Will this boost performance?

aarone

Active Member
Should i get a K&N fuel injection performance kit (air intake) for my v6 03 ranger?
will it help alot on gas mileage?
 

blackomne

Member
Tear out the catalytic converter. You will get an extra 15hp with a straight pipe but it will be noticable louder.
 

blackomne

Member
I'm in wyoming we don't have a air quality inspection for our cars here.
OK, replace the oxygen sensor and the spark plugs spark wires and distributor. Run some bg 44k through the engine to clean the pistons and valves. New fuel filter and air filter wouldn't hurt either. Double check the idle after all of that as well.
 

cincyreefer

Active Member
Yeah, if i get caught without a catalytic converter here it is a $2500 fine. You might not see a huge difference in performance or mileage but the air filter won't hurt anything. Plus many of them don't ever have to be replaced unless it is a cold air intake that pulls near the bumper or wheel well.
 

blackomne

Member
Way differenet out here. Because of the climate most of us are still using older vehicles, 1980's and 70's. We can run them till the engine blowup because it so dry and the fact that we don't use salt too much in the winter. Do you use a lot of salt on the roads out there? I know they do back east. Back there the car only lasts as only as the frame can hold together.
 

aarone

Active Member
well lets think about it.
How many people have ever met anyone from wyoming? Black, you are the first one i have met (assuming that internet counts as meeting)
Its not the most populated state in the union.
 

tangman99

Active Member
That depends on how good of an air intake you have now. More air introduced easier will help a little in the power department but you probably would not see it on a dyno. If you can get cold air to it, that also helps in that cold air holds more oxygen. The biggest improvement though would come if your air is currently restricted. Think of it like breathing through a straw vs breating through a paper towel holder. Not as drastic but the principle is the same.
I added a Vortex Rammer cold air system to my corvette when I bought it. The stock corvette breather has a hole about the size of the end of a cigarette pack to get all of it's air and it's engine compartment air. Adding this system pulls cold air from under the car through a filter that is similar to the K&N cone filter. It was definitely a "seat of the pants" difference and knocked about 3/10 off my quarter mile. That's quite a significant improvement but it replaced a inferior restrictive system.
 

broncofish

Active Member
Plain and simple....no. What comes in has to go out. If you get cold air intakes you may see a small difference in your gas milage, but doubtable any difference in hp. You will still have a bottle neck at your headers, cat, and muffler, not to mention your ECU is not tuned to handle more air, so you could end up running lean....and if you get a lot of rain where you live...well than you could end up with vapor lock....If you really want more horses, get a pop charger(safer in wet weather) throttle body spacer, and a cat back exhaust system, then change out your ECU for better fuels management...or just buy a different car:happy: ....I kick out enough with this baby to roast the new corvettes, any morons in boxsters(can you say midlife crisis boys and girsl?) and those stupid kids in civics...and really 5.0's what the hell are you thinking. I have intakes, spacers stillen manifolds, headers, stillen exhaust, lightweight pulleys, nismo injectors, new ecu etc...It just depends how far you want to go......maybe you should just wait till your canadian stocks pick up, than you can buy one of those pretty enzo's.
 

spoon

Member
Cold Air Intakes:
Cold Air = Dense Air
Plain and simple, ahem... If the air inside the combustion chamber is at all denser than it previously was, you will ensure that the air/fuel mixture will burn more completely.
Also if you do get a cold induction system, be sure to fit it with a bypass-valve. This will allow you to drift through puddles with confidence! The bypass-valve is used to protect the engine from hydro locking. Hydro locking occurs when the end of the inlet pipe is submerged in water and the water is sucked into the engine. Driving the vehicle in rainy conditions is not enough to cause a problem unless the vehicle becomes submerged enough that the inlet end of the pipe is immersed in water. Rain impingement on the filter will not cause a hydro lock condition.
Justin

Oh yeah, I am one of those kids with a stupid Civic that runs a consitant 13.1 in the quarter, without a stupid turbo. (12.4 @ 115mph w/slicks) I agree with you though, it feels good to be missing a few cylinders yet be able to do more damage than your average 5.0...
 

broncofish

Active Member

Originally posted by Spoon
The bypass-valve is used to protect the engine from hydro locking. Hydro locking occurs when the end of the inlet pipe is submerged in water and the water is sucked into the engine. Driving the vehicle in rainy conditions is not enough to cause a problem unless the vehicle becomes submerged enough that the inlet end of the pipe is immersed in water. Rain impingement on the filter will not cause a hydro lock condition.
Justin


Actualy Justin....I think it should read aempower.com declares (http://www.aempower.com/faq.asp?fid=22&sid=&tid=3) ....hmmm I wonder why a website that sells bypass valves and cold air intakes would say that:notsure:
I had cia on my previouse cars, and even on my nissan, until a buddy of mine from my Z club got hydro lock on 80 between fairfield and vallejo during our last rainstorms. The Nissan mechanic said it happens at least 6-7 times a year. He sees usually 300's, and 240's. My buddy had a bypass valve as well. That is why I don't recomend them to anybody anymore, a pop charger will give you just as much performance and way less risk factor....now if your showing your car go with cia's, but somehow I don't think aarone is going to be taking his ranger to any shows

During the summer time I run my stillen cia's, but during the winter it's the JWT pop charger. There is really no difference in performance..the cia sounds better though.
Brian
 

blackomne

Member

Originally posted by aarone
well lets think about it.
How many people have ever met anyone from wyoming? Black, you are the first one i have met (assuming that internet counts as meeting)
Its not the most populated state in the union.

Got that right least populated state in the union. Fourth largest in area as well. I tell ya we have more animals in the state excluding tourists then we do people.
 

broncofish

Active Member
Yeah Wyoming is awesome...I hope all of us morons stay away from it so stays as clean as it is. I have not been there for about ten years, but I bet it looks exactly the same.
 

redwinger

Member
Yes, I'd get it. Low dollar add on that installs easy and is worth it.
I mean, you aren't going to shave a second off your quarter mile but you'll notice a difference.
 

moraym

Active Member
I've owned many a Ford V6, from a Ranger to a Mustang, and now I own a faster Ford w/ some Steeda work, but I'd always toss in a K&N since my local guy gets them cheap for me. Was there a difference? Yeah, probably a couple HP. Did I ever notice, not in the Ranger. It was more pyschological, I "thought" I noticed I was going faster, ah, silly college me at the time.
Tear out the catalytic converter. You will get an extra 15hp with a straight pipe but it will be noticable louder.
With the Mustang the above procedure definitely wouldn't net as high as 15hp, at least not all converted, my friend had that done (until inspection at least) and didn't get that much out of it in his Mustang. Not sure how much you could net with the Ranger, I never touched the Ranger that much.
That being said, it is usually affordable and a good idea to get a good exhaust system. I upgraded my Ranger to a K&N and a new exhaust system, that's all, and noticed a lot of difference. As for any kind of gas mileage increases for any of this, I drive my cars like I stole them, so I never get good gas mileage, ever.
Still, after this long drawn-out response, I say get it, it's much better than the stock air filter, even if you won't notice much performance increase. And you can clean K&N's rather than get new air filters when you get tuned up, and at least at my garage that saves me money in the long run over owning my car for five years. K&N is much better quality than the Ford Motorcraft paper filter crap.
 

aarone

Active Member
i uhhh drive a truck that is fairly high off the road...so hydro lock isnt really gonna occur on my vehicle.
 
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