Originally posted by oofrost
The thing about plastic intakes is that it takes longer for it to heat up and longer for it to cool off once it is hot. On the other hand, "metal" intakes heat up faster, but reversly, they cool down a lot faster. I've tested generic intakes and the AEM CAI on my own car. After driving normally, intakes are always 'hot.' However if you WOT 1st gear and then pull over, you'll notice that the "metal" intake is already cold. In my trials the AEM happened to be colder than the generic CAI, however my generic intake was louder.
what you say here is slightly deceptive. (Not that youre trying to be, but it comes off that way.) you mention the plastic in direct reference to the ICEMAN, but then switch over to the generic intakes. But you don't mention if the generics are plastic or metal.
If you allow intakes to equalize in temp (the high temp) the metal one will cool off faster and will yield more hp, but if you equalize the temp after several WOT trips ( cooler temp), the plastic will be cooler and will yield more gains technically.
in either case you will not notice the difference in hp gained by an intake alone. But if you have I/H/E you might miss it slightly.....no NA power adder/bolt-on is going to make things drastically faster, jsut noisier....
noel
