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Do cold air intake systems work?

Cold air intake systems have long been considered one of the easiest ways to "bolt-on extra horsepower". All you have to do is unbolt the restrictive factory intake system, and replace it with a free-flowing cold air intake system. This will theoretically give you lots of additional horsepower, so you can become a Fast & Furious stoplight hero. However, installing a K&N cold air intake isn't going to turn you into Paul Walker. But it will definitely make your ride a lot more powerful. So let's take a look at how, and why a cold air intake system works...

How an engine makes power
An internal combustion engine works by burning a mixture of fuel and air inside of the cylinders. The fuel injectors spray in a precise amount of fuel, which gets mixed with air delivered by the air intake system. A spark plug then ignites this volatile cocktail, causing an explosion that forces the piston downward, turning the crankshaft, and ultimately the wheels. The piston-moving force that's created during the combustion cycle is where horsepower comes from. And you can actually increase that force/horsepower by adding a K&N cold air intake system.

K&N cold air intake system installed

Why cold air is so important
When you were in school, you learned that cold air is denser than warm air, because it contains additional oxygen molecules. When you feed a fire/explosion with oxygen-rich cold air, the resulting fire/explosion will be much more intense. A factory air intake tends to feed less-potent warm air to the cylinders, which means less energy/horsepower gets extracted from the fuel. A cold air intake system on the other hand, gives the engine more oxygen to work with. So those explosions become more intense, and the engine effectively makes more horsepower, from the same amount of fuel.

How a factory air intake works
In order to get to the cylinders, air has to first enter a tiny hole at the bottom of the stock airbox, then it has to pass through a thick paper air filter. As dirt collects on the OEM air filter, less air can pass through, which causes the engine to work harder to make the same amount of horsepower. Once the air has cleared this hurdle, it gets forced through a series of narrow plastic tubes with tight bends and uneven surfaces. This causes the air to swirl around and become turbulent, and that makes it heat up and become less effective.

How a cold air intake system works
On a cold air intake system, air first passes through a much larger performance air filter, which allows more air into the system. Filters like the K&N performance air filter, use a 'depth loading' design to remove more dirt from the air, then keep it trapped inside a matrix of sticky cotton fibers, which allows a high volume of air to always be able to pass through. Once the air has been cleaned, it flows into a wider intake tube that typically has completely smooth interior surfaces, and less restrictive curves. K&N aluminum intake tubes use mandrel-bent curves to virtually eliminate air turbulence, while K&N roto-molded intake tubes do the same thing with molded high density polyethylene.

Air intake systems installed

By reducing airflow restrictions, a cold air intake system can always feed the engine a high volume of turbulence-free air. And to make sure the air is cold, the air filter is situated so that it can collect the coldest air. Which often requires a special heat shield to prevent warm engine bay air from entering the system. However, a front mounted ram air intake will relocate the air filter to a high-pressure zone outside of the engine compartment (usually behind the front bumper, or inside the fender well). This allows it to collect the coldest air possible, and the increased air pressure forces more air into the system as the speed increases. Thanks to the improved airflow dynamics, a front mounted cold air intake system is able to deliver more horsepower than a conventional performance intake.

So does a cold air intake system really work?
When you introduce a high volume of cold air to the combustion process, the engine is able to burn the fuel more completely, and that results in additional horsepower. So yes, a cold air intake system does work. But the actual amount of extra horsepower that you'll get from a K&N cold air intake, will depend on the type of system, as well as the condition of your specific vehicle and engine. You can however, check out the dyno test results for different K&N intake systems that are installed on a vehicle just like yours.

To find out the estimated horsepower gain for your vehicle, use K&N's Search by Vehicle tool.

Chase Elliott won the pole for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma Raceway in California.

Looking to gain some experience on the Sonoma Raceway road course, Chase Elliott won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race on the Northern California track. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie led the last three laps of the race passing Noah Gragson on lap 62 in the Chevys Fresh Mex 200.

Chase Elliott, a rookie in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, made his first start of 2016 in the K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma Raceway in California.

"It was a fun race," said Elliott, who won his first K&N Pro Series East race at Iowa Speedway in 2012. "I'm glad we came out to do this." He was selected by fans as the most popular driver in the K&N Pro Series East in 2011 and 2012.

Elliot, who drives the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motor Sports in the Sprint Cup Series, was 21st in the Cup race at Sonoma Raceway. Gragson posted his third top-five finishes in six NASCAR K&N Pro Series West races. It was his second podium finish in the past two K&N Pro Series West races.

Chase Elliott won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma Raceway in his first start of the season.

"This was an experience of a lifetime to race against someone like Chase Elliott," said Gragson, who is one of the NASCAR Next drivers. "I knew Chase probably had the best car, but I also knew I had a car that could win. I learned so much out there today. This will only help me become a better racer."

Elliott won the pole but Ryan Partridge led the first seven laps of the race. Gragson led for 34 laps, the most in the race. He took the lead from Gracin Raz on lap 26 for seven laps, and again from Raz a lap later for six more laps. Gragson was out front from lap 43 to 61. Elliott passed Gragson on lap 62 and took the checkered flag.

Chase Elliott leads the pack through the road course during the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West at Sonoma Raceway in California.

"More than anything I felt they were running a little bit harder than I wanted to run at that point in the race," Elliott said. "I didn't want those guys to push me any harder than what I was going. I felt like it was such a long ways to go. They were all kind of racing kind of hard, I felt like, kind of rooting each other up along the way. I really didn't want any part of that. Let them do their thing and race, do whatever they wanted to do. Try to put our focus on when it mattered."

Chase Elliott led the last three laps and won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma Raceway in California.

Raz crossed the finish line in third, followed by Partridge in fourth and Riley Herbst in fifth.

"It's hard to focus on what's in front of your when there is so much going on behind you," Raz said. "We really tried to focus on just taking one corner at a time, hitting all my marks, not wheel hopping or overdriving the corners. Just keeping your composure there was really a task, but not something my team couldn't help me with."

Partridge leads the K&N Pro Series West standings after six races. He has a 15-point lead over Todd Gilliland, who was 24th in the Sonoma race. The start of the race was rough. A four-car crash on the opening lap knocked two of the K&N Pro Series West championship contenders to the pits. Gilliland and his Bill McAnally Racing teammate Chris Eggleston, the reigning K&N Pro Series West champion, were involved in the opening-lap collision. It turned into a 26th place finish for Eggleston, who completed 34 of the 64 laps. Gilliland completed 41 laps.

The next K&N Pro Series West race is at Stateline Speedway in Idaho on July 9.

K&N will be the title sponsor of the 2016 K&N Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Illinois.

Expanding on their partnership with K&N, NHRA has announced that the 2016 Route 66 Nationals will be title sponsored by K&N. The K&N Route 66 Nationals will kick off the second half of the 2016 NHRA season with a bang. Held at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois, the NHRA Mellow Yellow Drag Racing Series event is the 13th of 24 races for the season. K&N is already the sponsor of the K&N Horsepower Challenge and this brings the two internationally renowned names in motorsports even closer.

Greg Anderson is currently second in the K&N Horsepower Challenge standings behind KB Racing teammate Jason Line.

"K&N Engineering has been a longtime partner with NHRA and their commitment to provide title sponsorship for the Route 66 NHRA Nationals will help ensure a premium motorsports experience in the major market of Chicago," said Brad Gerber, NHRA Vice President and Chief Development Officer. "K&N has demonstrated over the years that they understand the tremendous value of aligning their marketing strategy with NHRA's racing product. In turn, we feel confident we will help expose more potential customers to K&N's brand through this association."

Held the weekend of July 7-10, the K&N Route 66 Nationals will be a weekend packed with racing excitement. Starting Thursday, with Dialed-In Thursday, drivers will be on the track prepping their cars for the weekend. Friday Night on Fire will feature the top drivers from Pro Stock Motorcycle, Pro Stock, Funny Car, and Top Fuel out on the track dialing in their cars and bikes. All-Star Saturday is packed with excitement as drivers from all over the country compete in the JEGS All-Stars event. Capping off Saturday is final qualifying for Pro Stock and the ever-popular Nitro cars. By Sunday the weekend will have only just begun as NHRA's top four classes race towards their respective championship. Anyone in or around Joliet, Illinois, should come out and enjoy a weekend filled with some of the fastest cars in the world at the state-of the-art Route 66 Raceway.

"When two big players in the motorsport industry come together like NHRA and K&N, everybody wins," said Tony Yorkman, Senior Sports Marketing Manager for K&N Engineering. "K&N was founded around the motorsports industry and that will be a big part of what we support. The thing about it is we can prove that our products really do work by putting them on some of the fastest drag cars in the world. The fans see this and they know they are getting the exceptional quality and craftsmanship that they have come to expect from K&N Filters."

K&N and NHRA also announced the extension of the sponsorship for the K&N Horsepower Challenge earlier this month. An event within an event, the first part of the K&N Horsepower Challenge lets Pro Stock drivers compete for a chance to win $50,000. The second part of HPC allows fans to enter for a chance to be flown to Las Vegas for the NHRA Nationals in the Spring and paired with one of the top 8 drivers. The fan paired with the winning driver of the event wins a special edition truck.

Currently, Jason Line and Greg Anderson, both members of KB Racing, are dominating the leaderboard with only 30 points keeping the five-time Horsepower Challenger winner, Anderson, out of first place. Bo Butner III is keeping tabs on them and is only 100 points behind Anderson. Currently in fourth, fifth, and sixth place are Drew Skillman, Vincent Nobile, and Shane Gray, respectively. That is a tight race as there are only 50 points separating Skillman from Gray. Rounding out the top seven, who are automatically chosen to compete in the finals in Las Vegas, is Allen Johnson. The eighth driver to compete in the K&N Horsepower Challenge finals is selected by a fan vote.

This big beast of a Toyota Tundra stood out as it was one of only a handful trucks at the event, let alone lifted trucks.

There are multitudes of popular hobbies that people spend their spare time doing. And while most people choose just one hobby to enjoy, there are plenty of hobbies that go well together. Hunting and fishing, off-roading and camping, and stamp and coin collecting to name just a few. Another pair of hobbies that seem to complement each other are photography and cars. It makes perfect sense, you build cars and attend car shows and meets, might as well meld that with photography.

Well known tire brand, Toyo Tires, realized this and decided to combine the two passions of many people into a one-of-a-kind event. The show, dubbed Shutter Space, was a car meet and automotive photo gallery combined into one event. Held at the Randy Higbee Gallery, in Costa Mesa, California, the event was sponsored by Crooks & Castles and Super Street magazine. Over 250 cars and trucks made it out. There was everything in attendance from supercars to lifted trucks.

A gorgeous example of a Factory Five Cobra, featuring a K&N air filter over the velocity stacks.

Another unique vehicle, this Smart car drew quite a bit of attention throughout the day.

Inside the gallery, Toyo had placed a couple very nice rides for people to drool over.

For the photo gallery portion, Toyo Tires held a contest for people to submit automotive themed photographs for a chance to be selected to have their photo displayed at the show. Fourteen finalists were chosen. When the dust had settled, the winning photograph was chosen. The photo was taken by Viet Nguyen, @photographybyv, of a fully custom 1974 Datsun Sunny pickup named Hakotora.

This three-wheeled beauty comes from Vanderhall Motor Works. It features a carbon fiber body, aluminum frame, and 200 hp 1.4L engine.

There were plenty of GT-Rs to go around. This one sat on a clean set of gold Advan GT wheels wrapped in Toyo Tires.

Believe it or not, this 2006 Lancer Evo IX with a Voltex body kit wasn't the most outrageous body kit at the show.

You may recognize the truck, owned by Dominic Le of Chasing Js, as it has been featured on a number of websites and magazines, has won plenty of awards, and was also featured on a recent episode of Jay Leno's Garage. Now, a photo of Dominic's pickup has won its own award.

Tire companies have got to be loving the new tire stickers that companies are selling. Like the ones on this BMW M4.

Just about every generation of BMW was there. Hey, who snuck that Mini in there?

You can't go wrong with a BMW that looks like this.

As the winner of the contest, Viet's photograph will be featured in an issue of Super Street magazine. He also won exclusive Toyo Tires and Crooks & Castles merchandise. Not bad for snapping a pic and submitting it online.

Not bad for a Mini Cooper. This thing was actually pretty nice.

In case you want to go camping, but you don't want to pack a tent. This Treeline Outdoors tent is the perfect solution.

There were a few Mustangs in attendance. This one was the subject of one of the photos on display in the gallery.

The event seemed to be a huge hit with the crowds, many people saying they loved the idea of it and they look forward to more of these types of events in the future. Be sure to check back for future show announcements and to see if Toyo Tires will be holding another Shutter Space event in the future.

No car meet would be complete without a few supercars. This 458 features a Misha body kit and gorgeous flat red paint.

This is probably the angle that most people see as this thing blazes by them in a red blaze. Also, those deep dish rears look spectacular.

Nice dumped Audi featuring battleship gray colors.

A fender flared, deep-dish, flat red Liberty Walk Challenger laying on the Southern California asphalt fits in well with supercars and imports of all generations.

Purple wouldn't be our first choice for this convertible M3, but it actually looks pretty good.

Something insanely cool this way comes. But wait, where are the pop-up headlights on this 8-series BMW?

Red with gold wheels seems to be an increasingly popular choice among enthusiasts. We can't really complain. This S2K looks killer.

Dumped, wide body wagons are so incredibly beautiful.

Ahh a green BMW 2002. Such a refreshing color compared to the sea of red cars with gold wheels.

The red and gold theme again. This time on a Lamborghini Gallardo A very popular choice for 2016.

Hillbank Motorsports brought out a great looking Ford Focus ST. .

This is the photo that won the photo contest. Viet Nguyen (@photographybyv) did a great job with it and will be able to see it in an upcoming issue of Super Street magazine.

The K&N booth in vendor row will be the happening place to be at the Goodguys 19th Annual PPG Nationals, in Columbus, Ohio.

If you don't already have tickets and you live in Ohio or any of the surrounding states, there's no excuse not to come join us at the Goodguys 19th Annual PPG Nationals July 8 - 10 at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus, Ohio. Not only will there be all the cool kind of stuff you expect to see at a Goodguys National event (more in a moment) but K&N is bringing out two rigs full of fun.

Some of the events that will be going on at the Goodguys 19th Annual PPG Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, include a Sponsor Shootout Autocross (pictured), twilight autocross, swap meet, vintage drags, car show, contests, giveaways, and much more.

In vendor row, K&N will have a booth set-up for all sorts of games in which you can participate for some great K&N prizes. Contests include raffles, "spin the wheel" for prizes, a scavenger hunt (more prizes), and even contests for kids (yep, even more prizes). And even if you don't compete, we have free giveaways just for stopping by and doing a quick survey. And while you're at the display truck, you can check out some our newest and most popular products, all at special show discount prices.

Surrounding the truck will be a number of show cars that will feature product from K&N, AIRAID, and Spectre Performance, so you take home with you a little inspiration on how to best direct incoming airflow to the engine of your daily driver, project car, or street ride. There will even be some live installation demos running that you can watch to get a sense of how to configure your intake system and how simple K&N makes the process.

This flyer will be given out at the gates of the Goodguys PPG Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, and if returned to the K&N booth, you will receive a free gift.

The second K&N trailer will be in the autocross course area in support of K&N, AIRAID, and Spectre-sponsored autocross teams. There you'll have a chance to meet drivers and grab an autograph or two and maybe the coolest part yet: a chance to sit down with one of K&N's intake designers and have them custom-design a system specific to your car, taking into account modifications you've made, and even modifications you might be planning. Where else do you get to do that?

And of course, there's a lot more going on at the Goodguys Nationals. There will be over 6,500 rods, customs, classics, muscle cars and trucks through 1972 that you could spend the entire three days walking around and checking out. There's also a mega swap meet and a Cars 4 Sale Corral (bring your checkbook), and on Friday night, vintage drags at nearby National Trail Raceway. On Saturday there's a Twilight Autocross after-hours event, from 5:30 pm until 9:00 pm, proudly sponsored by K&N. Sunday will feature another K&N-sponsored event, the K&N Filters All American Sunday. Since Goodguys is limited to pre-1973 vehicles, on Sunday they allow any late model American made and/or powered vehicles of all years. So bring out those late model muscle cars, trucks, or anything else you own that is American made.

Be sure to mark your calendars, as they say, and come out to Columbus, Ohio, on July 8-10 for the Goodguys 19th Annual PPG Nationals and make sure you stop by both K&N trailers so you don't miss out on any of the fun we've packed inside.