Air Intake Systems
Air Intake Systems: What's The What
Did you know that it takes more ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies than it does to make horsepower? You've gotta have flour, vanilla extract, eggs, butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, chocolate morsels and a litany of other things from your pantry just to enjoy a couple dozen cookies. But, you only need air, fuel and fire to sink your teeth into a meaty mouthful of get-up-and-go! And, if you change the recipe by adding more oxygen with an air intake, you're rewarded with major power gains—try the same thing with the sodium in your cookies, and you'll end up with cookies so salty even deer wouldn't lick them.
Now, most car manufacturers don't like other chefs tinkering around in their under-the-hood kitchens. But, the truth of the matter is that stock air intake systems simply don't cut the mustard. Instead of being designed for maximum airflow efficiency, they're built to muffle the sound of air rushing into your engine. Aftermarket cold air intakes, though, are engineered to force feed as much energy-rich oxygen down your motor's gullet as possible. With all that extra air, the explosions in your cylinders go supernova, resulting in wicked horsepower and torque gains, as well as hair-trigger throttle response.
Another way to step up your street machine's muscle is with a throttle body spacer. Mounted between your throttle body and your intake, these deceptively simple upgrades strip away the turbulence and add a high-velocity spin to the air that's flowing into your motor. This packs a denser load of air into your engine, and denser air means deadlier performance.