CAI Opinions

Looking at getting a CAI for my 07 LT. Wondering what you opnions on which one to buy. Had looked at K&N. Found a pretty good deal for $195. Also considered AFE but was almost double the price. Is it worth to spend the extra money. Should I expect to feel a difference in performance and see a difference in gas mileage. Hoping to justify the purchase. Thanks

The dyno charts I've seen on the CAI mfg websites show that most, if not all, of the increase comes in at 4,000-5,000 rpm. Not a place most of us operate.

73shark said:

The dyno charts I've seen on the CAI mfg websites show that most, if not all, of the increase comes in at 4,000-5,000 rpm. Not a place most of us operate.

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So would you say a CAI is not worth the money. Don't really need a big HP gain but I would say that if I get 1mpg more in gas then I could justify buying a CAI.

Haven't seen any claims for mpg increases.

PAZach said:

So would you say a CAI is not worth the money. Don't really need a big HP gain but I would say that if I get 1mpg more in gas then I could justify buying a CAI.

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I'm right there w/ you...

PAZach said:

Looking at getting a CAI for my 07 LT. Wondering what you opnions on which one to buy. Had looked at K&N. Found a pretty good deal for $195. Also considered AFE but was almost double the price. Is it worth to spend the extra money. Should I expect to feel a difference in performance and see a difference in gas mileage. Hoping to justify the purchase. Thanks

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Picked up the AFE Stage II for the 07 LT and installed it myself. A little pricey yes, but more than worth the money. My wife (who gets to drive the rig) says she has a whole lot more performance (not to mention that nice throaty rumble at WOT) when she drives it now. MPG went up a little, but not a whole lot (lets face it, it is a V8)

If you take a look at the Stock intake, it has several "bladders" (at least thats what I call them) coming off the actual intake itself. One below the actual intake next to the fan belts, and one that overlays the engine block. I have no idea what Chevy was thinking when they decided to do this, however, more air straight into the Engine block is always a good thing.

Took about 30 minutes to install. The instructions are pretty straight forward. I ordered mine from southernhotrod.com. If you do want one, give Edwin a call from the Website.

Slappydoo said:

If you take a look at the Stock intake, it has several "bladders" (at least thats what I call them) coming off the actual intake itself. One below the actual intake next to the fan belts, and one that overlays the engine block. I have no idea what Chevy was thinking when they decided to do this, however, more air straight into the Engine block is always a good thing.

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The "bladders" are resonance chambers to reduce the induction noise. As loud as mine is now, I can't imagine how it would sound without them. Pretty damn good I suspect. Kind of like we used to do by flipping the air cleaner lid back in the day.

73shark said:

The "bladders" are resonance chambers to reduce the induction noise. As loud as mine is now, I can't imagine how it would sound without them. Pretty damn good I suspect. Kind of like we used to do by flipping the air cleaner lid back in the day.

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Well regardless, now the truck actually sounds like a truck, instead of a "toned" down SUV. For the performance gain and little MPG, its worth it.

I saw a 1 mpg increase when I installed the magnaflow catback over a 2500 mile span. Then I added the gm performance CAI and actually saw my mpg drop a 1/2 a mpg over the next 2500 miles. Not very happy! This is with only 5% highway driving.