Up front, you should know that this test contains no hyped up dyno numbers and no glory pull track runs. There is no winner or loser and no air intake managed to pull off the impossible and rocket us to the moon. This is a real-world test that contains a lot of great data, but takes a little more reading than the usual “dyno queen” testing that some other magazines are so fond of. But we know you want the real deal, so here it is. First of all, we almost completely omitted the dyno because there is no way it can accurately replicate real-world conditions for intake testing. Without cold air moving over the front of our test Camaro, we couldn’t guarantee real-world IAT/MAP figures, or see how the filter placement would affect the “ram-air” properties of each design. Above those two factors, we also wouldn’t be able to replicate actual airflow through the front grille, or the engine bay cooling properties of a moving vehicle. However, we did want to test how each intake compared with its advertised numbers, as well as what it would do to static air/fuel. With that in mind, we have included both maximum horsepower and torque but we urge you to not make your decision on those dyno numbers alone. With the dyno portion of our testing figured out, we were left with driving our 2010 down the track, which added another unwanted variable; us. Now, we’re not saying we can’t drive, but we do understand that no one can be exactly the same every run and those couple of milliseconds difference could definitely skew our results, giving some intakes an unfair advantage, based on a solid shift here or a better 60-foot there. And with that in mind, we set out to build a real-world test that could be replicated by anyone, at any time.
Test Procedure
In order to produce meaningful results, repetition and consistency was key to our experiment. Our first objective was to remove as many variables as possible, which meant eliminating both the human element (shifting, time between shifts, launch, etc) and the electronic element (torque management, shift pressure, etc). With Greg Lovell of AntiVenom at the helm of his otherwise stock 2010 6-speed manual 2SS Camaro, we laid out a procedure that would allow every intake a fair shot.
Initial Impressions:
The Cold Air Inductions (CAI) 5TH Gen Camaro Intake system looked very simple, but well thought-out. The air filter box came preassembled and was the only system in our test that used a thermal heat barrier attached to the box. The intake tube was ceramic-coated, which was a nice touch for both looks and thermal management. The supplied conical filter was large and was a washable, oil type filter.
See the Final Results and Data here:
