spectra cold air intake for 87-90 cherokee
 

if anyone has tried a cold air intake by spectra for their cherokee from 87 to 90 i would like to know what you think about it.

honestly as far as gains go you wont see the difference in after market systems imo. if you think about what an intake is theres really not much to it. its just a pipe with a filter on the end. i have a spectra filter on mine and the filter seems to do its job. k&n is supposedly the best filter you can get but i think thats only cause they last forever and you can clean and reuse them. personally id buy an ebay intake system then just swap in a better filter. and all in all you might lose 1hp for not going with a big name if even that. You will see the best gains by keeping the heat away.

I have the kit on my 89. I put it on a couple of months ago. I really like the kit. The room it opens up in the engine compartment is a huge plus. I had to clean out about 4 inches of solid dirt from my cowl area which got water all over inside the jeep, but that wasn't a big deal. You can hear it quite a bit, which some people don't like, but it's not annoyingly loud. Mostly louder under medium higher throttle. Idle and cruising it's barely noticeable. I didn't really see any power gains. If your stock filter is clean, I don't think you will feel any difference in power.

The only downside I can see is that you have to take the pipe loose to add oil, which is a little annoying. I don't have to add oil very often though, so it doesn't bother me.

I talked with the Spectra Designer/Engineer last week on the intake kit. Basic thought behind gains in performance is by pulling cooler air from outside the engine compartment. With the system pulling air from the cowl this will increase cabin noise.

With the OEM airbox sitting behind the headlamp it does see some cooler air from the outside. Horsepower and mileage gains from the system varies from XJ to XJ. If you ask them directly about mileage gains they will not be able to quote you an exact figure.

Personally I think most CAI intake kits are a little flawed based off the basic design. Spectra kit is not really any different in most aspects. However I do believe that the Spectra kit would do significantly better with a little fabrication and modification.

In the near future I might do a little prototyping on the XJ seeing what can be done. Now just need parts and time.