Intake Resonator Removal

[homertime]

I notice that with most of the K&N air intakes you remove the intake resonator as part of the installation.
With things like Air Raid - you keep the resonator in place

My question is what are the risks and/or benefits of removing the resonator?
What's the difference?

I'm assuming that the K&N provides more direct airflow, so therefore is better??
If you don't remove the resonator with the Air Raid, what's the overall benefit versus the stock intake?

I'm new to performance customizations, so need some baby steps to get me there mentally :confused:

[Jman423]

There have been lots of opinions about this in the several other threads that go into the CAI's, but they are scattered.

I wondered the same thing, so when I was getting ready to buy a CAI, I called Airaid and Volant and asked them why they left theirs on, and they both said that it was only about noise. "In fact", they said, "We found that the performace was actually better with the resonator still on". They explained that the performace increase was not much, but it was in fact a little better, and thats why Volant stopped making the model that removes the stock resonator. I have the Volant, and when I'm driving normally, it sounds quiet, when I stomp on the gas, it sounds badass!!

I hope this may answer some part of your question... :)

[homertime]

Ok, so let me get this right - Airaid takes out the air box and keeps the resonator
- Volant - keeps the resonator and adds it's own air box

How much gain did you feel? My 05 seems a little more sluggish then my old 03 in first gear; plus I was always looking into getting a CAI

Also - with either, do you need to modify anything, or just install them? I know with K&N you have to cut one of the hoses which I wasn't thrilled about.

[Jman423]

Ok, so let me get this right - Airaid takes out the air box and keeps the resonator
- Volant - keeps the resonator and adds it's own air box

Correct. But Volant's air box is setup much better than the stock box, with a much bigger air inlet, not to mention, IMHO the Volant box does a better job of keeping the engine heat out of the intake. :m2:

How much gain did you feel? My 05 seems a little more sluggish then my old 03 in first gear; plus I was always looking into getting a CAI
I noticed a big difference, but some would say I am crazy.... Pickup is better, especially when you really need it for passing on the highway. A full gas tank lasts me a lot longer, but that could also be combined with the roof rack bars being off. Overall, I am very surprised and impressed with the performace. It didn't give me millions of horsepower, but for day to day driving, I like the improvement.
Also - with either, do you need to modify anything, or just install them? I know with K&N you have to cut one of the hoses which I wasn't thrilled about.
Out of the three that you mentioned, the only one that requires those who have an 04 or newer to actually modify anything is K&N, Airaid and Volant come ready to go, all you have to do is cap a hole if your truck is 02-03.

[homertime]

Where would you suggest looking for the Volant?

eBay? Anyplace else sell them for a reasonable price?

[Jman423]

http://hopupracing.com/voprcoairsys.html

$239 shipped to your door. :cool:

[tb_ky]

My dual intake removed the resonater and its loud as hell!

[envoy62]

The intake resonator is used for noise reasons, and also to tune the intake.
The high frequency pulse that is created when the intake valve closes is used by the resonator to created a pressure wave that helps filling the next cylinder better.

The optimal intake length is depending on the rpm level of the engine, so the fixed length of the intake is a compromise.
In europe companies have build engines that have variable intake sytems to optimize engine performance, to overcome above problem.
I believe that also some engien in the US are using this concept

This would give the cai companies an advantage that keep the resonators. The only question is if these guys have tuned their boxes to work correctly with the resonator.
Also i don't know if running the vehicle with or withou resonator makes any feelable difference. Sometimes the additional noise might make it sound faster stronger.

Would be interesting doing some experiments with 2 systems to see which one works best.



Cheers