MORE POWER: VOLANT COLD AIR INTAKE
When You NEED More Power
OK, ‘maintenance’ is not my middle name. We finally moved to a condo since the expression 'lawn maintenance' grew to mean ‘allow to return to nature’. But when ‘maintenance’ means ‘make better and save money’, my interest comes around.
Jeep says you should check your air filter at 50,000 km (30,000 mi), which makes sense if you are a pavement hound. I was fearful at 30,000 km given the amount of dust my 2015 Wrangler JKU has eaten. But why perform regular maintenance when you have a few hundred bucks the government gave you back at tax time to make your 4x4 better.
These were the only two excuses I needed to order a Volant PowerCore Cold Air Intake with a Donaldson PowerCore G2 filter.
Why better? The short version: air (the oxygen in it) and fuel burn in your engine to create an explosion, which drives the piston and generates power to the wheels. A bigger better explosion means more power. If you can add more air, you can add more fuel and get more power. The reason CAI’s work is two-fold. Cool air is denser than warm air, which means there is more oxygen to burn in every gulp. They also improve airflow. More smooth flowing air into the engine means you can add more fuel and get more power. At the expensive end are turbochargers and superchargers, at the affordable end are cold air intakes. That is my middle name ‘affordable’.
How much more power and torque? Wouldn’t it be great if there was an accurate gauge on the dash to tell you? There isn’t. And the closest answer you’ll ever nail down without putting your truck on a dyno before and after is ‘it depends’. I’m confident that we’ll see some extra power and fuel efficiency but don’t expect installing a CAI to blow your hair back. However, if you also add an improved exhaust system you may actually feel the difference.
A Pre-Filter is essentially a bag of water hating (hydrophobic) polyester with .005 micron openings to reduce
the amount of water and grit that can clog your main filter, for instance the MaxFlow 5 oiled filter. I was torn between this and the Donaldson PowerCore G2 filter. The PowerCore has higher filtration (better for dust) and has a 100,000 mi or 4 year NO maintenance warranty - someone is playing my favourite song. Volant recommends cleaning the MaxFlow 5 every 12,000 mi (ugh) or sooner in dirty environments, but it has the best airflow for the best power and fuel efficiency gains, and it’s $42 USD cheaper. In my case ‘Slacker’ trumped ‘Miser’ and I installed the PowerCore G2 filter.
In either case, look at getting the Pre-Filter if you are often on dusty or damp trails. The hydrophobic material will help keep moisture and dirt out of your filter.
It’s a one-hour ‘driveway’ install so let’s get to work.
More info at www.volant.com MSRP: $335.90 USD with MaxFlow 5 Oiled Filter, $377.90 with PowerCore G2