# K&N intake



## fiddler_red (May 9, 2007)

Just got my '06 Goat Q'silver/red M6 18's. My first new car!!! Yipeeeee!
Now I'm looking at upgrades to intake and exhaust. I am looking to see if the K&N intake is a good choice for the car. I heard a rumor that it might rob torque, but that may be a crock. Please respond with your feelings on the issue, my fellow members!


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## pickinfights (Oct 3, 2006)

An intake is the worst first mod. Use that money to get GMM ripshifter.
http://www.jhp.com.au/monaro-gto/gto-short-shift.php
otherwise, Headers, Exhaust, tires, wheels, are the way to go.

You should do a search with the button towords the top of the page on this topic. It has been discused to death.


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## The_Bleek (Apr 13, 2007)

explain how a shifter is a better mod than an intake??


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## socal gto (Mar 10, 2006)

I would go with a Volant if you decide on the intake. I personally have a k&n and I am thinking about selling it and going with the volant, and as for the shifter I believe it allows more accurate control over the shifter but I have an a4 so that is purely speculative.


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## Guest (May 11, 2007)

*1st mod*

If you change your intake,, buy the A.E.M Brute Force system..K&N, Lingenfelter, Violant and others are good and all of them will give you about the HP increase but the AEM systems uses mostly light weight aluminum instead ,, the others use black plastic, this black plastic will run hotter and hold the heat much longer, the aluminum keeps the air cooler and the cooler the air going into your engine, the better it will run,, trust me on this one, I just retired as a engineer with Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and we did all kinds of testing on jet intake systems, tried all types of materials, ,, looking at ways to increase air intake and cooling the air intake


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## fiddler_red (May 9, 2007)

*intake*

Many thanks for the info! So much aftermarket stuff for goats. It's overwhelming.


http://www.gtoforum.com/images/smilies/willy_nilly.gif


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## Guest (May 12, 2007)

*k&N*

yes,, there are ton's of parts showing up for these cars and it is hard to make a choice what to do, but for your 1st mod , an intake system is a good start, all of them cost about the same which is about $260.00 ,, not hard to install but you should get a Dyno tune to get the most out of it, but you DO NOT Have to do one..also for about $50.00 you can get a Vararam throttle body spacer [ on ebay ] it will give you another 4 or 5 HP,,only a few minutes to install, and if you are going to put in a Cold Air Intake, you just remove your stock system and while it is off just remove the 4 10 M/M bolts that hold the throttle body, put in the spacer and then put everything back together, I did mine and it took about 45 minutes to do everything.


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## Guest (May 12, 2007)

*K& N*

as far as exhaust, again there are a lot of good systems, I did a magnaflow cat back as my 1st exhaust mod,, great sound, more HP and cool looking 4 inch tail pipes. this system is around $750.00. plus labor, which should be around 200.00 dollars


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

what you'll find in these types of posts are opinions as to color, sound, "feelings", reputation, my favorite one "dyno results" (which doesn't directly relate to street performance), seat of the pants dynos and on and on. what you won't find are concrete measurements of MAP @ WOT over RPM ranges (most do OK here as it's related to filter size) and air intake temperatures at stopped, heat soaked conditions and the transition time to a cooler intake temp. all that that i have actually measured don't come out as good as they'd like you to believe.


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

PS a good shifter like a GMM or a Billet *IS* the best first mod. if you can't shift fast you can't go plus it's something you'll use every day and enjoy. my little bone stock with stock tires '04 except for a GMM shifter got a 13.3 which easily beat most of the LS2s with aftermarket "hot" air intakes


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## LaPuzza (Jul 13, 2005)

dizzy1 said:


> If you change your intake,, buy the A.E.M Brute Force system..K&N, Lingenfelter, Violant and others are good and all of them will give you about the HP increase but the AEM systems uses mostly light weight aluminum instead ,, the others use black plastic, this black plastic will run hotter and hold the heat much longer, the aluminum keeps the air cooler and the cooler the air going into your engine, the better it will run,, trust me on this one, I just retired as a engineer with Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and we did all kinds of testing on jet intake systems, tried all types of materials, ,, looking at ways to increase air intake and cooling the air intake


Ok, This post freaked me out when I was shopping for air intakes. I couldn't decide between metal and plastic. I know enough to understand that the metal will get hotter faster, but cool off faster. But if it is ALWAYS hot under the hood while the car is running, isn't plastic better?

Below is the best case I've seen made for metal, from AEM. I've decided on plastic because this admits that metal is hotter, but states that it doesn't matter as much under WOT as it does at lower output. In other words, metal is a lot worse at low throttle, and just a bit worse at WOT. Of course, AEM claims that their design is better, so that is worth the trade off to use them instead of someone else.

I just thought someone might find this helpful:

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Q: Why does AEM use aluminum for its intake piping? 
A: Our Chief Engineer John Concialdi provides an explanation of the difference between Aluminum vs. Steel vs. Plastic in inlet piping:

The issue of heat absorption with an intake system has a degree of validity, however we have found that too much emphasis is placed on material selection, instead of the real issue of tuning the system. Our systems feature a unique shape and diameter because this is what we found to make the most useable torque and horsepower for each individual application in testing. However, for the purposes of this discussion, we will limit it to why we choose to make our systems from aluminum and the effects of heat absorption on all materials. If you do not wish to review all of this information right now, a quick synopsis of this discussion is outlined in the following bullet points, with complete topic discussions below:

We use aluminum to eliminate any chance of the system rusting, and it's lighter than steel 
We limit our use of plastic because this material absorbs some of the sound energy we work to create in the inlet duct 
Whether or not an inlet system is made from aluminum, steel or plastic, the thermal conductivity of the duct material has little effect on engine power 
The rate at which air travels through the inlet path under open throttle, when one is asking the engine for maximum power, negates the effect of material heat soak, regardless of the material

We use aluminum—or a combination of aluminum and plastic plenums for throttle-body-injected applications that require a special plenum—for every intake we produce. This eliminates any chance of rust occurring on the inside of the inlet pipe. We have seen chrome-plated steel systems whose inner diameter became rusted over time, causing flakes of rust to travel along the inlet path. We also choose aluminum because of its lightweight properties. Heavier components place higher loads on the brackets they are attached to—or even worse, to the pipes they are attached to. We combine our lightweight aluminum design with a flexible coupling device we call a soft mount that connects the intake system to the body of the vehicle. In addition to the soft mount, we use doublers at the point where the mounting bracket is welded to the pipe for additional strength.

We limit our use of plastic because this material absorbs some of the sound energy we work to create in the inlet duct. Although we use the best plastic material for our plenums, it is still not as resilient and does not retain the visual appeal of aluminum over long-term use. Because we have to use plastic on throttle body applications, we take extra precautions to ensure that the aluminum retaining ring that attaches to the throttle body is anchored securely into the plastic plenum; this is done by making an interlocking mechanical link between the plastic and aluminum.

Whether or not an inlet system is made from aluminum, steel, or plastic, the thermal conductivity of the duct material has little effect on engine power. We have found that the tuning of the pipe, in addition to providing the coolest inlet air source, are the keys to making useable power. We perform engine inlet-air-temp studies when developing each application to determine the coolest location for sourcing inlet air. In addition to this, we determine the safest location for the inlet source to protect it from highly dusty conditions and water. To this end, we provide a stainless-steel heat shield to help minimize heat soak into the inlet area, as well as to provide protection from dust, dirt and mud.

At light throttle opening, air speed and airflow at the inlet system are relatively low. The high residence time of air in the inlet while at low-throttle settings will increase inlet charge temps when materials with high thermal conductivity are used. Typically, when someone is at light throttle they are not asking the engine to make power. Most likely, fuel economy is the issue.

When the throttle is fully opened however, air speed and airflow increase considerably. Typically, the inlet air speed of a 5.7L engine with a four-inch duct at full throttle is 34 feet-per-second, based on a volumetric efficiency of 70% and an engine speed of 3,000 rpm. Most inlet systems for every intake manufacturer for this engine are 30 inches or less. This means that the air in the duct of a 30-inch inlet length on this engine at the given rpm is 1/10th of a second—hardly enough time to transfer an appreciable amount of heat into the air stream on any system.

Basically, the rate at which air travels through the inlet path under open throttle, when one is asking the engine for maximum power, negates the effect of material heat soak, regardless of the material. We hope that this helps to clear up the issues of material heat absorption in intake systems.


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## Guest (May 22, 2007)

*mods*

the best 1st mod is a intake,, you already have a good exhaust right from the factory,, a shifter change would be somewhere down the road, FAR DOWN THE ROAD..


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## Guest (May 22, 2007)

*mods*

Like I said,, The AEM is bigger and better then the plastic junk on the K&N


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## GOATTEE (Nov 30, 2006)

dizzy1 said:


> as far as exhaust, again there are a lot of good systems, I did a magnaflow cat back as my 1st exhaust mod,, great sound, more HP and cool looking 4 inch tail pipes. this system is around $750.00. plus labor, which should be around 200.00 dollars


How much HP do you think was added by putting on the magnaflow cat back? Does that have any affect on gas mileage?


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## Guest (Jun 3, 2007)

*Intake..*

my 1st mods were a AEM intake [ no dyno tune ] and a few weeks later I did a MAgnaflow car back with dyno tune,, my base line run before CAT back installation gave a reading of 347 RWHP and 343 ft pounds of torque,, after the Exhaust installation I got a 368 RWHP and 366 pounds of torque,,about 2 months after that I had JBA shorties installed with dyno tune, ended up with 380 RWHP and 374 FT pounds of torque,, My car is going in the shop this week for a COMP custom grind cam, Comp roller rockers and brace, Comp push rods, and a few other items,,


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## btchplz (Mar 12, 2005)

dizzy1 said:


> my 1st mods were a AEM intake [ no dyno tune ] and a few weeks later I did a MAgnaflow car back with dyno tune,, my base line run before CAT back installation gave a reading of 347 RWHP and 343 ft pounds of torque,, after the Exhaust installation I got a 368 RWHP and 366 pounds of torque,,about 2 months after that I had JBA shorties installed with dyno tune, ended up with 380 RWHP and 374 FT pounds of torque,, My car is going in the shop this week for a COMP custom grind cam, Comp roller rockers and brace, Comp push rods, and a few other items,,


Hey Dizzy1, how did your last trip to the shop turn out? Have you dynoed her since these last mods?


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