars, will have a better mail order tune, than somebody who wants to tune everything without full concern of available aftermarkets.
Not only does a CAI give 1-2% more power but I’ve noticed in any car that gets one installed you immediately gain better throttle response and you also get to hear cool intake noises when driving
I gained 35 hp from swapping my engine to a much newer version of the same engine, from there I upgraded my intake and exhaust from 2" single to 2.5" dual with X pipe, I also got a custom tune to go along with those major upgrades to make it all work well with each other. I'm still under 300HP as I didn't go as far a swap cams and port my heads and go for higher compression.
I did find it weird I wasn't finding any of your videos on my homepage. I'm glad you're still around though
As a car Enthusiast and body mechanic myself I can say with certainty boarding your personal vehicles definitely start for a lot of people with visual mods it gives them the inspiration to start doing more
Glad you made your point correctly. tired of people complaining how others tune their cars so they can be comfortable on their stock cars lol
Eyyy! Bladed drops a video AND a goal from man united, all in the same 5 minutes. Made my day.
Never ever underestimate the importance of having a good tune.
I run a BSR stage 1 tune on my weekend car which bumped the power by 50ps and 125Nm.
Even without a dyno tune an email tune can be specific to one vehicle. Most good tuners will have you data log and make revisions to the tune to get it right for that session.
for those who are saying "hey Blade, glad you're back, missed you, not posting videos" guys, just by his voice in the videos you can tell he doesn't have that same happiness as the ones in videos before, now he's a motorcycle guy, what gives him hype now are motorcycles, not cars, lately he only complains about things when he talks about cars lol
Was about to buy a 40 year old car for 3k, it was painted with a brush and looked a bit off. Wanted to buy it, fix the paint and drive it as it was until I could mod it.
Change the carburettor for a EFI, one of those "self regulating " Easy to tune ones, that could handle a turbo.
New Intake, coils and all that.
Didn't want the fastest car, just a bit better than stock from 1980.
But was to much rust to just drive until then and sadly don't have anyplace to weld rust.
Great video. I would like to add my thoughts on exhaust & CAI. I will say that an exhaust system (catback) and or a good cold air intake will add significant power (and appearance) that is noticeable IF you're replacing the stock components. Certain cars have severely restrictive stock components. With exhausts, you can greatly increase flow out of your engine if you: delete/upgrade the stock cats, delete/upgrade stock resonators, add dual exhaust if applicable, increase exhaust pipe diameter, upgrade stock manifolds/headers, and delete/upgrade stock mufflers that are super restrictive. Not only will you receive beautiful sounds but you will gain an insane amount of power. The same can be said for your stock airbox. Certain stock airboxes can be insanely restrictive and adding a high quality CAI could potentially add noticeable power INSTANTLY depending on the car.
For example, my C4 corvette had stock manifolds, very restrictive cats, a Y pipe, suit case mufflers, and an exhaust diameter of 2.25. I Ripped the entire system off in 1 piece and 100% rebuilt the system. I used 1-5/8 headers, 3 inch pipes, an X pipe, flow through mufflers, and that's it. That increases so much exhaust flow of the car I wouldn't be surprised if it added 15-20 wheel horsepower all across the torque curve AND makes this thing sound like a monster.
I'd like to see a video on catch cans. Sooo many people don't understand what it is a properly designed PVC system is for, and how a catch can actually can be a rather important item. You mention you have a FXDR, so if you have experience in the M8 world, you may even be able to relate. Especially now, when many cars have switch to direct injection, keeping oil out of the intake tract can have big repercussions.
As a tuner, I can agree on every bit of this. I used to think cold air intakes wouldn't benefit much at all, but it does make a difference for most vehicles. Nothing noticable, unless other mods were done.
Saw this on a LQ9 cam swap into a 5.3, stock air box and IAT's were too high to really push power out, cold air intake and it would rip.
Free tune revisions are awesome. My upgraded injectors were on back order on dyno day so I got tuned on tiny stock ones. A few weeks later my 1050cc’s came in and the difference was noticeable
On the cold air intake thing, there's also multiple reasons other than hp gains to have one. For me it improved my throttle response, for my Dad it gave his truck a better sound without having to change the exhaust, because I remembered how it had changed how my truck sounded.
Totally agree.
I had a VX SS 225kw v8 with the ls1 block.
I went from 225 to 290kw just by doing literally the CAI, exhaust and mafless tune.
That's it.
And yes, I literally swapped pit my PCM and was able to remove my air flow meter THAT day
RE: #4. If straight line speed is not your only goal, no amount of power can make up for weight. 300 hp/3000 lbs will always feel better to drive than 400hp/4000lbs.
Also for the "casual" modder (include myself in this): reputable shops that specialize in a specific brand of vehicles will often sell mods together with tunes in kits (Turner Motorsport for BMW for example). These are a great way to get started.
Excellent music choice Bladed, one of the best soundtracks out there.
I love the " very illegal speeds" 😂
Electronic boost controller for a turbocharged engine is a really nice mod, as you can fine tune the power band, especially in the low-end.
This is especially effective if you experience a lot of turbo-lag, even with a smaller unit. - I could really use one of these in my own car, as it doesn't really come on boost until it hits 2200-2300 RPM (which is high for a diesel powered car). Ideally it should hit maximum boost at around 1600-1700 RPM, to take full advantage of the engine's low-end torque range.
I've gotta '10, MINI Cooper Clubman S. It's fbo with a bigger turbo, performance LSD, ported exhaust manifold, bigger injectors, AEM ram/cold air intake, ClutchMasters FX400/lightweight flywheel, CravenSpeed-on the fly adjustable short-throw shifter a fully adjustable Gecko suspension with a long list of other bells and whistles. As much as I enjoy listing all of my mods, I'll stop. I don't wanna come off as a pretentious car owner. Although I fear I already have. Living in Louisville, KY, I don't have a lot of options when it comes to tuning a highly modified MINI. Sometimes, I feel as if I'm the only guy in Louisville with a tricked out MINI. Especially with it being a Clubman. I've literally never seen another one. However, I am lucky enough to be friends with a guy who owns one of Louisvilles' most successful Euro shops. I go through these guys when I need something serious. When it comes to tuning, I don't use a dyno. Rather, a more precise method of tuning by email. My car gets hooked up to a laptop and track driven. The info is recorded and sent to Malone Tuning. They, in turn, develop a tune and send it back. The tune is then applied to my MINI, and the process repeats a few times. When my guys feel like the car is at peak, I am left with an extremely dialed in tune. This process cost me $1000. The only downfall is that I have to go through this every time I install a major upgrade or mod. There is no "discount"... It's $1000 every rip. The process works, and I've managed to get my car to a very nice 346 hp. With a very respectable 4.3 0-60. My little R55 is one helluva sleeper and has earned the respect of a lot of proud V8 owners. Other than my car, I have witnessed a plethra of many successful email tunes. Some of them are on cars pushing well over 700hp. It all depends on the car, the parts, and where the tune is coming from. Not all email tunes are quick and cheap.
Your video should be suggested to anyone thinking about trying to buy basic mods for their first time. Even if a single mod by itself won't gain big power but add to the overall joy of driving for its owner, that's all that should matter. A lot of people that tell others that something that adds a small % is a waste is missing the point.
There are certain cars that do receive a benefit from changing the air intake. Not necessarily "cold air intake" with liquid covered filter crap, but for instance.
A 2001 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS, if you keep the original paper element in the box, and remove all of the plastic piping from the car. You will have a very noticeable increase in performance in the vehicle. Change the filter to a dry foam filter & the improvement is not noticable but now you have a washable reusable filter.
Other vehicles like 2004 VW R32, put a dry foam filter & flash program the air/fuel. Wow. It really wakes up the engine. Especially when you unplug the vacuum line from the butterfly valve on the exhaust. Sounds aftermarket with stock exhaust. Car can accelerated without any problems in 2nd gear from a dead stop with NO lag at all. [Short shifter, full suspension, & all season high performance run flats]
So, it depends on what vehicle engine it's being used in and whether the air/fuel has been programmed, and exhaust restriction. Air in has to has air out. If you have a restricted exhaust flow, it will not matter how much air you're trying to put into the engine.
Thank you for this video. I still plan on building my car up, but this helped have some confidence to continue to project it out. I finally have a vehicle that has some performance and is fun to drive, and has also driven me to learn more and work on it. I've always been enjoyed the culture and now I can feel actually apart of it.
The problem with the cold air intake isn't that they don't do anything, it's that most of the products we colloquially refer to as cold air intakes or which are marketed as such are closer to hot ram air intakes.
They absolutely CAN help, especially when compounded with other mods and engine work like a good port and polish. Thing is, there's not a lot of good entry-level cold air intakes on the market. The good ones are generally not cheap and not easy to install. What is usually super accessible, cheap, and easy to install are short ram intakes without much consideration to flow and temperature.
Another big BIG problem with the cold air intake is that it's generally very difficult to beat the efficiency of your car's Helmholz resonator. The geometry is almost always specifically tuned to flow as efficiently as possible, and efficiency IS power. Many cold air intakes replace the resonator, though not all do. This is a problem because the gains you may make from colder intake temperatures in many cases don't make up for the efficiency lost by removing the resonator. I'm not saying it's impossible, it's just often difficult and not cheap.
The best cold air intakes to look for are ones that relocate the intake to a completely new area, usually higher up, away from heat sources, and especially areas that take advantage of the car's aerodynamics, such as under the cowl or even above the car like we see with many products made for the Toyota MR2.
Cold air intakes are great, and I would highly, highly encourage learning more about how they work, and doing the research to hunt down a good one and properly install it, but we can't pretend they are all created equal, or they are all beneficial, or even that every kit of plastic tubes and elbows in the forbidden isle at autozone actually is a cold air intake, even if the manufacturer claims it is.
I’m going to binge half your videos so they come up in my feed again, I miss watching you man!
My $700 e-tune got me 160 whp in a couple days and a few revisions. Of course a road tune isn't as good as a dyno tune, but they were able to monitor the same parameters and receive the same feedback as they would have on the dyno.
I love the automotive content, but the voice is why im subscribed.
8:35 I really like Mazdaspeed 3s, so I informed myself about the car and the tuning and with the COBB Access Port, you do a log and send it to the tuner, before they send you a tune for your vehicle. And sure there are some factors, that aren't like on a Dyno, because you usually log on the street. But I think it's a good solution to get a tune specifically for your vehicle without going to the tuner and getting a Dyno tune.
2:45 "Very Legal Speeds"
Me knowing that the car is going 100+ mph
Honestly, email tuning is really underrated, especially if you can find a reputable tuner that is known for your vehicle. It's even better if you have way to datalog while driving that you can send to them and point out any issues you had during that log that they can take a look at in all situations, not just full power pulls.
I saw this video show up on my feed, watched it and loved it! immediately subscribed.
You are exactly right. My 5.7 Hemi gained 13 horsepower on the dyno at the rear axle from the combination of a K&N cold air intake + filter and Flowmaster mufflers. Sure that’s not enough to start racing NHRA Top Fuel but I certainly noticed stronger acceleration and better pulling power in my Hemi Ram truck.
Perfect example of this is diesel motors. Super choked up from the factory, but add an a intake, Downpipe, and exhaust and you’re only making an extra 25-50 hp. Tune that and it’s an easy 3 digit upgrade