# Chevy Cruze Aftermarket Cold Air Intake



## Cruzer (Oct 18, 2010)

Any idea when a CAI will be available for the Cruze? I was hoping that K&N or AEM was going to make one as they seem to have high quality products


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## motorhedfred (Nov 13, 2010)

The air filter element seems plenty big for the size of the engine. It might not increase power by much. I think a lot of cold air kits are sold because of the way they look under the hood and the way they sound when to floor the go pedal. More noise=more power ? If that's the case, get one of these......

information about SESP - Sonory.org

The K&N replacement filter is p/n 33-2966 for the 1.4L is the same filter they use on the 2.0L Opels and Vauxhalls. Oddly, the 1.8L takes a different one though.


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## bpipe95 (Nov 1, 2010)

The way the ducting is set up on stock system, you would be hard pressed to improve it. The only real thing a cone filter will do give you way more noise from the turbo. 

So if you want noise go for it! But you can get the same noise with a drop in K&N and doing the intake mod i posted here.


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## TurboTechRacing (Nov 3, 2010)

bpipe95 said:


> The way the ducting is set up on stock system, you would be hard pressed to improve it. The only real thing a cone filter will do give you way more noise from the turbo.
> 
> So if you want noise go for it! But you can get the same noise with a drop in K&N and doing the intake mod i posted here.


Highly doubtfull.

You have the "strechable plastic" intake pipe on your cruze now. All those ribs cause turbulance. A smooth mandrel bent tube will help so much in this setup. An eazy 5-7 HP will be a good guess on the increase for a CAI system.


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## motorhedfred (Nov 13, 2010)

I agree with TurboTechRacing. I didn't really think about turbulence from the accordian connector. Smoothing out the flow can actually give you a bit of ram effect at specific RPMs.

The trick is figuring out what the best RPM is for that to happen, then figuring out the correct diameter for the availible length.

MHF


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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

...the existing *intercooler* between the turbocharger and the engine intake manifold might be a _'sticky-wicket'_ to work around for awhile; but, eventually, they'll (aftermarket) _"...find a way!"_ I'm sure.


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

did you just say "_sticky-wicket_" 

lol..


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## bpipe95 (Nov 1, 2010)

TurboTechRacing said:


> Highly doubtfull.
> 
> You have the "strechable plastic" intake pipe on your cruze now. All those ribs cause turbulance. A smooth mandrel bent tube will help so much in this setup. An eazy 5-7 HP will be a good guess on the increase for a CAI system.



It is a very subtle rib, nowhere near what they used to be. Not to mention some aftermarket kits use a ribbing that is much more severe than the stock material. If this was an NA engine the ribbing would have a much larger effect. 

with that said a smooth mandrel bent section of tubing would be a rather easy task....


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## cruze-control (Jul 23, 2010)

every car ive owned i got mandrel bent piping to replace all the stock piping and couple everything together with high quality vibrant couplers. it always improved response throughout the powerband.


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## bpipe95 (Nov 1, 2010)

the stock inter cooler is actually rather large. I think the limit to start with will be the baby stock turbo. And the very thin plastic intercooler piping.


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

bpipe95 said:


> the stock inter cooler is actually rather large. I think the limit to start with will be the baby stock turbo. And the very thin plastic intercooler piping.


agreed with bpipe. the turbo is already pushing 15-16psi.. we need a bigger snail upgrade


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## Sour Kruat's 951 (Nov 9, 2010)

I will never understand the buyers that want to change an already existing factory installed CAI to an aftermarket CAI. Does not the manufacturer spend millions of dollars in research on this before the car is put into production. I agree with smooth pipes, no dents and no ripples, it helps the Porsche. Look at my sig, every car I own has a factory CAI. I doubt seriously if the 1.4t will get a 5-7 hp increase even by going to smooth pipes. And lastly most CAI aftermarket setups are in fact "NOT" CAI because they keep the air filter in the engine compartment. What you are looking for is a fender mounted air intake system that draws air from the outside. That gets the filter out of the heat or else you have to construct heat shields and barriers under the hood to block it off and isolate it (the air filter that is) from all the under hood heat. Put a K&N filter in it and be done.


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

Sour, you're confused a 'Short Ram Intake - SRI' which mounts the filter near the engine with 'Cold Air Intake - CAI' which mounts it in/near the fender to draw cold air from outside the car

The manufacturer spent millions of dollars on making this a great economy car thats quite and efficient. You should also know that this car's air/fuel mixture is mostly controlled by the MAF and has a super rich mixture. Better airflow will help lean that mixture out some and actually make slightly more power, the 5-7whp is not unrealistic at all for this car (on a N/A car you might be lucky to gain 2-3whp because they're not setup to run as rich typically). This has already been confirmed by a tuner working on cruze engine/transmission tunes.


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## motorhedfred (Nov 13, 2010)

It's interesting that the tuner is finding such rich mixtures in this day and age....especially on a car that's being marketed as a fuel economy leader.

The only reason I can think of for the excess fuel is to provide some cooling effect. Back in the carburetor days, we used to put bigger jets and hotter plugs in high compression engines to keep them from pinging. They must be betting against the ability of the catalytic converters to clean up the exhaust. I'm thinking clogged converters will be a common problem on these cars if they're truly running that rich.

Also, wouldn't the fuel mapping in the ECM compensate for the extra and possibly cooler air by injecting more fuel ?

It'll be fun to see what the tuners come up with for it. Maybe with a bit of water injection they could back some of the fuel out so we can have more power on less fuel ! Water injection lowers the octane requirement as well.

Something like this maybe....

Snow Performance: Products

MHF

MHF


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

yeah for sure, eventually meth injection setups like the ones you posted will be beneficial. they mainly run such rich tunes to prevent detonation, its safer to have a little too MUCH fuel then too little also...


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## Sour Kruat's 951 (Nov 9, 2010)

Shawn, I'm not confused. If you look at all the CAI systems advertised they are as you say actually a SRI. And the guy who just bought his rice beater and knows nothing about them can easily get confused by there misleading title. Yes "cold air" can only come from one place, outside of the engine bay. But to clear up the confusion the reputable sellers will call it a fender intake system letting you know exactly where the air is coming from. Hope that helps.


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

I'm pretty sure Injen, K&N and all the other big names use 'Cold Air Intake' and 'Short Ram Intake'

I haven't been around cars as long as some others but in the past 5-10 years no one has really used the term 'Fender Intake System', sorry bud


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## TurboTechRacing (Nov 3, 2010)

bpipe95 said:


> the stock inter cooler is actually rather large. I think the limit to start with will be the baby stock turbo. And the very thin plastic intercooler piping.


Big doesnt always mean best... Efficiency of "pressure drop" (bad) and also how well it reduces air temp means more. Flow rates would need to be evaluated.


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## apsb21 (Jan 31, 2011)

I agree with turbo tech, the long metal runner makes the air charge dense and cooler hence called cold air intake, definitely the location of the filter matters as you dont want to put it in front of the fan, Also for turbos mandrel bent metal pipes make huge difference, there is less turbulence and hence you get better flow that you can hear it. also if not agree, just take a peak in 2.2 liter ecotec, even tho there runner is plastic but is very precisely designed, it makes a good air suction noise. I did notice in cruze they used intense engineering to maximize flow... but still think metal will do the magic.


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## MadMaxx61 (Aug 2, 2011)

apsb21 said:


> I agree with turbo tech, the long metal runner makes the air charge dense and cooler hence called cold air intake, definitely the location of the filter matters as you dont want to put it in front of the fan, Also for turbos mandrel bent metal pipes make huge difference, there is less turbulence and hence you get better flow that you can hear it. also if not agree, just take a peak in 2.2 liter ecotec, even tho there runner is plastic but is very precisely designed, it makes a good air suction noise. I did notice in cruze they used intense engineering to maximize flow... but still think metal will do the magic.



You are somewhat right other then you do not what metal intakes they hold heat and raise the temp of the air going to the turbo. The higher the temp in to the turbo the higher it is in to the intercooler thus higher in to the engine.

A good 'Cold Air Intake' or 'Short Ram Intake' would be some sort of thick plastic.

Look at the high End intakes like S&B and Banks.


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