# Will upgrading to a cold intake increase mpg



## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

I can only tell you my experience. 

1- you will be harder on the throttle to hear the cai

2- my best mileage has always been with the stock intake

3- on newer vehicles there is almost none of any gains from a cai. 

With that said, this is my first turbo car so I'm not sure how a cai affects a turbocharged engine. 


Sent from the sexy electrician


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

The short answer is no. Our air intake already passes more air through than the engine needs. What will help is increase the octane in your gas. I run 91 year round. Depending on your exact driving environment you may discover that 89 octane does nearly as well as 91 but at lower cost.


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

A Hot Air Intake System in the colder Temperatures would definitely Improve MPG .

Helps with Fuel Atomization .


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

brian v said:


> A Hot Air Intake System in the colder Temperatures would definitely Improve MPG .
> 
> Helps with Fuel Atomization .


Yeah and the intercooler cools it right back down.

The factory intake is a hot air intake. 

Any gains or losses from an aftermarket intake will be in an insignificantly small fraction of a mile per gallon.


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## AZ007 (Sep 26, 2014)

The stock intake was carefully tuned for optimal low-end torque, so you would probably actually lose mpg. The only reason why I might add one is if you spend a lot of time at full throttle.


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Yeah and the intercooler cools it right back down.
> 
> The factory intake is a hot air intake.
> 
> Any gains or losses from an aftermarket intake will be in an insignificantly small fraction of a mile per gallon.


There are many theories on this .. constrictive airflow from the piping to the TB presents It's own problems . Certain Air filtraion streams .. Engine Temperatures at start up . Even Coolant Temperaure attribute to Efficiecy of a Engine Load . Factors in Mantaining RPM at a given speed . Engine Detonation Determined by the ECU 's Calibration Determined by Air Temps .. The Equations have grown over the years as Technologies have advanced .

I agrre there maybe minimal Gain . But with a warmer Engine and Atmosphere to start Your designated cycle or commute , there will be less of a warm up period = less RPM's to mantain that initial MPH ..


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## Danny5 (Dec 22, 2011)

Even if there were gains, the amount of money you spend on an intake can never be made up at the gas pump.

Let's say an intake see 5% improvement in MPGs. That's being VERY generous. This means you would save approximately a half gallon every time you fill up. Say your intake cost $300, at current prices it would take you 200 fill ups to see the cost benefit. Thats, give or take, 80k miles.

A good rule of thumb is... Don't do mods to improve gas mileage. The gains you will see will take years to realize.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Danny5 said:


> A good rule of thumb is... Don't do mods to improve gas mileage. The gains you will see will take years to realize.


It's like buying a new car and increasing your car payment to get better MPG. If the MPG increase is big enough though it can be worth the price increase. 

As an automatic cruze buyer comparing the MPG between the LS and 1LT cruze the EPA numbers indicate a 4mpg city and 3mpg highway increase in MPG, combined average is 3mpg better. It only cost $1295 more for the 1LT over the LS, so that fuel savings pays for itself pretty quick. That's enough fuel savings the amount I drive to make up the difference in payment every month.

Compare Side-by-Side


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## dirt dauber (Dec 24, 2014)

Only way to improve you're mpg on a stock cruze,is get a tune.
Just getting a cold air intake by itself is good,but all you're doing is increasing airflow,and you will burn more fuel unless you have a tuned ecu to balance everything out.


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

Danny5 said:


> Even if there were gains, the amount of money you spend on an intake can never be made up at the gas pump.
> 
> Let's say an intake see 5% improvement in MPGs. That's being VERY generous. This means you would save approximately a half gallon every time you fill up. Say your intake cost $300, at current prices it would take you 200 fill ups to see the cost benefit. Thats, give or take, 80k miles.
> 
> A good rule of thumb is... Don't do mods to improve gas mileage. The gains you will see will take years to realize.


A Good rule to follow is maitaning a most efficient combustion process over a wide spectrum of conditions .. shoot this has already been accomplished on the cruzen and would'nt any 1 want to maitain a constant efficient combustion .

If I choose to install an in line air heater that I can fabricate out of parts that have been laying around gathering dust and mold and clean them up for an installation then I am only out these costs .. if in fact I find a system to heat up and maintain a costant engine temp before my daily commute to and frow in these Cold Ambient air temps . I am only out these costs ..

There is nothing but possibilities at hand for an Enthusiastic Ecomodder .


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## neile300c (Jul 8, 2014)

short answer - 
no

long answer - 
no


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

neile300c said:


> short answer -
> no
> 
> long answer -
> no



You are a funny 1 ..

The only 1 in your way is U ..


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Could spend hours back in the old days porting out the intake manifold and heads with a hand grinder. But this sure made a difference in performance and fuel economy.

But these are all plastic injected intake manifolds are as smooth as glass on the inside. And investment casting is used on aluminum heads. 

If you really have a bug for modifying, get yourself a 1957 Chevy 283. Even was legal back then and could easily pick up a hundred HP bored out to a 302.

Only thing left for the Cruze is either the air intake or exhaust, anything beyond this, EPA would be jumping all over, and if lucky may gain a half a HP. But will get more noise. 

Why not buy a 200 mph plus Caddy?


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