TRD CAI mileage gains

[Dlak]

What about smog regulations in the states. Would they possibly put a more restrictive air intake box to meet the requirements therefor taking a bit of a hit in gas mileage and HP? just a thought.

Look at the development money Toyota - and every other manufacturer - spend for better mileage.

A redesigned engine or transmission costs hundreds of millions of dollars and takes years. A clean sheet design will go well past a billion.

On top of that there's the cheap but blatantly compromised small details throughout the vehicle in favor of mileage. Hard skinny tires, excessively tall gearing, annoying transmission logic, flimsy plastic air dams, body panels barely thick enough to support their own weight, Kamm rooflines that ruin the back seat, etc.

If a slightly different air tube design that'd cost $18.50 if the factory did it were worth 1 mpg - 5% better - then what you're really saying is Toyota's hundreds of professional engineers who didn't think of that are re****s.

 

[bigwebb83]

What about smog regulations in the states. Would they possibly put a more restrictive air intake box to meet the requirements therefor taking a bit of a hit in gas mileage and HP? just a thought.

no...

 

[blademan]

With that said, I do believe some type of aftermarket air filter is worth putting on. You can benefit from a gain in HP, better throttle response, nice sound and the most beneficial aspect (to me), a lifetime filter. I have installed an aftermarket filter system in EVERY vehicle I have ever owned (including motorcycles).

Koz

What aftermarket filter do you use Koz? :biggrin2:

 

[Koz]

What aftermarket filter do you use Koz? :biggrin2:

In my IS I use a JoeZ aluminum tube with the OEM box (which is a CAI) and a Blitz drop-in filter (approx 5hp). I also installed a Greddy cat back.

In my old 4Runner I used a TRD drop in with a MagnaFlow cat back.

I will see what becomes available for my GX.

I use BMC race filters in my motorcycle (very expensive).

Koz

 

[nashman69g]

Ok, I'll settle this. Someone buy me one and send it to me. I'll do all the dyno and mpg tests and post the results. A win win!:lmao:

 

[Soupbean]

TRD intake

I know this is an old thread, just doing a little searching. Going to purchase a TRD drop-in air filter. It's all about designing a vehicle for the masses. Most people don't want to hear the "WOOSH" of induction sound when they get on the throttle. Most do not want the basic air filter maintenance to include pulling out the filter, washing the cotton gauze filter of dirt & oil, letting it dry thoroughly, re oiling and wicking off all extra oil and reinstalling. Plus the manufacturer doesn't want the consumer to not follow the cleaning-re oiling process properly and get oil on the MAF sensor, throttle body and intake plenum. Run a short ram intake on my 2zz-ge Corolla because the induction sound is insanely intoxicating and gives rather impressive full throttle power gains.
My '90 & '95 pickups and 2000 Tundra all had TRD drop-ins. Had one in the '89 Celica GT-S also. On the Tundra religiously kept a log for ten years or so . Every fill up wrote down mileage and gallons, did the math and logged. Mileage was definitely better with the drop-in. Not significantly better, but better. Also ran better, again not significantly better, but better. Didn't mind the slight increase in induction noise either.

 

[Throwback]

Food for thought but I'll gladly sacrifice a minuscule power increase in order to have my engine cycling more filtered air. There are plenty of oil analysis tests available showing that K&N style (cotton gauze) filters allow in more particulate which shows up as excessive silicon levels which leads to more wear on the engine internals.

You may get a small percentage increase in peak HP at max RPM at WOT, but that data point is experienced for what, five seconds on an on ramp if you like to drive that way? Not worth the long term excessive wear on the engine in my opinion.

 

[Soupbean]

Filtering particle

Food for thought but I'll gladly sacrifice a minuscule power increase in order to have my engine cycling more filtered air. There are plenty of oil analysis tests available showing that K&N style (cotton gauze) filters allow in more particulate which shows up as excessive silicon levels which leads to more wear on the engine internals.

You may get a small percentage increase in peak HP at max RPM at WOT, but that data point is experienced for what, five seconds on an on ramp if you like to drive that way? Not worth the long term excessive wear on the engine in my opinion.

Very good point for consideration. I believe it was on ( please no ripping ) Tundrasolutions.com someone did a fairly thorough test of popular aftermarket dry & oiled air filters that also included the factory Toyota paper filter. Not a flow test , just measuring filtering. The factory filter out performed all others as far as blocking particles. I.E. cleaner air in intake.

 

[green_manalishi]

Here's the test I always come back to: https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest3.htm

"Well there is a clear pattern on filtration ability compared to both flow and the type of filtration media used. The "high performance" cotton gauze and foam filters do not filter as well as some have claimed. I actually received an e-mail from K&N stating their filters filter within 99% of the OEM filters. This may be true, and 1% may not sound like much. I contend that 1% over many miles, may be important. Really, it is up to each individual to decide. The poorer flowing filters, remove more particles, and the better flowing filters remove less particles. If you think about it, that conclusion passes any and all common sense tests, so it is not surprising."

 

[Throwback]

And you know, you could really nerd out on it and see if there is a difference in volume of actual combustable molecules in the air of the two situations.

Thinking of a Brita filter kitchen faucet versus a garden hose in the yard. One flows more overall volume, but of the total volume only a portion is pure drinking water.

So... 5% flow increase of the K&N inside the actual intake manifold, but 1-2% increase in contamination.... net +3% in usable combustable molecules, with the additional wear and tear on the engine internals.

:biggrin1:

 

[jonny80stry3]

Sorry to reopen an old thread, but...

Same filter material, but more surface area will equal less DP across the filter material. Creating more flow, but same filtering capability.

This will increase air pressure to header and increase hp and usually torque (TRD results show a drop in torque on the high end) resulting in MPG gain.

Panel filters are cheap to make and easy to implement in design. Cone shaped filters add to manufacturing/design/maintenance/shipping costs (volume) hurting the bottom line.

 

[Judd94]

I’ve done the CAI thing and I’ve done the catback exhaust thing and I’ve done the TRD air filter only thing. What I’ve found is that the CAI and the TRD filter only had no significant change to justify the cost. Better responsiveness, better idle in hot humid air, and not being as likely to downshift going up a slight hill or overpass is what I’ve noticed. I also notice the engine just runs a little smoother and better with the filter and the catback exhaust combo. If you’re gonna do one then do the other as well. Don’t expect huge gains, just a little better, happier motor. These engines are so restricted from factory due to govt regs especially from states like Cali where I’m fairly certain that walking causes cancer.

 

[mynameistory]

I spray snake oil on my CAI filter and saw a raise of 0.001 MPG. Only cost me $900 per ounce. Checkmate, Toyota engineers.