AFE intake performance inferior to stock intake?

ElmoHongZito · Oct 14, 2018

So I installed a brand new AFE cold air intake system on Friday and I love the sound but I have to be honest and say that I felt a noticeable more amount of pull and torque with the stock intake.

It’s quite a bit dissapointing and annoying to have all this noise and not the pull that I was accostumed to with stock intake.

Am I crazy? Could it be a placebo effect because my brain is expecting more pull for the amount of noise that’s being produced?

I really don’t think its in my head.

I did notice when installing that one of the plastic pegs that holds down fhe rubber lining that seals with the pocket in the hood where the air comes in thru did not line up with one of the holes in the AFE system so I had to simply remove the plastic peg and hope that the seal with hood would be as good as it was with factory intake. I don’t think that would be the issue or even make a noticeable difference since I have not seen that brougt up on the forum at all.

Thoughts? Comments?

8yourv8 · Oct 14, 2018

Honestly intakes dont make a lot of difference when it comes to horse power. Most people buy them for the sound. The factory airbox is hard to improve on. I bought the PRL intake tube and currently waitting on that.

ElmoHongZito · Oct 14, 2018

8yourv8 said:
Honestly intakes dont make a lot of difference when it comes to horse power. Most people buy them for the sound. The factory airbox is hard to improve on. I bought the PRL intake tube and currently waitting on that.

I am clear about that however let me clarify again that I am not dissapointed about power not increasing. I am dissapointed because I am actually experiencing a LOSS in power after installing the AFE Takeda CAI.

I was hoping for that great sound and power to stay the same. FML

MonkeyBoost · Oct 15, 2018

ElmoHongZito said:
So I installed a brand new AFE cold air intake system on Friday and I love the sound but I have to be honest and say that I felt a noticeable more amount of pull and torque with the stock intake.

It’s quite a bit dissapointing and annoying to have all this noise and not the pull that I was accostumed to with stock intake.

Am I crazy? Could it be a placebo effect because my brain is expecting more pull for the amount of noise that’s being produced?

I really don’t think its in my head.

I did notice when installing that one of the plastic pegs that holds down fhe rubber lining that seals with the pocket in the hood where the air comes in thru did not line up with one of the holes in the AFE system so I had to simply remove the plastic peg and hope that the seal with hood would be as good as it was with factory intake. I don’t think that would be the issue or even make a noticeable difference since I have not seen that brougt up on the forum at all.

Thoughts? Comments?

ElmoHongZito said:
I am clear about that however let me clarify again that I am not dissapointed about power not increasing. I am dissapointed because I am actually experiencing a LOSS in power after installing the AFE Takeda CAI.

I was hoping for that great sound and power to stay the same. FML

I'm sure you are losing power. That intake sadly is only for looks/sound. It is a hot air intake with little to no protection from engine bay heat and our engine bay gets HOT. If you are able to monitor your IAT at the intake im sure its 120+ degrees and the ecu is pulling some power when things get hot, especially when in traffic or at a stop light.

boosted180sx · Oct 15, 2018

ElmoHongZito said:
I am clear about that however let me clarify again that I am not dissapointed about power not increasing. I am dissapointed because I am actually experiencing a LOSS in power after installing the AFE Takeda CAI.

I was hoping for that great sound and power to stay the same. FML

When are you feeling the loss of power? You would have to see your IAT to see if you are really getting a loss. I sure don't notice a single difference between afe and stock but i do have the prl intercooler. I have done many datalogs of stock , injen, AFE.

idragmazda · Oct 15, 2018

My guess would be the AFE intake pulls in hotter air, resulting in ECU adjusting timing to avoid knock, thus resulting in lower power.

ElmoHongZito · Oct 15, 2018

boosted180sx said:
When are you feeling the loss of power? You would have to see your IAT to see if you are really getting a loss. I sure don't notice a single difference between afe and stock but i do have the prl intercooler. I have done many datalogs of stock , injen, AFE.

I feel like I get it in all gears. 1st to 2nd to 3rd as well as when I step on it on the highway in 6th.

If I am losing power I am sending that shit back to AFE. Do they do returns if I have already installed it?

boosted180sx · Oct 15, 2018

idragmazda said:
My guess would be the AFE intake pulls in hotter air, resulting in ECU adjusting timing to avoid knock, thus resulting in lower power.

^this is the only way for an intake to lose power. The AFE would have to be sucking in higher IATs.

kinda hard to tell if you are losing power or not if you don't know your IATs with the stock vs AFE... On the highway, there shouldn't be any difference at that speeds though. "Feels like it" imo isn't really a good determining factor when most people with the intake haven't noticed any difference from stock. It's not like an open element design so your IAT shouldn't be much different, especially at speeds.

ElmoHongZito · Oct 15, 2018

So before I rip this thing out and try to send it back to AFE is there some way to define whether or not I am actually losing power or if my brain is making this up?

02SilverSiHB · Oct 15, 2018

MonkeyBoost said:
I'm sure you are losing power. That intake sadly is only for looks/sound. It is a hot air intake with little to no protection from engine bay heat and our engine bay gets HOT. If you are able to monitor your IAT at the intake im sure its 120+ degrees and the ecu is pulling some power when things get hot, especially when in traffic or at a stop light.

aFe is situated the same as stock...not sure how you get that it's a hot air intake like AEM or Injen.

To the OP, you're in florida...did your temps go up by chance lately right as you installed it...if so...that's your issue.

I have the aFe and ktuner. I've watched the temps...they are the same as they were when I had the factory intake in (in comparison to the few days with both factory and aFe when the temps were the same outside).

I've had no issues.

However, if you feel it's killing your power, put the stock one back on and see how it feels.

Overall, you will not feel a gain in power.

I'll keep an eye on mine and if I feel a loss at all, it's coming off, lol

boosted180sx · Oct 15, 2018

ElmoHongZito said:
So before I rip this thing out and try to send it back to AFE is there some way to define whether or not I am actually losing power or if my brain is making this up?

you would need to know your IATs and stuff to find out.

Z06_Pilot · Oct 15, 2018

Agree with 02 here. not sure where the idea came from that the AFE routes hot air? it's just like the OEM CAI in that it has a rubber gasket that seals when the hood is closed to help ensure that it only routes cold air coming in from the front facia opening. To the OP, I assume you installed the replacement gasket that came with the AFE?

I certainly felt no seat-of-the-pants increase in HP after installing the AFE, but I also did not notice any decrease in power after installing it.

fk8mike · Oct 15, 2018

i have the afe and no issue,iat(intake)is about the same has the oem intake,BUT im reflash stage1

koochieman · Oct 15, 2018

Think this just reinforced my idea to cancel intake route and go straight PRL intercooler and hondata/ktuner. Also interested in PRL's intake tube as well.

ElmoHongZito · Oct 15, 2018

Z06_Pilot said:
Agree with 02 here. not sure where the idea came from that the AFE routes hot air? it's just like the OEM CAI in that it has a rubber gasket that seals when the hood is closed to help ensure that it only routes cold air coming in from the front facia opening. To the OP, I assume you installed the replacement gasket that came with the AFE?

I certainly felt no seat-of-the-pants increase in HP after installing the AFE, but I also did not notice any decrease in power after installing it.

The AFE Takeda intake did not come with its own replacement gasket. Was it supposed to? I used the factory one which is what the instructions said (if I recall correctly).

Were they supposed to send me a modified replacement gastket?

AFE intake performance inferior to stock intake?

ElmoHongZito

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8yourv8

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ElmoHongZito

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MonkeyBoost

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boosted180sx

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idragmazda

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