Stock Air Intake - Why?

[Instrumental]

As I've done some work on my 9-7x and done some reading, I see that the air intake has a lot of funny shapes in it. I also see that it's a very common upgrade to remove all that. So, what was the original thinking about this design? It seems it would have been much cheaper to go with a straight intake in the first place, so they must have had a reason to do all that work and expense.

 

[Don37725]

A lot of it has to do with sound control - they use different shapes and sizes to control the sound of the rushing intake air

 

[DJones]

I once had a pipe-type setup from K&N and it made tons of noise, but I don't really remember what performance was like. Regulator has it now. The stock one is much quieter.

 

[Regulator]

Yes, it is almost entirely for noise control. The K&N uses a strait pipe, it sounds great and I think I feel a bit of a difference in the pedal, but that may be just my imagination.

Disclaimer: The K&N is on my Bravada, not on my Envoy.

 

[smitty5150]

I noticed no difference in performance other than the tendency to get on the pedal more...when i first install an aftermarket intake. Louder, yes. Gains? 1-3 HP at best. It's been said, the main thing holding back power is the restrictive flow of a stock head. With a ported head, I would imagine a straight intake would actually benefit HP in a measurable capacity.

 

[fadyasha]

No performance really. I agree it's mainly sound gains which is nice. As for HP not really