Cold Air Intakes

Cold air intakes enable your engine to ‘breathe’ more effectively by relocating the air filter intake to the outside of the engine compartment. This enables cooler air to be sucked into the vehicle’s engine for more effective combustion. Cooler air is denser and contains more oxygen which means more power for your vehicle once it combines with the fuel in your vehicle’s combustion chamber. 

But, not only does a cold air intake reduce the temperature of the air coming into your engine, it also increases the airflow too. By investing in an aftermarket intake, you can replace your factory installed air box which restricts airflow with a wider and smoother intake tube that helps to provide your vehicle’s engine with an uninterrupted flow of air.

Yes, cold air intakes do provide your vehicle with more horsepower as they maximise airflow to your engine and help to provide it with cooler, denser and more oxygenated air. By increasing the amount of oxygen to your combustion chamber, your engine can harness the power generated by the ignition of fuel and air within it, providing more power to your vehicle. 

In most cases, by replacing your factory fitted air box and taking advantage of an aftermarket cold air intake, you can increase your vehicle’s horsepower by anywhere between 5 and 15 brake horsepower. But performance can vary depending on the type of vehicle you have and what other modifications you may have made.

Yes, installing a cold air intake into your vehicle is completely legal here in the UK. But it’s important that you declare it to your insurance provider, as is the case with any other car modifications to ensure you don’t accidentally void your insurance leaving you unprotected in the event of an accident. Whilst installing a cold air intake may increase your insurance premium, it’s unlikely to be a big increase to your monthly or yearly payment. 

Whilst it’s not a guarantee, a cold air intake can improve your vehicle’s fuel economy. By providing your engine with cooler, denser, oxygen rich air, it can more effectively and efficiently burn fuel. This can result in around a 1-5 MPG (Miles Per Gallon) gain, but these results can vary depending on the vehicle’s manufacturer, the age of the car (older cars with less efficient stock intakes usually benefit more) and even the way you drive it. 

But of course the main benefit of a cold air intake isn’t a fuel economy improvement, it’s the improvement to your vehicle’s horsepower, torque and acceleration. Improved fuel efficiency is a potential nice bonus.

Installing a cold air intake into your vehicle is certainly worth it if you’re looking for a more cost effective way to increase your vehicle’s horsepower, acceleration and torque than installing a new exhaust system, turbocharger or supercharger. 

Cold air intakes go through extensive R&D processes and vigorous testing to ensure they provide dyno-proven performance upgrades that you can actually feel and hear. The performance gains of around 5-15 horsepower and superior acceleration really make a difference and that combined with the new grumbly growl your vehicle will be equipped with, really make for an enjoyable and exciting driving experience.

No, cold air intakes aren’t bad for your engine, however like most things, if they’re not installed correctly or you opt for a cheaper filter that may allow more dirt and dust into your engine, then their installation can be less than optimal. 

Also, if the intake has poorly designed or constructed filters, it may allow more dirt and dust into your engine that is less than ideal, which can potentially result in damage to your engine over time.