Hey guys, i was lookin into putting a K&N intake on my xj. Does anyone have one. Do you think the benefits are worth the price? Personally, despite, the hp and mpg benefits, I just think they look cool (which is probably the main reason I want one. ......and btw, whats the deal with throttle body spacers?

 

CAI's work alright but they arnt really "cold air" intakes because the air still comes from under the hood. And if you wheel your xj make sure you dont get water anywhere around it. The main thing with a CIA in my opinion is the throttle response that you gain, not the very small hp and even smaller mpg gains. Throttle body spacers are garbage.( I have one haha.) It just whistles and sounds like a bov when I shift . No performance gains. A bored throttle body is the way to go.

 

I've been debating whether I want to spend the money on one or not... The whole reason you'll spend the $250 for a K&N setup is because it's a COLD AIR intake. That right there is the problem; getting cold air. It's almost impossible to route cold air into the engine bay for an XJ. There is a little spot behind the driver's side headlamp where I've seen 2.8 XJs run a ram air type setup, but I don't know if you'd want to try that or not. You'd risk sucking water in when it rains, etc. If you plan on taking your XJ muddin, don't even bother as it is another way to ruin your day (and your engine). The only way you'll get a TRUE cold air intake is if you want to blow the money on a snorkel which would be really BA in my opinion. I've been looking into fabbing one up, I just don't know what material I'd have to use to get the job done though.

 

I personally dont think it is worth the $. I almost bought one last month. Then after a day of mudding I opened my hood and there was all kinds of water and mud up in there. Also you have to think when your out there 4 bying a bunch of dust is going to get sucked onto that oiled down filter. So you would be cleaning it alot.

 

Don't waste your money on the name brand. you can make one yourself. its super easy. Go to Autozone, pepboys, or O'Reillys and pick up a 45 degree intake tube. Then the 6 inch tube and buy your filter. Right by the tubes you will see a kit that comes with the ccv fittings and drillbits, buy that. Then buy 2.5 feet of 5/8 heater hose. Lastly buy a 3" hose clamp. For under 70$ you have your own cold air intake. Got the plastic cone cover from a mustang i think.

 

mine cost 52 dollars pepboys special

 

just took the factory top off stock air box and piped to it with new filter work great and looks good

 

Your lucky if you gain 1hp, its a waste of time and money on a jeep. The only true CAI is a snorkel or a cowl intake.

 

i had a k&n "cold air inake" on a nissan frontier a while back and they sound good when u get in the throttle hard but they dont do anything for gas mileage i had thought about cold air for my jeep but for mudding purposes i was thinkin of just a k&n drop in replacement filter much better for gas mileage and in the box for muddin

 

unless you have mods to the engine any of this is minimal if any. if you have a stock head & intake a spacers does zero if you gasket match,port, polish then maybe you'll see a little. the beni's of air intakes has been addressed.

 

What???

 

Not to get off topic of the thread here, but Rich, I see in your pics u have an '11 Grand Cherokee. I was thinking of getting rid of my '06 tahoe for one. Do you like them?

 

just pull the silencer out of the tube and ad a good filter. no real restriction on the stock set up so doing a intake is a waste of money.

 

Yeah, I must agree with this one. I was thinking about building a CAI, but for the life of me I couldn't really find any issue with the stock set-up other than that restriction in the top of the airbox. The stock setup draws cool air directly from behind the driver-side headlight, isolates it from the engine bay temps via the air-box, has it flow right up through the filter (maybe upgrade the filter, but thats about it), and then to the engine.

 

I've run k&n filters before, along with cold air intakes, and have NEVER noticed any sort of performance or economy gain whatsoever, maybe if it was put on a dyno it might have like have maybe a 1-2 hp gain, but nothing noticable. They do look cool though, lol. Having said that, I put mine together with a Spectre filter, and about a 12'' section of 3" exhaust straight pipe that I painted black, the ex. pipe will fit right into your stock intake rubber boot, and the plastic hose clamp deal will work too. I think mine might have cost $25 all together, not including the flat black spray paint I had laying around.
Just build your own kit, it's easy, and MUCH easier on the wallet, with the money you save you can get something else cooler for your jeep