what is the big deal about cold air intake? how does it boosts your cars performance???
a cold air intake increases your car performance by allowing cooler air to enter your engine. a few things to know:
1. cold air is more dense
2. the more dense air is, the more oxygen it carries
3. the more oxygen in your combustion engine, the more power is produced.
cai's move the intake filter away from the engine (hot air is found here) and usually into the wheel well (where cooler air can be found).
usually the cai's piping is usually wider, which allows even more air (and thus more oxygen) into your engine (this is the concept of short ram...except it is still taking in relatively hot air).
so this is how cai's are able to increase power (although it is still a small amount..most cai's only increase horespower by 2-4 horses).
this goes hand-in-hand with the phrase "i love how my car runs in cold weather". colder air carries more oxygen because it is more dense...so your engine will combust better. so if you've never understood this phrase..you do now