bryweb

I myself had no problems with the THOR, I preferred the Spectre for two simple reasons though,

1. It was cheaper, I typically could find them for $135 on sale with discounts vs. the THOR was $175 if I remember right
2. I did not have to remove the cowl cover to clean/replace the air filter.

But now with the Spectre going with a "Performance" design (which that is even questionable because of lack of cold air) instead of "Deep Water" design, I would love to get a THOR if I could now.

xjcherokee2000

Bummer that they redesigned this thing to be exactly like all the other over priced intakes on the market...

When they told me they were updating the design, I thought they were improving on the Cowl design... I guess not.

I was seriously considering the Spectre cowl design. I was just a few months too late on pulling the trigger.

The Thor design, in itself looks like a 'homebrew' build. I do not think any bright lad would have problems replicating it on the cheap.

extrashaky

No. Running rich means that you have more fuel being dumped into the motor than it needs for the air that it's getting. Since there's not enough air mixed with the fuel, not all of the fuel burns away cleanly. The computer in a fuel injected vehicle typically adjusts the amount of fuel being delivered to match the air flow and density.

As long as everything is in good working order, it shouldn't make a difference. The computer should be able to adjust the mixture for altitude. A cold air intake really isn't going to make any difference.

I have a cowl intake and like it, but being completely honest I doubt it does much, if anything, for MPG or power on a stock motor. CAIs usually have two big selling points. One is that you get cold, dense air into the engine, where you get better combustion. The other is that the filters on CAIs are usually claimed to provide better flow of air than stock filters, so that you don't have as much of a restriction on air flow getting into the motor.

It all sounds good in theory, but the biggest difference comes from the butt dyno. Sound travels through air, so a filter media that lets more air through also lets more sound through. As a result, CAIs tend to make your engine seem louder. That louder sound makes it seem like you're going faster. Your senses will work together in that respect to make it seem like your butt is being pressed into the seat when you press the skinny pedal.

I may be seeing a little bit of benefit from mine, but that's in conjunction with a 4.6L stroker and $1300 of exhaust upgrades. I have it primarily because I like the sound.

My first thought is that it looks very similar to the K&N CAI they already made for the XJ. I think K&N's was black, whereas the Spectre is shiny. I wouldn't be surprise if it used most of the same parts otherwise.

My second thought is that although it's no longer a cold air intake, it does have a bigger filter, so it probably flows a little better than that tiny filter in my cowl intake.

So I'll just wait a while until people start getting desperate, take mine off and sell it for $300. I've been halfway considering going back to the stock airbox with a K&N drop-in panel filter anyway.

2000CHERO

This is what I'm thinking haha. Sell mine for like $500 and just build one for $100 worth of decent intake parts.

I was debating selling it to get rid of the noise but I flipped it in the engine so it points toward the front. Then when I wheel I'll connect it back to the cowl.

I would go back to OEM box but it will no longer fit with the goodies I have in there.

bryweb

That is one of the main reason I wanted a cowl intake, because I am moving my battery to that side so I can put my York compressor in the stock air box side, the second was for deep water crossings, I considered a snorkel but did not want to worry about ripping it off the Jeep.

Well I will have the Spectre and my Daughter's XJ will have the Snorkel, as I finish up both projects and start wheeling them I will be able to decide which one I like more.

scbrooks87

I've been bummed about Spectre stopping their cowl intake as well. I think I found all the parts from Spectre that I'd need to build my own system though, so if I ever get around to it I'll show what I managed to do. They still sell their 4" inline filter/housing, so really all you need are tubing pieces to get from the intake manifold to the cowl with the filter in the middle. Could us PVC, exhaust tubing, etc... to accomplish it.

extrashaky

http://www.siliconeintakes.com/

Everything but the filter.

scbrooks87

Thanks for the link! So just curious... Would there be any reason not to use the stock rubber 90 degree bend coming off the TB for this if I'm making my own system? I think I can just turn it 180 to face the cowl, pop the filter in after that, and then a few connectors from the link you provided to get the rest of the way to the cowl?

extrashaky

There's no reason you can't use the stock rubber tube. Most people don't because it's not smooth inside, and one of the goals of this exercise is to get air ramming down into that thing as fast and as smoothly as possible. It's unlikely that it really makes any difference at all, but it's sorta the principle of the thing that if you're going to go to the trouble, why not make it as smooth as you can?

You can, but you will probably want to route your pipe to the other side of the engine bay instead, like the Spectre and Thor units. If you take the cowl cover off, you'll see that the driver's side has a big hole in the top of the cowl there, while the passenger side is completely covered. The idea is that if you take air from the covered side, there's less of a likelihood of ingesting rainwater or wash over the top of the hood.

Here's a search where you can see lots and lots of pics of store-bought and home-built intakes and how they're routed. I would suggest exploring that for a while to get a good idea how you want to do it. Remember, you're in custom territory here, so there's not really a "right" or "wrong" way.

site:cherokeeforum.com cowl intake

scbrooks87

I probably should have mentioned that it's not so much for performance for me. I want to do a dual battery system and need to free up the space taken up by the stock airbox. However, if I can, without adding much cost, make it nice and smooth all the way along, I will do that. Thanks!

Thanks for that link, very helpful! I actually did mean to explain it the way you did, to have the intake on the passenger side, not driver, but I guess I didn't do a great job of wording it lol. But yes, my though is to turn the stock rubber tube to face the passenger side, then have a fitting right after it to attach the breather tube coming off the valve cover, then the inline filter, then a few pieces to route it to the passenger side cowl and drill my hole. Just gotta find the right assortment of items to make it work.